Various Crash Questions...

[Doron Diamond]

Hello,

I have been playing guitar for 4 months now. I FINALLY perfected Crash to the point where I can strum, sing, and perform it pretty perfectly (it's the first song I ever tried learning.) I'm so proud! BUT THEN, I visit this site, and watch the video for Crash (do you do the videos DMBFanJason? if so, you're freakin awesome...), and all my hopes and dreams go crashing (excuse the pun) down in flames! *sad* Anyway, I play Crash only going as far as the 4th fret, and to me and everyone I ever played it for, it sounded amazing. But then I see the video, which involves the 5th fret, and it sounds even better and more official.
My question: Has anyone else played it the official way, and the 4th fret way? Don't they sound almost the same to you! Is the 5th fret version that much better sounding? On Storytellers, it seems as if his fingers never touch the 5th fret. That, and, whoever made the videos, what kind of guitar and strings are used? It sounds EXACTLY like Dave and Dave's guitar. It's incredible. Anyway, thanks for ANY help whatsoever, I appreciate everything. Take care.

[AndrewEsq]

The "correct" way to play it is by fretting the fifth string at the fifth fret, but if you don't fret that string, it sounds almost the same.

Dave sometimes switches from the "fifth fret" way to the "no fifth fret" way because of the uncomfortable stretch that can bother one's hand if you keep it there too long. He does this in the Storytellers video. At the beginning, he's fretting at the fifth fret. During the end, he's switched his hand position to make the stretch less severe. (No fifth fret).

[MyHeartIsYours813]

Doron, don'† worry about †he fifth fret. It does sound a LITTLE better if you CAN put that pinky on the fifth fret, but it's not necessary. On the album version Dave just did the 2 to 4 stretch, not the fifth fret...so keep playing it the way you play and keep practicing the stretch...its what I did and still do, and before you know it you'll be able to it with almost no effort whatsoever.

[Brock]

in answer to your other question, jkanter does the videos and the tabs (with the exception of the new contributed/bass tabs) and the guitar he uses is a Taylor-314KCE... you'll have to ask him about what strings he uses.. later

[Dmb41ants]

it almost sounds the same because the b-string 5th fret, is the same as the high e open, and when u dont plat the b-string at the 5th fret, the high e fills in for it

[PilotC150]

The only difference is which note you are playing on 2 strings, if you fret the b-string, you are playing the e-note on two strings, if you don't, you are playing a b-note on 2 strings. either way, they sound very much alike.

[gravedigger]

The only difference is which note you are playing on 2 strings, if you fret the b-string, you are playing the e-note on two strings, if you don't, you are playing a b-note on 2 strings. either way, they sound very much alike.

exactly right. my friend likes to play it with the 2 b notes, 1 e note whereas I like to play it with the 1 b note and 2 e notes. However, I find it easier on the hand to mute the high e string when playing it because if you want that open high e string, then you must curl your hand more to get that pinky off from muting the high e. It's all good though. The toughest part is to sing the song well, in my opinion.