Muting Chord Question!!
Question:
The reason some of those high ringing open chord notes that are popular with folk music fans are not heard in pop music is the fact that the sound is compressed, equalizers get rid of the high notes and the sound is homogenized. Add a touch of palm muting and you get fast chunky chords. All played using bar chords about half way up the neck of the guitar where all the strings can be more easily controlled with the fingers of the left hand. With open chords, you have less control on the strings that you are not touching after they are strummed. However, if you had mentioned the names of the songs you want to learn, it would have been easier to explain. All types of music are represented in this group. Lots of experienced players are here. It’s a nice place. Not many insulting remarks. Lots of good info. Nice place for the "long time beginners" like me to learn stuff that I should have learned 40 years ago.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> OK, this is completely frustrating. There are several songs that I am learning > that require a muted, chunky sound to the chords. For instance, the basic A > chord. WHen I play it, the open (a) string and the high (e) ring out loudly and > seem to drone on. The fretted notes sound fine, because I slightly release and > press down again to give me that sound, but the open ones just ring. > The basic E chord is even worse, and don’t get me started on the open d string > when playing D! > When I listen to the song on CD, the chords are right but I don’t hear that > ringing open strings on the song at all, instead it sounds full and chunky — > so it’s something I am not doing. It is distracting and frustrating. > Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong, or some advice or something??
Response:
I am not familiar with three songs that require the technique you are talking about in my whole repertoire. That Chunky sound is usually played on only the lowest two or three strings. So you are probably trying to play too many strings. Try this. Place the palm of your hand lightly exactly perpendicular to the guitar right on the bridge and NOT muting any strings, but almost muting them. Now roll your hand toward the neck and while fingering the E chord play only the E and the A strings. You still need to finger all of the notes though. When you first start, use a lot of overdrive, and pump up the low and the highs, down on the mids. After you get it, you should be able to get good muting with all EQ, volume and overdrive settings.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> OK, this is completely frustrating. There are several songs that I am learning > that require a muted, chunky sound to the chords. For instance, the basic A > chord. WHen I play it, the open (a) string and the high (e) ring out loudly and > seem to drone on. The fretted notes sound fine, because I slightly release and > press down again to give me that sound, but the open ones just ring. > The basic E chord is even worse, and don’t get me started on the open d string > when playing D! > When I listen to the song on CD, the chords are right but I don’t hear that > ringing open strings on the song at all, instead it sounds full and chunky — > so it’s something I am not doing. It is distracting and frustrating. > Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong, or some advice or something??
Response:
>OK, this is completely frustrating. There are several songs that I am learning >that require a muted, chunky sound to the chords. For instance, the basic A >chord. WHen I play it, the open (a) string and the high (e) ring out loudly and >seem to drone on. The fretted notes sound fine, because I slightly release and >press down again to give me that sound, but the open ones just ring. >The basic E chord is even worse, and don’t get me started on the open d string >when playing D! >When I listen to the song on CD, the chords are right but I don’t hear that >ringing open strings on the song at all, instead it sounds full and chunky — >so it’s something I am not doing. It is distracting and frustrating. >Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong, or some advice or something??
Here is a lesson that I got off some website a while ago. Palm Muting Palm muting is something that can be difficult at first, but is easy once you get used to it. This technique is commonly used in heavy metal, and is what produces that heavy crunching sound. You perform palm muting by gently placing the palm of your right hand on the strings near the bridge, while playing your desired strings. So basically, you are muffling the sound. Be sure not move your right hand too far away from the bridge, otherwise you will completely mute the strings and you’ll just hear a raking sound. So on the example below, you would play the chord shown, after you have placed your right hand on the strings in the correct place. PM is short for palm muting… PM… D|—-2—-| A|—-2—-| E|—-0—-| This isn’t really enough to get the idea of palm muting, so it would be best to try out the example below to fully develop your understanding of palm muting. This example combines palm muting with power chords. Try it slowly at first, then try and get it faster as you improve… D|-2—2–2—2—2–2—2—2–2—5—7-| A|-0—0–0—0—0–0—2—2–2—5—5-|
Response:
OK, this is completely frustrating. There are several songs that I am learning that require a muted, chunky sound to the chords. For instance, the basic A chord. WHen I play it, the open (a) string and the high (e) ring out loudly and seem to drone on. The fretted notes sound fine, because I slightly release and press down again to give me that sound, but the open ones just ring. The basic E chord is even worse, and don’t get me started on the open d string when playing D! When I listen to the song on CD, the chords are right but I don’t hear that ringing open strings on the song at all, instead it sounds full and chunky — so it’s something I am not doing. It is distracting and frustrating. Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong, or some advice or something??
Response:
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