Do I Need to Learn to "Palm Mute"?

The first song I want to learn to play and sing is Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, something along Willie Nelson lines. So in its simplest form it's just the Emaj, B7 and Amaj chords plus the little two- and four-note bass runs to connect them. All in first position, real Guitar 101 stuff. I can play it or I can sing it but not both together yet (and BTW why the heck is that B7 chord so hard to do cleanly?).

Here's my question. On my acoustic guitar the sustain of the guitar and the tempo of the chord changes work out just about perfectly. But both my Strat and my Tele sustain a whole lot longer. Plus the open strings sort of build up a midrangy muddle and obscure the differences between the chords. So is this a situation where people mute some or all of the strings with the palm of their picking hand?

I'm usually just strumming with my fingers but sometimes I play it with a pick. The pick in particular really gets the strings ringing out. But I'm not sure how much practice it's going to take to keep my palm on the bass and middle strings in between strums, especially when I do those little connecting runs.

The first song I want to learn to play and sing is Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, something along Willie Nelson lines. So in its simplest form it's just the Emaj, B7 and Amaj chords plus the little two- and four-note bass runs to connect them. All in first position, real Guitar 101 stuff. I can play it or I can sing it but not both together yet (and BTW why the heck is that B7 chord so hard to do cleanly?).

Here's my question. On my acoustic guitar the sustain of the guitar and the tempo of the chord changes work out just about perfectly. But both my Strat and my Tele sustain a whole lot longer. Plus the open strings sort of build up a midrangy muddle and obscure the differences between the chords. So is this a situation where people mute some or all of the strings with the palm of their picking hand?

I'm usually just strumming with my fingers but sometimes I play it with a pick. The pick in particular really gets the strings ringing out. But I'm not sure how much practice it's going to take to keep my palm on the bass and middle strings in between strums, especially when I do those little connecting runs.

I think muting and damping with both hands is important. Personally, I don't know if I learned how to do it so much as you end up doing it by feel almost subconsciously. If you play electric, you will end up muting sooner by necessity, or it just won't sound right.

If you want a basic exercise in palm muting or damping, listen to the shuffle rythm in ZZ Top's "Tube Snake Boogie" and try to play so it sounds just like that. You're not muting the strings so much as just damping them with your palm.

I think you may have the pattern wrong.
The rhythm for the song goes:
6th string E on 1 (then) strum "and a" on the rest of the strings
5th string hammer on B on 2 (then) strum "and a" on the rest of the strings

Yes, learning to palm mute and damp the the strings with your left hand as well are extremely important techniques to learn if you want to effectively play music. You can get all on into the technical aspects of it, but if you don't it will come to you in time. A good muting technique adds HUGE dimensions and dynamics to your playing.

the short answer is YES. like any other guitar playing "skill", being able to plam mute adds to your musical vocabulary or at least makes you a more versatile player.

i guess that's not such a short answer after all :mrgreen:

steve

Well, I suppose if you're playing hardcore punk you don't need to palm mute.

I agree with Bruce -- you'll end up muting automatically as needed, its not necessarily something that can be taught -- its much more of a feel thing...

I think muting and damping with both hands is important. Personally, I don't know if I learned how to do it so much as you end up doing it by feel almost subconsciously. If you play electric, you will end up muting sooner by necessity, or it just won't sound right.

Right. It can just "show up" the longer you play. That was my experience, too. Then I started hearing it in all sorts of songs. Sometimes it's very pronounced, other times subtle. A good color to have on your tonal palette.

I think you may have the pattern wrong.
The rhythm for the song goes:
6th string E on 1 (then) strum "and a" on the rest of the strings
5th string hammer on B on 2 (then) strum "and a" on the rest of the strings

Gary,

That's how each verse starts out but then after a Emaj chords alternating the bass string like that it A A# then a B7 chord with the bass alternating between B on the fifth string and Eb on the fourth string.

But anyway, it's the "and a" strums that start building up with the ringing and muddiness if I don't get some open strings muted somewhere along the way.

I've experimented a little last night and this evening and I think it will have to be some sort of natural brushing of the strings with my right hand instead of an explicit "muting technique". Actually, a real nice punchy articulation comes if I let the side of my hand touch the strings lightly during the movement to strum with a pick. It kind of kills the ringing previous notes at the very instant it's starting the next chord.

I'll work on just letting that happen or not without trying to force it for a while and see if I can relax and learn to do it without conscious planning...

i mute alot playing hardcore punk....

in short, yes, if only becasue the main riffs to "barracuda" and "la grange" are a hell of a lot of fun to play