In my rock song I'm learning, there are times where I need to play a double stop (adjacent strings, same fret) for the first half of the beat, then silence for the second half of the beat. Listening to the actual song, the transition from 'on' to 'off' is very crisp.
I tried releasing the pressure with my left (fretting) hand to make the silence - but it's not as crisp as using the palm of my right (picking) hand to deaden the strings completely. But it's harder to get the timing exactly right this way - I find it's harder to make my palm mute begin at exactly the halfway point of the beat.
My question: When you need to quickly and sharply mute the strings in a chord or double stop (especially in a fast punk/rock song) , which is the preferred method to quickly deaden the strings? Thanks.
I palm mute with the picking hand. I rest part of the hand on the bridge. With practice it is easy to mute, semi mute, etc. keep at it.
Thank you. Over the last couple of days I've found that using the palm indeed seems the better way to get the sudden full silence - at least for this particular double stop. Practising is making it easier to get the timing right, and resting my palm just barely above the strings helps minimize the time it takes to make the mute.
... resting my palm just barely above the strings helps minimize the time it takes to make the mute.
That's exactly the thing to do. It's also not a bad idea to keep your fretting hand in the picture. Just release pressure on the strings and rest your fingers on them while bringing down your strumming hand at the same time. It takes a little extra practice, but it does help make that mute crisper while cutting down on the number of mistakes / incomplete mutes.
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