Palm muting help + extra question - eviltoast

Hello everybody

So i heard people do this thing called palm muting and it sounds awesom I want to learn. I tried it with pick.

Downstrum is ok i can do it but whats with the up strum? Is it possible or is there a technique to up strum while palm muting or guitarist dont do that and im just dumb

The extra question is about tuning. When I tune my guitar. Sometimes the tuner show that the tune is almost half a tune higher than it should be.

When the guitar used or after used the strings stretch right so the tune should be lower not higher right? So why is it higher? Its just poking me why this happen

  • RadButNotAChad@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Just some thoughts from an old hack who played guitar poorly for like 5 years before switching to bass.

    It’s confusing at first when trying to play a chord because you don’t have the range of motion you’re used to the a free wrist. Back when I learned I was taught to put the ‘knife end’ of my hand all the way up against the bridge (make a hand like you’re doing a karate chop) and strum from there. Down will be easier than up. Another thing to keep in mind is that all our arms/hands and other appendages are different sizes and what may work for others may not work for you, so try a few styles, see which works best for you and also sounds like how you want, and do that.

    And some things are okay to shortcut. I always had trouble on power chords on the bottom three strings so I just kept the root and next string snd skipped the third. No ones really going to notice.

    • CsikosPite@lemmings.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, I have long arms and fingers. Somethimes when i try palm muting i just mute the strings.

      Somethimes not press all the strings with the same force.I do the karate chop I saw that people put their hand on the bridge to get even atrumming.

      I practice it will get better eventually. Just the up strum fell so wrong. Always stuck my pick between the low strings. Good too know that the up strumming and palm muting not impossible together 😊

  • Night Monkey@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Try using part of your wrist to mute. Sometimes you gotta modify the mute to get the desired effect.

    I don’t know what kind of guitar you have, but cheaper guitars tend to have crappy tuners. I’ve noticed it’s much harder to keep a guitar in time with a guitar with bad tuners. Is it electric or or acoustic?

      • Night Monkey@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Okay. So when it comes to muting strings there are quite a few videos on YouTube that can explain it better than I can. Probably. All that I can say is that you need to experiment with your wrist and your palm as far as that goes.

        Like I said before, having a good tuner (like one that you would clip on to your headstock that’s powered by a small battery), decent strings, and a decent guitar is going to make quite a bit of difference. I know there are a lot of cheap ass guitars out there being sold for about $100 or less. But the truth is if you just spend the money and get around a $300 guitar, it will make a world of difference.

        • CsikosPite@lemmings.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          I wanted a better guitar. But I didn’t have the money. Now I don’t want to buy becausi really like it.

  • dack@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Palm muting is probably more common with down stokes, but you can palm mute up strokes as well. Start with alternate picking on a single string. Usually you are palm muting all 6 strings anyway, as it’s a technique that is more suited to single strings or power chords.

    Strings stretch most when they are new. After the initial stretching, they don’t change as much. This is why it’s common to manually stretch new strings when you put them on. Depending on the guitar and type of bridge, the tuning of one string can affect the others. For example, if you tune your low E string down, the other strings may go up in pitch as they take up more of the tension.

  • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It really depends on the guitar you have. If you have a floating tremolo you can’t do muting as any pressure on the bridge will make the guitar go sharp.

    For other types, muting while doing alternate picking is possible. Try something like the Peter Gunn Theme on the low E string for practice.

    For the tuning issue, it might be that your tuners are cheap or that the nut is pinching the strings. Try grinding a little graphite from a pencil and rubbing it into the nut slots, it helps with the sticking.

    • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If you have a floating tremolo you can’t do muting as any pressure on the bridge will make the guitar go sharp.

      The entire metal genre disagrees with you. You just need to hold your palm a little farther away from the bridge saddle, closer to bridge posts. And you also don’t need to actually apply pressure on the strings, no more so than when your playing harmonics with your fretting hand.

      • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I guess some people are pickier than others about tuning, probably why I don’t play floating trem guitars much any more.

        • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I certainly respect a good ear for tuning, it really sucks when the people you’re playing with both don’t have a good ear, and refuse to acknowledge what everyone around them is saying about it. Just between my Floyd Rose bridge and regular Strat/PRS style bridges, I’ve never palm muted my way out of tune. And I’ve definitely gone out of tune by using those floating bridges so it’s not a lack of awareness.

          • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I just did a little experiment for science. Washburn N4 with a Kahler floating abomination. It’s hard to get a good read on the muted notes for obvious reasons but they’re roughly 5-10 cents sharp on the low E. It’s not much, especially for a beginner but a beginner might use more pressure than I am.

    • CsikosPite@lemmings.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Well i dont have tremolo but ita interesting to know about that.

      I will try the graphite, and the song looks fun to try it

    • rug_burn@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      While you’re technically correct, the same goes for fretting, especially when playing barre chords, as the downward pressure of your fretting, you’re putting tension on the bridge this way as well. It’s best to not worry about it, chances are you’re not going to notice the slight change from palm muting. If you notice a change in pitch, practice your technique until it goes away.