Trouble with buzzing/twanging noise when playing the F chord

ohana29

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After wanting to play for years, I finally bought a soprano uke and dived into the world of ukulele. However, I've been having problems with buzzing and twanging. The sound the uke makes when I play the F chord in particular feels muted and has a "thunk" noise. I suspect it's something in my left hand position that is at fault, but don't know how to correct it. I try to pay attention to "tunneling"my fingers, trying to make sure they don't graze the strings that aren't fretted, but it still sounds off.
 
Hold the chord position then slowly pluck each string individually with your right. This will tell you which string is giving you the problem.

If it is the C or A (the strings that should be open) and they only do it on that chord, then you are almost certainly touching them with your fretting fingers (don't forget the fleshy part of your hand that might be pressing against the A from the side).

If it is the E or G strings (the ones that are fretted) then the likely cause is one of three things - either one or both fingers are not in quite the right position, you're not pressing hard enough, or you have some uneven frets.

Your fingertip should be just behind the fret and you should be pressing just hard enough to put the string in firm contact with the fret - the fret will handle things from there. If that seems okay then it looks like you may have some frets that aren't level. This can be a case of the fret you are using on one of the strings being too low (so when you press the string down it buzzes against the next fret) or a case of other frets further up the fretboard being too high (same effect, different cause, and time to get out a straight edge to figure out which is the problem).

John
 
John,

I appreciate the help, and am now working on the problem. Thanks! I don't think it's the placement of the frets, but a combination of inadvertent finger contact with the strings and not enough pressure.

Any other replies to this topic would be appreciated, however.

ohana29
 
Any other replies to this topic would be appreciated, however.
So far it sounds like your fingers being the root cause and thus it is a bit of guesswork what else could impact your output.
"Muted" strings are usually a matter of finger positioning (and sometimes changing strings helps improving the sound as well), "off" notes in the chord could have technical reasons in the uke itself (e.g. action too high). If your username is somehow linked to your uke I would be quite surprised about the latter...
 
I don't think it's the placement of the frets, but a combination of inadvertent finger contact with the strings and not enough pressure. ohana29

To avoid that inadvertent contact with open strings, arch your fingers and press the desired strings with the very tips of your fingers, not the pads. If your wrist is tucked up under the neck, you might find it hard to do this, so let your wrist drop away from the neck. Experiment with different arm/hand/finger positions until you find what works for you.

 
I may be wrong, but I do not think it is technique...as that would mute the string...not buzz... do like john says and pluck the individual strings and listen for the buzz.....does this happen on certain frets?or all frets.... open or fretted or both?? Only on the F chord? could it be wide nut groove??
 
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does this happen on certain frets?or all frets.... open or fretted or both?? Only on the F chord?

I have this issue on almost every chord except for the C chord. I still think it might be my fingering technique, so I'll work on that. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.
 
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