Clacking sound when I strum

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happyconejito

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Hello everyone! I'm sorry if this is a very silly question, but I can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. Every time I strum there is a light clack - I can't tell if my finger is hitting something, or if that's just the way it sounds when your nail hits the strings and I'm hyper aware of it? Any rookie mistakes I could be making here?
Thanks!:cool:
 
You might be striking the strings at too sharp an angle. aim to strum across and not down.
 
A button on your sleeve? I chased that one for a while.
 
I had a little clack too. I was strumming with my index finger unsupported. I fixed mine by supporting my index finger with my thumb. Kind of like holding a pick.
 
I used to hit the treble end of the upper soundboard with my nail on the downstroke, making a tapping noise. Changing my angle of attack and moving closer to neck/body junction helped as did just general strumming practice. I think this is one reason why I like my cutaway. I'm less likely to strike the upper bout.
 
Hey everyone, thank you! I will play around with my angles some more. It seems to be worse when I support my index finger with my thumb, and I definitely have a problem with doing things too hard on general because I'm hypermobile... if I don't press hard I can't control what I'm doing! So it's probably some combination of all of the above... except the button, ha! :D
 
I occasionally get a rattling sound, which usually means that some random speck of something has found its way inside the body of the instrument. A good shake tends to solve the problem :)
 
If I really get into a strum, I too get this sound sometimes. For me it's my thumb hitting the fretboard on the upstrokes.
 
Hey all, so after quite a lot of practicing and analyzing and trying your tips, I have come to the conclusion that it is, in fact, the sound of my nail hitting the strings. I do hit the fretboard sometimes but it makes an entirely different sound... it does seem to be a bit less loud when I really focus on making my finger loose!
 
Last edited:
happyconejito said:
Hey all, so after quite a lot of practicing and analyzing and trying your tips, I have come to the conclusion that it is, in fact, the sound of my nail hitting the strings. I do hit the fretboard sometimes but it makes an entirely different sound... it does seem to be a bit less loud when I really focus on making my finger loose!
Click to expand...

Do you mean up strum? If it were up strum, you may avoid it.
 
Hi zztush - it is much more pronounced on my down strum but sometimes I get it on the up strum as well - how do I avoid it going up?
 
If it were up strum, you can avoid it. Nail direction, nail shape and finger tip work it. They work more in up rather than down.
 
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