Help with Crash please

[jimmything117]

I'm brand new at playing guitar and saw that some people recommended crash as an ok one to start out with. Plus it's one of my favorites so it should make it harder for me to give up

My question was about the very fist set up tabs. I got the video, but it doesn't shot how you "strum" the strings. Do you go down, and then come back up on some of them also? Or is it all down?

Thanks

Also, what does a "x" mean when it is on one of the lines in the tab?

[gravedigger]

good question. I have my guitar in my lap so I'll try to help ya

It's not all down strums. You hit the first note on the first chord and then strum down twice, then up twice then play the open A string (2nd thickest, well you know, anyway..) then two down strums, one up strum than the B bass note (u know, 2nd fret on the A string) two strums down, two strums up, then the low E string note, two strums down, one strum up. *phew* then the A flat note on the E string followed by two strums down and two strums up followed by the open A string followed by two down strums and one up strum. then the B string followed by two down strums and two up strums. then the low E comes again followed by two down strums and one up strum. than you're back to the c# again.


I hope this helps you. To get the rhythm, the main thing is to listen, practice, play along with the luther college crash, and then practice and listen and then practice some more. You'll get it.

peace,
Ken

[dmbguitar718]

well, i don't know if crash is a good one to start out with because the strumming pattern is hard at first. yes, you do "come back" on some strums. this is called an upstroke, and it gives the song a more fluent sound. (if you use all downstrokes, it will sound choppy, as you probably have noticed.)

you should probably start out with a song like rapunzel, this will show you the importance of strumming patterns. (the verse is all upstrokes). but if you really want to start out with crash, then, hey, who am i to tell you. do want you want.

also, a "X" means that the string is muted, or not played but still is strummed. it is usually done naturally when you make the chord formation. so for a chord like:

(second chord from the dancing nancies verse)
e-----
b-----
g--4--
d--4--
a--x--
E--2--

you would fret the chord normally, and rest your index finger over the a string.

hope this helps

Patrick

[gravedigger]

yeah, what dmbguitar718 said, the X means the string is muted like in the chord 2-X-4-4-X-X as he pointed out, your index finger (1st finger) touches the A string enough so that it doesn't ring out open or also not hard enough for it to be a fretted note.

I hope that makes sense. Dave does this a lot. It's a big part of his playing style.

peace,
Ken

[jimmything117]

Thanks Ken and Patrick! I'll try it later!

-Doug

[jimmything117]

Hmm, I tried doing what you said GraveDigger and I still can't seem to get it to sound right... Any general suggestions or tips on playing crash? I'd greatly appreciate it!

I can't even get the first part to sound right. I'm pretty sure it's in tune because my guitar came w/ an electronic tuner. I can get the first note to sound right, but it's just downhill from there. I tried strumming twice down, and then twice up, but it doesn't sound right. How fast do you have to do it? And you only hit the middle 4 strings right? You leave both the E's out. Or so the tab says...

Is Crash maybe not a good one to start with?

THanks in advance

[gravedigger]

yeah, I always found it best to play along with the song to see if I could "keep up" . Try playing just the bass notes to the song along with the recording - so you can get a feel for the flow of it. than its just a lot of listening and practicing. If you get discouraged, try other songs and then come back to crash and practice some more. You'll get it eventually. I imagine Jkanter will eventually have the video up for it so you can see how its played.

peace,
Ken

[jimmything117]

ok, just playing the single notes sounds like a good idea. Let me try that. Thanks again!

[waffle_house_jam]

crash can be a tough one for beginners. listen for a pattern between the base notes and that constant drone on the high strings. once you have that in your head, try doing it slowly. you might want to try hitting a bass note, then the chord, bass note, chord, without all the complicated strokes in between. while you're doing that, try to keep it in rhythm with the album. on the strumming, i use alternating down/up strokes, but whatever works for you will be fine. dont try to get it exactly, it will eventally come to you.
good luck. i hope that helps

[jimmything117]

Waffle_house_jam,

So you don't use the strumming pattern that gravedigger uses? You always just do down then up? Did I read your post right?

Thanks for the suggestion... I'll try to do what you said also... bass note, chord, bass note, chord...

-Doug

[jimmything117]

Alright, I think I got the bass line down, but I still can't get the chords inbetween to sound correct. Any suggestions for that? Gravedigger, you seem to be on a roll in helping me... can ya give suggestions for my new question

[gravedigger]

just to expand on waffle_house_jam good advice, now that you have bass line down, try doing one down stroke after each bass note for a bit till you get that down, than little by little try to add a little more "filling" strums till you get it to sound the way you like. After each bass note there's like 3 or 4 strums but you have to listen carefully and practice what you hear. In time, it'll come somehow on its own, like waffle_house_jam said. If there's one more tip I can give you, its to be patient and keep it fun. Dave's been playin' the guitar for ,oh, 25 years or so, he put in a lot of practice time.

peace,
Ken

[jimmything117]

I got another question about the crash tab.. was hoping for some more help. Do you ONLY hit the strings in the intro that have numbers on them? I'm reading that right correct? You shouldn't be hitting your thinnest string(E) at all throughtout the intro? If this is correct... how do you stop from hitting it? Practice?

Thanks again!

P.S. I think it's sounding better now I just keep listening to the video, and keep trying to get that first part to sound right. I'm still trying to use your methods gravedigger. Hit the first note, 2 strums down, 2 strums up. next note.

[gravedigger]

yeah, don't worry if you hit the high e string or not. It's the same note as the fifth fret on the b-string which your pinky is on anyway. I think generally the strings without numbers on them are not played (muted).

peace,
Ken

[Chumpnet]

jimmything,

Crash was one of the songs I took on as a beginner and I struggled with the strumming pattern too. This is how I learned Crash and maybe it will be useful to you too.

I'm a visual person and like to be able to see the strumming pattern. I'll try to draw out the strumming pattern so I'll explain the notation I'll be using. I'm going to pack in more information than you may need just to make sure I cover everything so filter out what you don't need.

Code: Select all

D - either strum or pick a string downward
U - either strum or pick a string upward
. - do not pick or strum anything (ie. move your pick so that it misses all the strings)

-----------------------------------
hand motion (U - up, or D - down)
-----------------------------------
strumming pattern (see above)
bass pick or strum (P - pick, S - strum)
the bass note to pick
beat
-----------------------------------

---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU 
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
D...D..UDUD.DUDU D...D..UDUD.DUDU D...D..UDUD.DUDU D...D..UDUD.DUDU
P   S  SSSP SSSS P   S  SSSP SSSS P   S  SSSP SSSS P   S  SSSP SSSS
C#        A      B         E      G#        A      B         E
1   2   3   4    1   2   3   4    1   2   3   4    1   2   3   4   
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------

The column spacing is to make it easier to read. A tricky part might be the bass notes in each section which immediately follow an upstrum. Use the upstrum to set yourself up for the bass note. Notice all the bass picks go downward and if you group the 3 quick strums together, the first group starts with an upstrum and the second starts with a downstrum. Each beat has 2 downs and 2 ups which alternate DUDU. Knowing this will help you figure out other strumming patterns by ear as you listen to a song.

The first thing I do when I attack a strumming pattern is to scribble it down (I use a less ascii friendly but more visually intuitive notation) making sure it's spaced out properly according to the beat.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I added an upstrum at the end of each measure. Noticed this while listening to LS.