muting my strings.....HELP!

[hellmut1125]

i use a pick not my fingers, i need a link or something that shows me how to mute, or do i even need to mute if i play metal with effects?

[PilbaraBass]

first off...play what you think fits...if you need muting, then mute...if you don't, then don't...it's a personal taste thing, not a prescription...

I don't play pick much, but when I do, it's because I want attack and little else (staccato)...I get this effect by using the side of my picking hand to mute the strings, and then just pick away...

[Parabolic Box]

Do you mean muting as in not allowing the other strings to vibrate, or just cutting down the sustain of your notes?

[hellmut1125]

not allowing them to vibrate, i dont want to dampen, completely mute

[capnsandwich]

I play guitar and also sometimes play bas with a pick. I do a technique called "palm muting", where I take the side of the palm of my hand and rest it up by the bridge as I pluck the string. It really provides a nice percussive tone to my playing and also keeps the other strings from ringing out. I'm sorry but I don't have any links or videos to show you but I'm sure there are some out there.

[Parabolic Box]

Originally Posted by hellmut1125

not allowing them to vibrate, i dont want to dampen, completely mute

Ah. I see. What I do is use my fretting hand to silence the free strings. It doesn't take much force, so just lazy technique can do the trick. Unless you happen to be on harmonic nodes.

[Nick Kay]

Yes, you need to mute. Bad metal gets its muddy bottom end from over-emphasized bass on guitars and sloppy bassists. Don't be a sloppy bassist.

There's two main techniques for muting when you're playing with a pick:

A) You can dampen the strings below (ie: lower in pitch) or above (ie: higher in pitch) the string you are playing with the palm of your picking hand - that's palm muting, obviously. All you have to do is park the fleshy part of your hand on the pinky finger edge just past the bridge. You don't have to apply pressure, you just have to rest your hand there. Experiment with how far past the bridge you want to place your hand - you can get away with much closer to the bridge with a lighter attack.

B) You can also dampen the strings above the one you're playing with a finger on your fretting hand, usually the index finger. I don't think that one has a specific name, but fret-hand muting is a good descriptor. You simply lay the finger across the strings, as if you're going to play a natural harmonic on all of the strings you plan on muting, same pressure (rather, lack thereof) and all. There's a little problem with this, though: you can get accidental harmonics if your finger is layed across a fret with a prominent natural harmonic (5th, 7th, 12th, etc.)

When I'm playing with a pick in a metal context, I use both techniques at the same time - palm for the strings below the one I'm playing on, and fretting hand for the strings above. It's very efficient and keeps everything nice and quiet, but it can take some getting used to, and extremely fast passages can get quite tiring on your fretting hand.