Question

So it sounds better to me going down on the guitar than going up. Maybe going up sounds good on some chords. If so, can you tell me which? :)

Answer 1

I heard of some people going up and down on the same chord. It just does not sound right to me when going up.

Answer 2

Do you mean moving along the neck without changing your fingering? Most chords can't be played that way.

You've probably been learning OPEN CHORDS, no? Things like G (320003) or C (032010) or maybe even D (x00232). Are you familiar with that notation? It just means which fret on which string, starting with the low E (the one closest to you when you play) to the high E (the tinny sounding one).

Some of those you can move around. Try these:

For the G chord shape (320033 or 320003), you can +5 or +7 to the nonzero numbers for some nice chords, i.e. 870008 or 10900010 (those are 10's, maybe you prefer hex? a9000a :P). those are just other variations of C and D, respectively.

If you want a chord shape that you can move *anywhere* on the neck and have it sound good, you'll want to learn POWER CHORDS. note: these are kinda painful for beginners to play. The basic structure is:

355433 - that's a G chord in power chord form. Should sound almost identical to the open G (320003). You can move that shape anywhere and have it be a real major chord.

Here's how most people play it (here comes the finger hurting): Remember the chord is 355433
-Lay yr index finger on all strings on the 3rd fret. this is the hurty part.
-hit the '4' on the 'g' with yr middle finger.
-hit the other '5's with yr ring and pinky finger. I find the ring finger is easiest to use on the 'A' string.

Confusing? Yea I can't teach right.

Answer 3

Have you learned the open E chord yet? It's just '022100'. Look similar? That's just a power chord (also called 'bar chord') except you don't have to put yr finger on all the 0's because... well... they're zeroes.

Answer 4

worth a thousand words:
http://guitarsecrets.com/pictures/F2jpg.jpg

Answer 5

So far I have only manage to keep blistering my thumb. And yes the above does look confusing. It may take me a couple of reads to comprehend.
And what I meant is when plucking the guitar when is it good sounding to pluck up?
It is really hard for me to type on this iPad by the way.
In response to that message: you seems good

Answer 6

I'm totally haven't seen the notes in hex until now. You know too much.

Answer 7

I*

Answer 8

it's just kinda difficult to type double digit numbers when the whole idea is each digit corresponds to a string

10900010 seems like too many strings, lol

Answer 9

Hey @mattfeury ! I do understand everything you have here. And I still have some easier stuff I need to practice before this. But when I get to the hard stuff, I will certainly look at this.
I understand that hex stuff too :).
Also I meant when playing up and down like this:

It sounds better going in that down direction.

But whatever your information is still very useful to me and thanks so much :)
You are sorta awesome I guess.