Lead Guitar Lesson, The skill of String Muting
May 14, 2011String muting is another method that may assist you to define your own personal style. Muting will also help you to create cleaner, more impressive sounding guitar chords and also solos be removing undesirable sounds from your guitar.
There are two kinds of string muting, the palm mute with your picking hand as well as the string mute with your fret hand. They serve very different purposes, but both are crucial to good guitar playing.
Fret-hand muting is particularly critical when playing chords and power chords. The aim is to use a section of you finger tips and fingers to mute the strings you don’t wish to include in the chord being played. For example the C major chord is played from the 5th string to the first, but you aren’t supposed to hit the 6th string. I use the tip of my third finger which is holding down the fifth string 3rd fret to rub up against the sixth string thereby muting the string. I use this identical method as well with power chords, but additionally I use the fat part of my index finger to lightly place on strings 1,2,3. With just enough pressure to mute the strings. The beauty is in case you get just a little wild with your pick it still sounds acceptable. Fret-hand muting is utilised extensively.
Palm muting is a lot more commonly employed in distorted rock songs. The method will require sitting the heel of your pick-hand palm on the strings as you pick. Many people rest it directly over the bridge, but you can experiment with different positions for diverse sounds. Also attempt distinct levels of pressure to regulate the level of muting. This technique creates a percussive, muffled or chunky sound. Combine quick down strokes with palm muting in a variety of patterns with moderate distortion for sounds similar to Metallica or other metal bands.
With lead guitar playing at times it may be neccesary to further mute the fretboard. An easy way to achieve this is to simply affix a hairband around the neck of the guitar close to the nut. Be certain to have the hairband tight enough to muffle the open guitar strings, but not too restricted as to push the strings down on to the 1st fret. This simple tip may help “shred” style lead guitar players clean up their sound by muffling unwelcome open strings.
Both fret hand muting and palm muting are very individual and stylistic methods. Incorporate practicing this method each and every time you pick up your guitar and before long you’ll master this crucial skill.
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