Celestus

Hello fellow guitarists, I have a question and I'll try to make it short.

Basically I dont have years of experience playing guitar and my technique is still developing, and as I've heard that you MUST start from PROPER technique to avoid much trouble later on, it got me thinking.

When I play riffs across multiple strings, and I move from one string to another, instead of muting the string from ringing out with my picking hand, I do it with my fretting hand, by raising the finger off of it. Now I've played quite a bit of classical guitar and more often than not, I had to play riffs in shapes, where all the strings ring out, just like you would hold down a chord. Sorry if it's confusing.

So is it a proper way to mute strings from ringing out or should I also learn to mute with my picking hand?

Zaphod_Beeblebr

You should really learn to do both, especially if you want to get in to much more advanced playing. There are definitely some things that many players do that you have to use pick hand muting for.

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astholkohtz

if you are playing powerchords on the low E, you have to pick only 2 or three notes. you shouldn't get used to mute the lower strings in any way: you just don't have to strum them.
when you play power chords on lower strings, like in the A string, you should mute the upper note with the middle finger, especially for fast, distorted riffs. you wont hear any harmonic, cause it's completely suffocated by the ringing notes, so dont worry about that. you still have to worry about not playing lower strings though.

in fact, some chords (my favourites) REQUIRE you to mute strings with your fretting hand!

palm muting is a different way of playing: you palm mute cause you want to hear a particular kind of sound. in that case you need to find the best sounding position with your right hand, which generally varies from guitar to guitar. palm muting is used to actually mute strings only when playing lead guitar.

there's a lot more to be said though, depending which genre you like to play and what kind of distortion (if any) you use!

llBlackenedll

OK, no. You *should* get used to muting notes you aren't planning to play, regardless of how accurate your picking hand is when strumming. Strings can sometimes ring out (even if it's only very slight) when you're not hitting them.

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ESP Horizon FR II (EMG) / Ibanez Prestige RG1570 (DiMarzio Crunch Lab & LiquiFire pickups)

This ain't no wobbly-headed doll caper.

Zaphod_Beeblebr

You're mistaken, your definition of palm muting is indeed accurate but that's not what TS is talking about. He's talking about muting with your picking hand, not palm muting, very different things. Watch this:

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astholkohtz

holy shit that guy sure talks a lot. allright let's call it "muting with your palm" then. can you link a less horrible example of that? i really dont understand what it is, i'm curious

astholkohtz

i played couple of riffs and i noticed i actually do that. weird... i guess you're right, lol

Zaphod_Beeblebr

He explains the exact mechanics of what's going on and shows closeups along with explanations, what's not to understand?

You use the bits of your hand that aren't doing anything else to keep strings from sounding. Very simple.

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astholkohtz

yes, as far as the fretting hand is concerned. i thought you were implying a technique to stop unwanted strings when playing power chords using the picking hand. i went through the video and the guy doesn't mention that.

Zaphod_Beeblebr

You are being needlessly specific. You were the one who mentioned powerchords, this thread is much more general than that.

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astholkohtz

sorry, when i read the word "riff" i always think about powerchords. anyway: you do agree with me when i say
chords ===> fretting hand
lead ===> muting with your palm (or other thechniques nobody mentioned so far)

dont you?

Zaphod_Beeblebr

I would say you're being too prescriptive and the best guideline I've ever heard regarding this is very simple: any spare piece of flesh should be muting anything you don't want making noise.

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astholkohtz

he's a beginner. imho being prescriptive is necessary not to confuse him (that's how i've been taught). i think with some common sense he should be able to spot the exceptions.

Zaphod_Beeblebr

He's played guitar enough to have asked the question in the first place with reference to classical technique, I really don't think he's so much of a beginner that doing so would be of any help.

Also I generally believe that relying on 'common sense' is a terrible idea; it's nowhere near as common as the name would have you believe.

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astholkohtz

well if that's not a beginner question to you i'd say we're done here.



that's the classic thing a catholic would say.

relying on common sense on something as simple as muting strings is the only way to avoid unnecessary (and potentially harmful) mental masturbation.
i've been playing 9 years and never been told how to mute strings (both lead and rhythm), and now i find out the techniques i use are the ones everyone (from instructors to self taughts) suggests. that's not cause i'm a genious, that's because it's as simple as that.

Zaphod_Beeblebr

The technique of muting is a basic one. The presence of thought to ask it is not a beginner process at all.



Relying on what people think is a good idea has led many people to terrible technique and injury. I would hardly call analysis mental masturbation at all, obviously you would though so I suggest we never actually talk, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume we wouldn't get on.

It's good for you that you found you had good technique all along but a lot of people do not. Until you've spent a fair bit of time teaching people in the real world I suggest you don't presume about what is or is not obvious or 'common sense'.

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astholkohtz

let's just agree to disagree. plus, if you teach people i presume you know what you're talking about anyway.

llBlackenedll

That's not the best assumption to make as there are many teachers out there who don't know what they're talking about That being said, yes Zaph knows what he's talking about (as does Freepower).

__________________
ESP Horizon FR II (EMG) / Ibanez Prestige RG1570 (DiMarzio Crunch Lab & LiquiFire pickups)

This ain't no wobbly-headed doll caper.

astholkohtz

i did not say i don't think freepower should be making videos. i just hate his approach to teaching (i watched a couple of videos by him, since you all love to link his stuff in this forum).