New member and 'buzz' question

[SimonL]

Hi all, I recently decided to take up the guitar and started the monitoring the forum a couple of weeks ago. Now it's time to start taking part, and asking (and hopefully later answering) some questions......

I have bought myself an Ibanez AEG10ii nylon stringed guitar, and am taking lessons with a local teacher. Am enjoying it so far and finding time to practice most evenings. Lessons have been going through some basic chord rounds, progressions, E blues, that sort of thing.

During the last lesson the teacher introduced a Spanish progression using A-, G Fmaj7, E, and F/E, and I have been practicing it at home this week. One thing I have noticed is when I am strumming the rhythm quite heavily with the pick, I am getting a lot of buzz on the lower three strings. My question is, is this normal for this type of music/guitar, or is there something I should be doing to improve my technique or the configuration of the guitar?

Hope that makes sense, and thanks in advance for any assistance!

[Dave T]

First, welcome to the guitar and the forum.

Second, most folks don't play nylon with a pick, of course there are exceptions.

And lastly, this

when I am strumming the rhythm quite heavily with the pick

is most likely your problem. Generally speaking the "attack" with nylon is lighter, again there are exceptions like Flamenco. Just listen to any Flamenco music. You will hear a lot of buzz, in part because of the set up of their instruments but also because of their aggressive attack.

Hope this is of some help,
Dave

[SimonL]

Originally Posted by Dave T

First, welcome to the guitar and the forum.

Second, most folks don't play nylon with a pick, of course there are exceptions.

And lastly, this is most likely your problem. Generally speaking the "attack" with nylon is lighter, again there are exceptions like Flamenco. Just listen to any Flamenco music. You will hear a lot of buzz, in part because of the set up of their instruments but also because of their aggressive attack.

Hope this is of some help,
Dave

Thanks for your response, Dave. I'll try playing the exercises a bit more softly, and see if I can make a difference by not using the pick. I find it quite hard to hold the pick at the moment, and prefer to play without, but my teacher is suggesting I do get used to the pick early on so that I can be flexible later on.....

[finger cramps]

I'm new as well to the guitar about 8 months now. Check your pick they come in different thickness. If your not using a thin pick give one a try their more flexiable & it will be easier on your strings and to hold on too! That way your teacher will be happy and you won't bang your strings to death. I bought a pack of fender thins and they have lasted a long time & I've used them on my steal string guitars. I hope this helps.

[Ziggy925]

I'm a little confused here. First, I own a lot of guitars and wouldn't think of playing my classical with a pick. I'm also a little puzzled that an instructor would have you playing a classical with a pick. What kind of music are you interested in? That should have been the determining factor in the guitar and instructor you chose. One solution to your problem, IMHO, would be to use a felt pick. They make them, and it would be the thing to use on nylon strings. Of course your volume and attack will be decreased, but that's what nylon strings do. Also, you might try a "harder" set of strings which should reduce a lot of your buzz.

If you strum or pick ANY guitar hard enough it will buzz or even rattle. Most guitars are "setup" based on the player, not the guitar. Someone who strums hard will probably want a higher action to get the strings away from the frets and fingerboard. A fingerstyle player will want a lower action.

One more thing. it's possible you may have a setup problem or a high fret that is causing the buzz. If so that can be easily corrected by a luthier or technician. I have an inexpensive Ibanez classical that sounded as good as guitars in the shop i worked at that cost thousands, so enjoy your Ibanez. I love mine.

[Michael D Bryce]

Watch people playing that Spanish progression in Spanish music, and you probably will see that they don't use a pick because they are playing a nylong-string guitar. I agree, don't use a pick on a nylon string guitar - unless you're Willie Nelson and you want a hole in your guitar.

[SimonL]

Thanks all. I haven't been using the pick, and with time my technique has improved and I am buzzing less


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mikeleric]

I am new to guitar playing too. I started seeing a teacher in March to learn classical style playing. I don't use a pick. Nothing I have worked on with the teacher so far has had even one measure where you quickly wipe your finger or a pick across all 6 strings. I pluck the strings with my right hand and I wouldn't know how to play if I had to cut my fingernails as short as possible. I do find that weird vibrating and buzzing noises happen when I don't press the strings hard enough with my left hand.

In addition, at least so far I have not learned chord progressions and since seeing my current teacher he has never had me think in terms of playing chords. So far I think in terms of just plucking the strings, not playing chords. So sometimes just one string is plucked at a time and sometimes 2, 3, or 4 strings are plucked at the same time, in which case I suppose a chord happens "by accident", without my knowledge of or consideration of what chord I have played. Mainly right now I am just trying to learn to go from one note right to the next one without any pause to figure out how to play the next note.