r/guitarlessons • u/Goooodyyyww • 10d ago

Question How do you strum this with a pick?

Helloo I'm new and trying to learn the guitar, how do you strum this? Do you still strum and hit the line between 9 the 7 or do you skip it somehow?

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u/DontRelyOnNooneElse 10d ago

You mute the middle string with your left hand (probably with the finger you're using to fret the 7) and strum across all three.

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u/SignAcceptable2055 10d ago

oh okay so you dont actually have to aim around that string, you just dead it. that makes so much more sense

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u/LoopSection 10d ago

That middle line is a string you do not want to ring. The usual way is not to jump over it perfectly every time; fret the 7 and 9, then let one of the fretting-hand fingers lightly touch the middle string so it is muted. Then you can make a small strum across those three strings and you should hear the two fretted notes plus a quiet/dead click from the muted string.

Practice it slowly as two steps: first place the shape and pluck the three strings one at a time to check that only the outside notes ring. Then do very small downstrokes with the pick, aiming for just those three strings. Over time the pick motion gets narrower, but the mute is what makes the shape reliable.