Best way to miss strings while strumming?

[u/Aduron213]

Hi all, I’m curious about how to “miss” strings while strumming somewhat faster. For example, if I’m playing a progression of triads on the top three strings, and I’m strumming eighth notes in a reasonably fast time, I find I’m always hitting the other strings. I know I can mute sometimes with my fretting hand (like with the movable B7 chord), but that’s for strings next to my fingers, not all three.

Do I need to just “get better at strumming”, missing particular strings? I can do it when I go super slowly, but that rhythmic, fast, down-up strumming always hits all 6 strings or none. If so, what exercises work on that?

[u/ttwii70]

Try some regular practice on this kind of strumming but specifically being conscious of how far the pick travels. What we all want to do is switch off concentrating and just thrash. When things get fast we obviously increase speed and this usually means we can't confine the travel of the pick. Find the tempo where you start to lose control. Hang out there for a bit playing down up down up on every odd beat, so resting on 2 and 4. Have your pick already resting on string 3 and just try and play with only the travel you need to reach string 1 but try not to cramp up when restricting the travel. Soft hands all the way. On the up strokes you could just play the top 2 strings as string 3 will still be ringing anyway. It's a good technique for reducing the clutter and just frees up the pick from getting too caught up in the strings. That's another thing - don't present too much of the pick to the strings. It creates too much resistance and makes you feel like you need a heavier swing when you don't.