fast palm muting

fenderrules

New member
erm i have a question for you guys...

how do you palm mute fast?? i mean i can palm mute in the down down pattern, and can do it with that chunky distorted sound as well, but how do i palm mute using the up down up down method?? i often keep missing the strings....
 
Palm-mute the same way, but alternate your up- and down-strokes with smaller swing of the wrist than you would with a normal downstroke pattern. This'd allow more oscillations of your wrist. Practise. Your muscle needs to get used to it also.
 
Yeah. Smaller movements makesit possible to go faster. Try different riffs and patterns to develop speed, accuracy, wadeva. Then one fine day, find the tab for Racer X's Scarified, and be demoralized by THAT palm-muting in the intro :lol:
 
but sometimes, when im palm muting that way, there seems to be some twitch in my thumb near the nail, then it suddenly turns into some irritating cramp, which keeps happening when i try to palm mute for at least 2 minutes.

is this natural??? i have been practicing sometimes somewhere late last year and have sort of gotten used to it. but why do i have this cramp???
 
Really? Do you hold your pick very tight? Too much exertion on the muscle may cause cramps I suppose. I dun play with a pick, and dun play metal much, so i dunno if your problem has anything to do with the music you play. Without a pick, my picking hand is more relaxed, yet I can play fast runs comfortably (that's why I dun play metal, see? Haha...no attack for that heavy sound...)
 
u do need to practise vey slowly with the palm mute first... (below 80bpm)... notice how your right hand picking is doing... and makr sure you only do just enough picking movement, no more, no less. u can feel the "strain" to control when playing very slowly, and that will help in your psychomoto (is that how it's spelled?) movements.

if you simply play too fast at the beginning your muscles won't be able to "remember" the movements as well, especially when one tends to be a bit sloppy while trying to reach for speed.
 
hey... just checking, when u palm mute fast it's all downstrokes still right? I mean, do you hit the strings on the upstroke?
 
There's no real right or wrongs, just practicality. If the upstrokes hit the strings too, then the combo of ups and downs can produce a very fast riff. If, for example, you do it all downstroke for 8 bars of 16th-note riffs at 150 bpm, you'll shag yourself out in no time, man. :lol:

Explore different picking techniques. After all, what you learn is yours to keep.
 
There's no real right or wrongs, just practicality. If the upstrokes hit the strings too, then the combo of ups and downs can produce a very fast riff. If, for example, you do it all downstroke for 8 bars of 16th-note riffs at 150 bpm, you'll shag yourself out in no time, man.

yeah my wrist went numb for a few minutes and i was even panting lol
 
People will tell you a couple of things... that well, Metallica's Hetfield does it ALL downstrokes, and downstrokes sound heavier... which is true since you are emphasizing the bass strings.
And so they will only go downstrokes, which limited them severely.

Enter Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth. Ever heard of him? Just go to the Iced Earth website and check out some of the songs. He uses alternate picking for his palm mutes and its ridiculously heavy. No, its not used in a power metal way but in a thrash/heavy metal way and its an eye opener.

Come, check out Iced Earth.... hehe... you will want to play like that. :)
Iced Earth Vids
Check out The Reckoning. :twisted:
 
I think a good combination of downstrokes and alternate picking would be better. Downstrokes somehow helps me feel the power, intensity of the song, alternate picking when the riffs are super fast.

and yea, do check out Jon Schaffer man, his riffing is 8O
 
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