Muting

You have to work on a combination of fretting hand and strumming hand muting and use whatever works best in the given situation - yes.

When strumming full open chords I use fretting hand muting a lot. I often use my pinky (if available) across all strings to get a percussive sound in addition to damping string ringing.

When playing barre chords, all that it takes is to release the pressure slightly.

When playing lead or partial chords I use the tip of one finger touching the adjacent string, or a flattening of fingers.

What about strumming hand you say? :oops: I'll have to work on that :D

Good luck

I use the side of my fretting hand fingers touching adjacent strings to mute as well as flattening out my hand a little. Depending on the passage, you can even put your thumb over the top to mute the low E. Also depending on the passage you can use your picking hand to mute the high strings by using your fingers that aren't holding the pick. Ahh...so many muting techniques, so little time.....................

lars and stratslinger - thanks for the replies.

So, I guess what it comes down to is do what feels right and is most efficient for the given situation. :D

You both mentioned a variety of techniques that I seem to also use. I've noticed that, without thinking about it, I tend to use my middle finger to mute various strings when it isn't being used - usually in partial chords. Other partial barre chords tend to get muted by tilting my index finger slightly. This is usually very helpful for the times when I don't want the high E and the B strings sounds.

The biggest issue I have now is during lead passages I get that ringing sound from the unplayed strings, especially on the electric when I have a lot gain. (Think Metallica.) Trying to get 5 out of 6 strings muted when I'm playing the middle strings is tricky for me. I guess like everything else I've learned I'll just have to work out what works for me and practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. And did I mention practice?

Thanks again for letting me know I'm on the right track.

-Kirk

When strumming full open chords I use fretting hand muting a lot. I often use my pinky (if available) across all strings to get a percussive sound in addition to damping string ringing.

A great example of this technique is the Johnny Cash song 'When The Man Comes Around'.

The biggest issue I have now is during lead passages I get that ringing sound from the unplayed strings, especially on the electric when I have a lot gain.

Have you tried resting the side of your fretting hand on the bridge?

Fretting hand on the bridge? That would be difficult, wouldn't it? :D

I assume you meant strumming hand on the bridge. I do that (strumming hand on the bridge) to some extent and usually am able to get the lower strings muted when they aren't being played. If I'm playing the middle strings, I still get high string ringing, so I assume I either need to get my non-strumming fingers on my strumming hand to silence those higher strings or my fretting hand's non-fretting fingers.

^ ehr... right ... I also didn't think so either :roll:

Wes Inman at the forums here is an active bridge muting advocate. Maybe he will chime in soon :)

On thing that I have noticed is that my strumming hand is fairly parallel to the strings - not EXACTLY parallel but closer to parallel than to perpendicular. I've seen a number of pictures of using the blade of the hand (extending down the hand from the pinky) resting on the bridge or parallel to the bridge, but my hand is off at an angle.

Perhaps I need better body positioning to make this effective?

Try a restructured chord that eliminates the problem. Get a Mel Bay chord book...and look for the notes shifted around a bit in the chords...

Hope this helps!

Cat

easier to tilt your guitar.

muting is one of those skills that will improve as your fingers and hands learn where the strings are. as in learning to swim, you will begin to feel comfortable in the environment with where everything is -- strings, bridge, frets, and "feel" which strings need attention. learning fingerstyle helps develop this locational ability. at some point you will be able to "know" a string should be muted (or should be ringing out better), and make minute and automatic changes in finger positioning to make it all happen.

exercises for various types of muting:

playing arpeggiated chords: whether fingerstyle, flat-picking or hybrid-picking will help both hands work together. this is important for muting as much as playing notes.

octaving is good for the fretting hand mute development: practice strumming across three strings (such as G, B, e) while fretting octave notes on the outer two of the three strings. you will need to find a way to mute the middle string. some players use the finger fretting on the lowest string to do this by tilting the finger until the flesh just touches the middle string. when you get good at this, it will be difficult to tell there is a muted string, and the two outer strings will sound as if they were picked simultaneously. slide it around. change the interval (6ths, dom7th, maj7th ...)

muted strums: this will give your strumming more character. most beginners worry a lot about the fretting hand and hitting the notes, and the rhythmic development -- strumming, timing -- usually lags. playing rhythm guitar is a not unlike playing drums or percussion. learning to strike the strings and use muting as part of the sound takes some concentrated effort in the beginning, and becomes fun when you start to really get it. one of the big secrets of guitar playing is that if the rhythm and timing are solid and confident, even wrong note can sound right. strumming hand muting is done differently for different guitars, based on acoustic/electric, sustain, harmonic complexity and general tonal balance -- gotta play with each to find how she wants to be handled (channeling Chef!). on an electric, you may want to try to do it on a 3 and 4 string strum instead of 5 or all 6. try a combo sharp attack strum following thru with an immediate, hard mute: that is follow the pick or strumming fingers with a single motion damping of the strings with the heel or wrist or somewhere in between. it's almost a single chopping motion at an angle just enough off parallel to the plane of the strings to ensure your heel or wrist will collide with the strings. on acoustic, this usually involves significant elbow motion. on electric, it may come from a pivoted elbow, but for high gain playing the stroke usually is shorter and more tightly controlled, and a good portion of it comes from the wrist. practice landing your hand closer and further from the bridge to see what works best for you and for a particular guitar. see what different effects you can create. see what you can do on an upstroke (much harder. most players mute with fretting hand on upstrokes or use a combo of both hands.)

one way to learn to mute on the bridge is to work on picking various strings with your the heel of your hand positioned on right on the bridge to mute every note. this is probably a little easier on a ToM bridge -- and a heavier guitar. work on muted notes starting with the high e (should be the easiest) and move down lower as you get into it. play the notes slowly and evenly -- that's more important than speed. when you gain some proficiency, time to push it more and do some cross string muted picking.

back to the fretting hand. part of chickin' pickin' is playing a note followed by an immediate mute. this one is pretty simple. pick the fretted note and then immediately lift your finger to mute it. work on this doing four finger chromatic runs up and down a string. then expand it to other scales.

have fun.

gnease -

Wow! Great ideas. Thanks for the post. I'll have to read it a few more times to digest it all. :) I'll definitely integrate some of the ideas into my practice.

-Kirk