Take 5: Muted Rock Rhythm

The fundamental technique is as follows:

We start with our standard playing position. For this example, we're going to look at a D power chord in the open position, fretting the 2nd fret on the third string with our 1st finger. Left hand position tends to vary greatly from player to player, so we'll take a look at what mine looks like as an example, using a downstroke hitting both the 4th and 3rd strings. We'll also look at an alternating stroke hitting both strings. You'll see that my picking motion comes primarily from the wrist. That's true for a lot of great players. Some players create the picking motion primarily with their fingers, however, and this can be equally as effective.

Now let's listen to the effect of palm muting the strings using a downstroke and alternating stroke. What do we hear? More low end. More attack. Less ringing overtones. The pitch of the chord is as close to the unmuted chord as possible. What do we see? I am bringing the outside edge of the palm of my hand down to the bridge of the guitar, just onto the strings. If I press too hard with my right hand, it will tense up, which causes your endurance to be compromised. So, press just enough to get the sound you want. If your hand isn't right at the bridge, it will cause the pitch of the chord to go sharp, so keep it right at the bridge.

Don'ts:

1. Allow the pick to slice across the strings creating a scraping sound
2. Have your hand forward from the bridge so that the pitch goes sharp.
3. Tense up!
4. Press too hard!

Throughout this course, we'll look at some variations on the technique, some are more challenging rhythmically, some in terms of speed, in some cases we will look at mixing muted and non-muted chords. Let's get started.

This exercise focuses on muted eighth-note downstrokes. It's in E minor. This is your opportunity to make sure you have the right sound and hand position for the rest of the course.

This may be challenging if you haven't spent any time on all-downstroke playing or right-hand muting. Things to look out for:

• Your eighth-note feel.
• Returning to the muted picking after playing an un-muted "stab" chord.
• Getting a consistent sound when muting on the sixth or fifth string.

Start by setting up your hand position, pick angle, etc. to match all the tips that I give in both the intro and this breakdown. Once you have all of that under control, you should be able to start playing the exercise and it will sound as intended. Don't skip this step as it's the key to the whole course.

This piece works really well when played as a loop. It will increase your endurance and allow you to address how well you have mastered your position shifting. As with all of the exercises in this course, try to keep the amount of "squeak" that you hear between chords to a minimum.

For this exercise, we're introducing triplet rhythms and shuffles. The tricky part is that they are still all downstrokes, so this may be a different approach than you have seen in the past.

This is inspired by songs like Scorpions' "The Zoo".

There are three sections to this piece:

• A shuffle rhythm
• I single string triplet part
• A sequence of stabs and muted triplets

As you listen and watch the video, take note of each section and how the technique is used to create a part that is rhythmically consistent, yet has a great deal of variety and dynamics. You'll see and hear me use some slurs and techniques that are characteristic in the blues-based hard rock genre.

This is your opportunity to hone in on triplet rhythms and build a consistent feel.