nature intro question

skpr41 · Post by **skpr41** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:23 am

just watched the dmbtabs video of billies and have a couple of questions:

how is he muting the A string?

and i'm assuming that you just don't strum the high E and B strings?

please forgive the newby questions as i'm just starting out playing...

everydayDMBfan_18 · Post by **everydayDMBfan_18** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:30 am

He mutes the A string with his ring finger by just laying his finger over it. Strum everything and if you don't want the higher sound just mute the E and B strings

ericwormann · Post by **ericwormann** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 12:19 pm

technically you don't really have to mute the A, since the 5th fret on the E string is the same as the open A.

DT · Post by DT » Mon Nov 03, 2003 2:28 pm

i find that the angle that my fingers have to make just to make that stretch kinda forces my ring finger down onto the A string, muting it

paywad927 · Post by **paywad927** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 2:43 pm

The Dreaming Tree wrote:i find that the angle that my fingers have to make just to make that stretch kinda forces my ring finger down onto the A string, muting it

yeah, my fingers kind of mute the a string automatically and i just mute the e and b strings with my index finger.

phatnev · Post by **phatnev** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:19 pm

I dont like muting the E and B, playing them just sounds fuller and better tome

borocks · Post by **borocks** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:28 pm

phatnev wrote:I dont like muting the E and B, playing them just sounds fuller and better tome

oh course you can do that, but the two notes doesn't fit to the chords you're actually supposed to play

skpr41 · Post by **skpr41** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:29 pm

thanks for all the replies guys!

and i'm assuming all this applies to the verses of grey street as well?

also, in general, what does it mean when there is just a dash (-) instead of an X? i know X means mute it and 0 means play it open. so does the dash mean optional?

borocks · Post by **borocks** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:38 pm

(-) mean do not play

Ranting Thespian · Post by **Ranting Thespian** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 8:47 pm

everydayDMBfan_18 wrote:Strum everything and if you don't want the higher sound just mute the E and B strings

Dave doesn't strum EVERYTHING. He picks as well as strums in the verse. He does it in about 75% of his songs. Picks a few notes, then gives a strum, then gives a losse pick which makes it give it a strumming sound. So, he picks, strums, and does a pick-strum.

Again, you do NOT play the whole guitar during most dmb songs. You strum the section where your fingers are, you don't touch all the strings, and that is true in billies, you completely ignore the high strings int he song, same with two step, when the world ends, and so forth.

everydayDMBfan_18 · Post by **everydayDMBfan_18** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 10:22 am

For a lot of the stuff he doesn't play he mutes..for example the stone...

One a side note though...I realize I don't strum everything on the intro...I was at school and trying to figure out what I played

Ranting Thespian · Post by **Ranting Thespian** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:08 pm

Stone isn't an attempted mute, it's his style of a less strict picking. He hits the strings around it only, and not all the time, which he barely touches open or muted also. It's not an attempted to hit muted strings, or trying to mute, it's just what that picking style ends up doing.

Also, how can you play the nature intro without muting the A string. It really hurts after a while lifting your ring finger up.

Anyways, again, dave doesn't strum or pick-strum most of the strings on the guitar unless he is playing a barre or open chord. Also, he doesn't pick-strum all the time either.