The problem is the “rolling” thing changes my pickslant. I haven’t figured it out yet but i suspect more of a “tracking” movement (where i move my hand up and down with my shoulder) would work best in my playing.
I think a lot of players put more weight into pick slanting than is necessary. That said, yes you're correct -- Rolling is a good technique in some cases, and moving the whole arm unit is NECESSARY when you're ascending across multiple strings. 🙂 This may not be clear in this video since it's older, but it's definitely covered in my 7 string video, and even since the 7 string video, I've created better exercises for addressing this. ua-cam.com/video/bJEKdRXEC5Y/v-deo.html The big thing with rolling is getting the player to use the correct spot on their hand for string muting. Thanks for the comment! - Matt
@@mattwright466 I somehow learned fast alt picking without any muting lol (because of where I chose to put my hand). I am going back to relearn it and I want to say your video was massively helpful. It allowed me to consider another variable in palm muting: the degree of "rolling". In my mind I was constantly focused on the "tracking" element (the moving of the arm unit) as being the main mechanism in palm muting but your video opened me up to a second mechanism (I call "rolling" now), thank you so much for this!! Now I have all the building blocks I need to develop great autonomous muting, thanks so much Matt!
@@CorbinSmith-yf3wd Arm unit for "selecting" the string. Wrist movement for picking. Just like a drummer playing even strokes down the toms. No gaps! Keep it up :-)
Very useful! As a relative beginner I have realised that practising unplugged which I mainly do has meant neglecting muting techniques. All of a sudden when I plug in and play what I have practiced it sounds terrible with too much unwanted noise. I've set aside the next 3 months to clean that up so these tips definitely help!
Very helpful! I hadn't realized that over time I had developed a bad habit of lifting my wrist up, off of the body, seriously impacting my speed and muting. I think in trying to go faster, I was inadvertently trying to get "under" the strings with my pick pointing almost upwards, which not only began to hurt, it looked weird too. This vid helped me put everything back in place! Thanks man.
After playing without using a guitar for a few years I am getting back to experimenting between using a pick and hybrids… you have some great pointers for cutting back on accidental noise and the proper way to use a pick. Thanks for the video
Great video, I'm an ok guitar player but I always struggle with extra noise and strings ringing out, especially the g string. I play on an 8 string guitar too which I feel like makes it even harder. Hopefully this will put me on the right track to clean up my playing
Even on 7 string, you have to use even just past the hand and onto the wrist. Check out my How to Hold a Guitar Pick video too. That will address positioning and other stuff. :)
Hi Matt, you sure are a nice find here on UA-cam. Excellent technique videos, can't wait to apply them as an intermediate player! Curious, was your TSO teacher Angus Clark? Love seeing them every year, and of course Dream Theater is one of my most favorite bands as I think is for you.
I must be the worst offender of thenar use and abuse. I wish I knew how to fix it, unless I start at day 1. Thanks for making this video and showing the truth of these techniques.
@@mattwright466 I did, thank you. The self diagnosis is pretty grim, but not completely out of reach: 1.) The habit is thoroughly engrained. It's like a loose leopard fist resting at the strings. I move the entire RH instead of rotating it or bending it onto the bridge as I ascend to the treble strings. While it does clean up sweeping motions very well the thumb-pad-scrape is quite apparent in many instances. I picked this habit up from some muting tip in a Tom-Hess video years ago and sprinted with it to my detriment due to the short-sighted improvement that is afforded. 2.) It's not a big deal for clean playing, and hybrid picking actually benefits quite a bit from this technique. However, once we stomp on high gain the thumb-pad scrape against the wound strings can sometimes create atrocious drag. 3.) When I mute with the hypothenar, I end with a bent (non-neutral) wrist at the treble strings almost like a bad/oldschool bass player. Then hybrid picking seems extremely difficult with the fingers further away and flexex&curled in deeper. It would almost feel better to hold the pick with my PINKIE and thumb if I mute with the hypothenar -- slight hyperbole. As a matter of fact, holding the pick with three fingers (like James Hetfield) makes hypothenar muting a smidge more tolerable, but not by much -- but then I sacrifice hybrid picking once again. 4.) Both of my e-guitars go from high-ish string height on my 6-string to *LUDICROUS* string height (not action) on my cheapo-7. I don't want to end with blaming my tools, so I'm going to try to get some wrist wraps (or seven) and experiment. Because this wayward technique got rid of so much string noise, I simply ignored the much smaller problems until I realized that this thumb-drag is only getting worse; not better. Now I have a name for this technique. I wish I had seen your two part videos many years ago.
@@brianbergmusic5288 AMAZING WORK DUDE!!!! This makes my week hearing how you're absorbing this information. Reading over this comment, it sounds like you might be trying to The technique for picking notes ("shred"), is narrow in it's scope. When transitioning between different techniques like repeated down picking, hybrid picking, sweeping, the wrist will NOT always be in the "locked in" sort of place I describe in these videos. I recommend focusing on your picking for a few minutes a day at the front end of your practice, then just forgetting about it and focusing on practicing whatever music you're working on. The changes you work on will naturally get locked in because you "pre-conditioned" the movement before playing.
Hi Matt, New subscriber, love your content so far. I have recently picked up the electric guitar again and unfortunately no teachers close to me play shred so i really appreicate your work. I wanted to ask a specific question which relates to this video. If I were to play e b g d 10 9 8 7 a 10 9 8 7 e I notice when i switch strings there is nothing stopping the d string 7th fret from ringing out. whereas if i were to go from the a to d string, I can use my palm/glide to mute the string i've just finished playing.
It's become pretty frustrating for me how much of a difference there is between how I sound alt picking ascending vs descending. Ascending I always get a split second of the open string I just finished playing ringing out once I've moved onto the next, while descending sounds pretty clean. It's at its worst on the unwound strings. It sort of feels like for my right hand to be in a comfortable position to play on a certain string, it's tough to also be in a position to mute the lower string underneath.
1. Isolate practicing even picking with a timer. 3-5 mins. You can do this on one string. Just focus on evenness. Then move onto string crossings exercises. 2. Check my USX DSX daily warm ups vid. I would bet you’re doing something funny when it comes to string crossings. 3. Check my How to Hold a Guitar Pick video. That will likely help you further. I know it sounds basic but that video covers a LOT. You got this! :-)
Hey Matt! I'm having a lot of success with rolling when playing the higher strings, but can't seem to get how my hand is supposed to move when playing the lower strings. Because the hypothenar is anchored on the low e, I'm not sure in which way to go about moving the palm from its anchor point. Any help is greatly appreciated!
The anchor comes off the low E string onto the body of the guitar when playing the lowest strings, especially on repeated notes. Playing the low strings will generally feel kind of unsupported. It doesn't tend to matter because stuff played on the low strings rarely demands significant, endurance in precision. Try that and let me know how it goes 🙂
No matter how slight I lift my fingers up from the strings there will always be open string noises. I tried not to lift my fingers like I’m pulling off (like lift in slow motion) but I ended up playing very slowly like I’m 95 years old 😅
1. Turn the gain down, then roll it back up slowly until you get the sound you want. You’ll probably find you need less gain. 2. Are your fingers sticky? Sometimes it’s tricky to get just the right balance of slick and grip. Some players use products to help their hands slide on the strings. On the flip side, you could try patting your hands down with a TINY bit of cornstarch or rock climbing chalk for a drier feel.
![How to Hold a Guitar Pick the RIGHT Way [Guitar Playing Masterclass PART 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/v9RIjw8psHo/mqdefault.jpg)
The problem is the “rolling” thing changes my pickslant.
I haven’t figured it out yet but i suspect more of a “tracking” movement (where i move my hand up and down with my shoulder) would work best in my playing.
I think a lot of players put more weight into pick slanting than is necessary. That said, yes you're correct -- Rolling is a good technique in some cases, and moving the whole arm unit is NECESSARY when you're ascending across multiple strings. 🙂
This may not be clear in this video since it's older, but it's definitely covered in my 7 string video, and even since the 7 string video, I've created better exercises for addressing this.
ua-cam.com/video/bJEKdRXEC5Y/v-deo.html
The big thing with rolling is getting the player to use the correct spot on their hand for string muting.
Thanks for the comment!
- Matt
@@mattwright466 I somehow learned fast alt picking without any muting lol (because of where I chose to put my hand). I am going back to relearn it and I want to say your video was massively helpful. It allowed me to consider another variable in palm muting: the degree of "rolling". In my mind I was constantly focused on the "tracking" element (the moving of the arm unit) as being the main mechanism in palm muting but your video opened me up to a second mechanism (I call "rolling" now), thank you so much for this!!
Now I have all the building blocks I need to develop great autonomous muting, thanks so much Matt!
@@CorbinSmith-yf3wd
Arm unit for "selecting" the string.
Wrist movement for picking.
Just like a drummer playing even strokes down the toms. No gaps!
Keep it up :-)
Very useful! As a relative beginner I have realised that practising unplugged which I mainly do has meant neglecting muting techniques. All of a sudden when I plug in and play what I have practiced it sounds terrible with too much unwanted noise. I've set aside the next 3 months to clean that up so these tips definitely help!
Very helpful! I hadn't realized that over time I had developed a bad habit of lifting my wrist up, off of the body, seriously impacting my speed and muting. I think in trying to go faster, I was inadvertently trying to get "under" the strings with my pick pointing almost upwards, which not only began to hurt, it looked weird too. This vid helped me put everything back in place! Thanks man.
🤩🤩🤩
After playing without using a guitar for a few years I am getting back to experimenting between using a pick and hybrids… you have some great pointers for cutting back on accidental noise and the proper way to use a pick.
Thanks for the video
Great to hear!
Dude, this is TOO GOOD, Thank you very much!
Great video, I'm an ok guitar player but I always struggle with extra noise and strings ringing out, especially the g string. I play on an 8 string guitar too which I feel like makes it even harder. Hopefully this will put me on the right track to clean up my playing
Even on 7 string, you have to use even just past the hand and onto the wrist. Check out my How to Hold a Guitar Pick video too. That will address positioning and other stuff. :)
Great lesson
That was really helpful. Thank you.❤
Hi Matt, you sure are a nice find here on UA-cam. Excellent technique videos, can't wait to apply them as an intermediate player! Curious, was your TSO teacher Angus Clark? Love seeing them every year, and of course Dream Theater is one of my most favorite bands as I think is for you.
Not Angus, but Angus is a fantastic player for sure :-)
Prefer to obscure the name a little bit cause he’s a little bit more of a private guy.
What's one passage that was always REALLY hard for you to mute? 👇
By the way, don't forget to sign up for the email list! ;-)
Thanks. It would be great if you tell us how to practice it…something like a daily practice exercise
Take a riff like the riff section from Sacrificed Sons and practice playing it fully palm muted, 50% palm muted, and then open. :-)
I must be the worst offender of thenar use and abuse. I wish I knew how to fix it, unless I start at day 1. Thanks for making this video and showing the truth of these techniques.
There is hope! Did you watch the picking masterclass part 1? “How to hold a guitar pick”? 😊
@@mattwright466 I did, thank you. The self diagnosis is pretty grim, but not completely out of reach:
1.) The habit is thoroughly engrained. It's like a loose leopard fist resting at the strings. I move the entire RH instead of rotating it or bending it onto the bridge as I ascend to the treble strings. While it does clean up sweeping motions very well the thumb-pad-scrape is quite apparent in many instances. I picked this habit up from some muting tip in a Tom-Hess video years ago and sprinted with it to my detriment due to the short-sighted improvement that is afforded.
2.) It's not a big deal for clean playing, and hybrid picking actually benefits quite a bit from this technique. However, once we stomp on high gain the thumb-pad scrape against the wound strings can sometimes create atrocious drag.
3.) When I mute with the hypothenar, I end with a bent (non-neutral) wrist at the treble strings almost like a bad/oldschool bass player. Then hybrid picking seems extremely difficult with the fingers further away and flexex&curled in deeper. It would almost feel better to hold the pick with my PINKIE and thumb if I mute with the hypothenar -- slight hyperbole. As a matter of fact, holding the pick with three fingers (like James Hetfield) makes hypothenar muting a smidge more tolerable, but not by much -- but then I sacrifice hybrid picking once again.
4.) Both of my e-guitars go from high-ish string height on my 6-string to *LUDICROUS* string height (not action) on my cheapo-7. I don't want to end with blaming my tools, so I'm going to try to get some wrist wraps (or seven) and experiment.
Because this wayward technique got rid of so much string noise, I simply ignored the much smaller problems until I realized that this thumb-drag is only getting worse; not better. Now I have a name for this technique. I wish I had seen your two part videos many years ago.
@@brianbergmusic5288 AMAZING WORK DUDE!!!! This makes my week hearing how you're absorbing this information.
Reading over this comment, it sounds like you might be trying to
The technique for picking notes ("shred"), is narrow in it's scope. When transitioning between different techniques like repeated down picking, hybrid picking, sweeping, the wrist will NOT always be in the "locked in" sort of place I describe in these videos.
I recommend focusing on your picking for a few minutes a day at the front end of your practice, then just forgetting about it and focusing on practicing whatever music you're working on.
The changes you work on will naturally get locked in because you "pre-conditioned" the movement before playing.
I use fretwraps to store spare picks.
Hi Matt, New subscriber, love your content so far. I have recently picked up the electric guitar again and unfortunately no teachers close to me play shred so i really appreicate your work. I wanted to ask a specific question which relates to this video.
If I were to play
e
b
g
d 10 9 8 7
a 10 9 8 7
e
I notice when i switch strings there is nothing stopping the d string 7th fret from ringing out.
whereas if i were to go from the a to d string, I can use my palm/glide to mute the string i've just finished playing.
Use your first finger to mute D and above. :-)
It's become pretty frustrating for me how much of a difference there is between how I sound alt picking ascending vs descending. Ascending I always get a split second of the open string I just finished playing ringing out once I've moved onto the next, while descending sounds pretty clean. It's at its worst on the unwound strings. It sort of feels like for my right hand to be in a comfortable position to play on a certain string, it's tough to also be in a position to mute the lower string underneath.
1. Isolate practicing even picking with a timer. 3-5 mins. You can do this on one string. Just focus on evenness. Then move onto string crossings exercises.
2. Check my USX DSX daily warm ups vid. I would bet you’re doing something funny when it comes to string crossings.
3. Check my How to Hold a Guitar Pick video. That will likely help you further. I know it sounds basic but that video covers a LOT.
You got this! :-)
Hey Matt! I'm having a lot of success with rolling when playing the higher strings, but can't seem to get how my hand is supposed to move when playing the lower strings. Because the hypothenar is anchored on the low e, I'm not sure in which way to go about moving the palm from its anchor point. Any help is greatly appreciated!
The anchor comes off the low E string onto the body of the guitar when playing the lowest strings, especially on repeated notes.
Playing the low strings will generally feel kind of unsupported. It doesn't tend to matter because stuff played on the low strings rarely demands significant, endurance in precision.
Try that and let me know how it goes 🙂
No matter how slight I lift my fingers up from the strings there will always be open string noises. I tried not to lift my fingers like I’m pulling off (like lift in slow motion) but I ended up playing very slowly like I’m 95 years old 😅
1. Turn the gain down, then roll it back up slowly until you get the sound you want. You’ll probably find you need less gain.
2. Are your fingers sticky? Sometimes it’s tricky to get just the right balance of slick and grip. Some players use products to help their hands slide on the strings. On the flip side, you could try patting your hands down with a TINY bit of cornstarch or rock climbing chalk for a drier feel.
@@mattwright466 thank you so much！ i do have sweaty hands，i will try to dry my hands before playing！
I have small hands and fingers. Doesnt work for me