Palm muting

Drain Bamage

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Does anybody know when did rhythm powerchord palm muting originate? Was anybody doing it much before Van Halen?
 
Black Sabbath maybe? Never really listened to them, though.

How far back were Van Halen doing it? I would've thought that the heavy metal bands of the 70s would've got the idea from Sabbath. Then it was taken to the max by the thrash/speed bands of the 80s like Slayer and Metallica.
 
I guess it was playing with increased gain that popularised it in modern rock, I’d think it’s been around for a long time though.
 
Palm Muting has been around since way before Van Halen came about. Early country and blues musicians (1880s to 1930's) use to use palm muting on occasion to create a different sound. This however wasn't a widespread practice at the time and didn't really pick up steam. John Lennon used palm muting on the Beatles 1963 hit I Want To Hold Your Hand. Palm Muting became a trademark when the burgeoning genre of Thrash Metal was beginning to blossom in the mid 80's. It is also standard in the vast majority of Death Metal which was birthed by the band Death in the mid 80's. It was the 80's when Palm Muting really took off and today you will find it being used by the vast majority of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands.

My biggest problem with Palm Muting is that a lot of bands nowadays rely on it way too much which in my opinion leads to bands pigeonholing themselves. As someone who 34 years old and been playing the guitar since I was 12 I have learned that using the palm muting technique has its advantages and disadvantages and if you have to rely on it for the majority of your playing style you are strictly limiting yourself. I mean when I first began playing guitar a good deal of the music I tried to write was almost full of palm mute techniques which I can understand in hindsight because at that time I was mostly listening to Thrash Metal. I grew as a musician and realized there is much more to the guitar than that and power chords
 
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I’m a bass player but I use palm muting quite a bit to get that percussive attack. I play both fingerstyle and with a plectrum. This thread is timely because just the other night when I was practicing I suddenly realized how much I use it.
 
Just realized Jimmy Page was doing it way before EVH lol

Good Times Bad Times has some really tasty parts in the verse and the main riff of Communication Breakdown features it prominently
 
Here's an early example of palm muting, in a rock context:
 
More to the point, does anyone have any ideas about why, despite the best efforts of my guitar teacher, I can’t do it? Drives me bloody mental...
 
I’m a bass player but I use palm muting quite a bit to get that percussive attack. I play both fingerstyle and with a plectrum. This thread is timely because just the other night when I was practicing I suddenly realized how much I use it.

100% truth.
 
More to the point, does anyone have any ideas about why, despite the best efforts of my guitar teacher, I can’t do it? Drives me bloody mental...
Very hard to say, my friend. When I describe it to my students in its most basic form - I'll say to imagine having the karate chopping part of your hand sitting half on the strings and half on the bridge. From there, you can pivot slightly to play.

Are you having the problem where the strings just sound normal, or are they way too muted, giving off hardly any sound?
 
Does anybody know when did rhythm powerchord palm muting originate? Was anybody doing it much before Van Halen?



Dunno but in the mid-late 90's a lot of bands were getting signed by tuning to B and doing it non stop lmao
 
I’m a bass player but I use palm muting quite a bit to get that percussive attack. I play both fingerstyle and with a plectrum. This thread is timely because just the other night when I was practicing I suddenly realized how much I use it.




Muting strings while playing -regardless of your reasons for doing it- is pretty standard imo. Palm muting specifically is cool when it's done right, but holy shit do some bands over do it.
 
Very hard to say, my friend. When I describe it to my students in its most basic form - I'll say to imagine having the karate chopping part of your hand sitting half on the strings and half on the bridge. From there, you can pivot slightly to play.

Are you having the problem where the strings just sound normal, or are they way too muted, giving off hardly any sound?
Probably more the latter, but both are a problem. If I play just downstrokes I can do a passable job of it, but when I try to mix in upstrokes it all goes to pot.
 
Probably more the latter, but both are a problem. If I play just downstrokes I can do a passable job of it, but when I try to mix in upstrokes it all goes to pot.
I'm not gonna interfere with your teacher's methods, but just something I might suggest.

Start playing riffs with alternate picking, like the Peter Gunn Theme, then onto riffs like Aqualung and Crazy Train, which span two strings. I know they aren't normally muted, but they're nice, simple examples to use.

Visualise a point you'll pivot your hand on, down towards the bottom of the karate chop part. Happy muting, my man.
 
I'm not gonna interfere with your teacher's methods, but just something I might suggest.

Start playing riffs with alternate picking, like the Peter Gunn Theme, then onto riffs like Aqualung and Crazy Train, which span two strings. I know they aren't normally muted, but they're nice, simple examples to use.

Visualise a point you'll pivot your hand on, down towards the bottom of the karate chop part. Happy muting, my man.
Thanks mate, will definitely give that a go!
 
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