Picking hand accuracy & middle strings

It's largely a matter of experience, practice, and finding what works for you. For the examples you cited, you can try muting the lower strings with part of your right hand (e.g., the heel), or use the tip of your left index finger that's holding the barre to lightly touch the fifth string to mute it.

For the higher E and B strings, using your left pinky is one method that Tomo mentions, I believe. Sometimes I might rest my free right-hand finger(s) on those strings -- for picking passages at least.

Keep at it and try different techniques. I'm sure others will offer great ideas (if they haven't already, as I slowly text from this mobile device).

 

If I were strumming that chord, I extend the tip of the index finger to mute the A string. There's a good chance that my thumb would wrap around to help mute as well.

Part of strumming a guitar is hitting strings that aren't part of the chords, it's our job to mute them. Otherwise you go to fingerstyle or a precise picking technique. Everything has its place.......

 

You want the pick hand to strum in a slight arc. It will learn to clear the strings you don't want included. As a back up you learn to slightly mute out adjacent strings just in case you hit them when your guitar is around your knees and your jumping off a marshall stack as you strum that chord. that's a back up and you still want to develop clean strumming and only hitting the correct strings.

Takes awareness and practice. You're half way there already.

 

That's a key point as well. I forgot that, Budda.

 

LOL Not to mention when windmilling your arm in a giant circle à la Pete Townshend.

 

on barre chords it very very very very important that you hit the string accurately work constantly on that, really the notes are redundant, advanced players rarely play a barre chord, partial chords are much easier, and only a couple notes are needed to sound a chord, root and 3rd, 7th if you got one.

soloing you should mute the strings around the one your playing the flesh of the fingers will do this when you postition the finger correctly, really hard not to do actually an advanced player can and often does pick all the strings and sound only one, it helps keep the established rhythm, and on stage an undamped string can and will sound, so its something we often have to do anyway. Thumb over the top can mute a lot of strings, the finger playing the note the rest, so hitting the right string really goes away, and we can play more rhythmically.

 

I think most important part is how you hold your guitar!

Make sure use a strap and when you straight your body... the instrument is steady.. (your body and your right elbow ?) hold your guitar.

Left hand is FREE! So you should be able to play anything without your left thumb.

Tomo