The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I struggle with this. Is there a video tutorial on palm muting?

    Thanks.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    a good way to learn to mute turn on distortion and turn that amp way up.. you will learn to mute.

  4. #3

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    i don't know of a tutorial but have watched great players from close range.

    you can experiment with keeping the palm on or near the bridge and mute when needed. you can also use the side of the right hand thumb for bass strings, and other fingers for higher strings for that matter. you may also be able to silence the strings with the left hand, but it depends on what you're playing, and timing can be tricky.

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by EOE
    a good way to learn to mute turn on distortion and turn that amp way up.. you will learn to mute.
    This is it. This is how most people learn prior to arriving at jazz.

    For most players, left hand is as big a part of it as right hand. Eventually you learn to have LH fingers muting "open" strings above and below. also, train your picking thumb to mute the string above when planting to strum a chord at reasonable tempos.

    It's also worth mentioning that there's also a good reason why many (or most?) who play a lot of chord melody use right hand fingers instead of a pick. It's often required as a prerequisite to CM methods to accommodate left hand fingerings. There are a lot of common CM fingerings which can't be played with pick because they skip strings etc .

  6. #5

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    Great points Matt... most of the muting is done with palm of picking or right hand. It just takes time actually muting. I generally keep palm near bridge and use a somewhat uncomfortable angle of wrist to mute and also to create that somewhat latin mute elect bass sound.

    And as Matt said... it's always a combination of both hands when simply muting strings for feedback etc...

  7. #6

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    Thanks for the input, guys.

    In my case I don't need high volume or gain to hear what needs muting. Unintended or prolonged ringing of notes as well as finger squeaks sound like fingernails on a chalk board. They are obvious enough. (I just realized that this saying will have no meaning to those who have never used a chalk board.)

    The technical aspects of playing are daunting. I won't list them because you know. Chasing undamped strings is yet another layer, a challenging one at that.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Marty Grass
    Thanks for the input, guys.

    In my case I don't need high volume or gain to hear what needs muting. Unintended or prolonged ringing of notes as well as finger squeaks sound like fingernails on a chalk board. They are obvious enough. (I just realized that this saying will have no meaning to those who have never used a chalk board.)

    The technical aspects of playing are daunting. I won't list them because you know. Chasing undamped strings is yet another layer, a challenging one at that.
    I hear what you're saying . The implication is not that you don't understand what needs to be done. But the approach talked about above is absolutely the most effective way to work on string muting immediately.

    It's worst case scenario . Everything rings whether you pick it or not . Your hearing immediately demands that you do something about all the ringing. It's just a completely different process from playing something like the music that you actually enjoy playing, with the tone that you enjoy, and fixing problems as they arise, on occasion. it's not even a thought process. It's instinctive in that setting.

    If you've always played acoustic, like I mostly have, or with a warm jazz tone, and never played with that set up of light strings, heavy gain and volume, for any length of time, you're not going to appreciate the value of it. But 10-year-old kids with horrible musicianship otherwise, learn string muting immediately when they play with that tone.

    It's instinctive and natural. You'll learn to do it playing melodies that way, muting with the left hand. And the right-hand muting Reg is talking about will come naturally as well.

    Seriously, if you haven't tried yet, give it a little time just as an exercise. I think you'll be glad you did. It's not about training your ears to properly hear when things ARE ringing over. You're already doing that. It's about training your fingers to stop the ringing in a worst-case scenario situation.

    Good luck and update us later!

  9. #8

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    When I first started teaching I was asked about muting so I had to give it thought.. I started out in blues and rock playing bass and playing in clubs which means with a lot of volume...well I realized I mute in so many ways that trying to relate all the ways my hands mute was a serious undertaking. so I told the student to turn the amp up .. you do not have to use distortion but it helps...no matter hard you practice you will never be as good at muting as someone who learned this way. some people may not respect cats like Steve Vai but he can shred on the acoustic as well.I went to a open jazz jam one time this cat was going on how he was a "acoustic player" and it requires special tech. so I dropped my pick and proceed to cut him with flamenco and classical tech on the electric. then he let me play his guitar and still cut him. He said "you are a acoustic guitarist" I said no I am a guitarist I learned all this tech to make me a better bass player. see some of us old neo-classical metal cats have studied every possible technique in our quest to be a virtuoso.

  10. #9

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    Thanks. I will give this approach a try.

    This is the sink or swim method. The volume highlights the problems so that you have to address them. It sounds painful at first but has the hope that eventually the muting will become subconscious and automatic. I like it.

  11. #10

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    I've been delving into string muting techniques lately. A lot of what I've seen on YouTube are more rock/metal based techniques like this
    eg palm muting the lower pitched strings with the pick hand and muting one string "above" (the next lower pitched string) with the fretting fingertip (or index, depending) and also laying the index across any other higher pitched strings that aren't being played. Whew, easier to watch the video than to read all that!

    OK, so I've been doing that for a while, using my technique exercises as a laboratory. So far so good up to moderate speeds. It definitely tightens up my sound as a solo instrument...but then...when soloing with a band/accompaniment...

    I watch Lee Ritenour (@4:32)
    , and it appears he's doing none of it!

    Then I watch Pat Martino (@1:48)
    and...ehhhh maybe he's doing some palm muting...but that's about all that I can see. (Gawd, he is mesmerizing to watch!)

    I play clean (no distortion, etc.) on an archtop...am I worrying about something that isn't a big issue if I'm not playing solo or super loud with distortion, etc.?

    When soloing with accompaniment, do you mute with the pick hand mostly and figure that's close enough figuring that the any extraneous string noise is getting buried in the mix?
    Last edited by FatPick; 03-29-2015 at 12:48 PM.

  12. #11
    It's not really a thought process. It's like eating with a fork or something. Natural, intuitive. If you ask a great player how he's doing it, he may have to stop and actually look at what he's doing and figure it out before he can tell you Because it's not a conscious thought process anymore.

    The exercises and recommendations in previous posts are all things to work on to learn some string muting techniques in the practice room, but once you learn them you just play. It's really all of them at once, but to start, you may have to work on them individually.

    Again, the great advice to play at high volume with distortion this not because you're going to play that way, but because it's the easiest way to hear things ringing in a worst-case scenario situation.

    You don't learn to ride a bike by reading about it or someone telling you how to do it. You can get some pointers...

    Turn the volume and gain up and play single notes, chords etc. Your ears and fingers will do most of the rest on their own honestly.

    Once you learn to ride a bike you can't even quite remember how "not to"...

  13. #12
    This post shows the information which is close to standard. Hope next You will again post a nice Article/Information.

  14. #13

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    It's also possible that muting may not be important to you if you play acoustic instruments or use a classic jazz tone. I don't mute. I play gigs with full rhythm sections. It's not a problem.

    If you want to use overdrive, mute away. If you want to play acoustic, you might actually find that muting is killing the quality of your tone and performance. Look at classical players - they mute when they want to stop a tone from sounding, but they're not just muting everything all the time. That would choke off all the natural, beautiful overtones that ring out.

    Different music demands different techniques. Don't get caught up in this idea that the standard rock playing position is the best position and technique for everything.

  15. #14

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    Okay. Like most aspects of playing and gear, opinions span the entire spectrum.

    Nonetheless, the first video was very helpful to me personally. Thank you, FatPick.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by ecj
    It's also possible that muting may not be important to you if you play acoustic instruments or use a classic jazz tone. I don't mute. I play gigs with full rhythm sections. It's not a problem.
    Ahhh OK, I guess that's what I was wondering. I practice my archtop using closed headphones and maybe it's making me more paranoid than I should be.

    Quote Originally Posted by ecj
    If you want to use overdrive, mute away. If you want to play acoustic, you might actually find that muting is killing the quality of your tone and performance. Look at classical players - they mute when they want to stop a tone from sounding, but they're not just muting everything all the time. That would choke off all the natural, beautiful overtones that ring out.
    Absolutely. I play fingerstyle blues and ragtime on the acoustic/resophonic and one of my favorite songwriters in the genre, Kenny Sultan, mutes his playing like crazy and I don't care for it. Loves his tunes, just not crazy about the way he plays them!

    Thanks for your responses, everybody. They really help!

  17. #16

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    Hello
    I have been having trouble learning to string mute correctly and have got to the stage where it is stopping my enjoyment of playing. I am wondering if I might be overreacting just watched a video of Wes playing Around Midnight and can't see how he can be doing any Muteing his right hand Palm being nowhere the strings but still sounds great and clear