A large reason for why many people initially pick up the guitar is because they absolutely love that heavy, raw sound they hear in songs by their favorite bands. Well, now, you can learn how to play like them too, specifically with palm-muting, speed and rhythm. These things are very common in punk and metal music, so if you’re a fan of those genres, you’ll find this guitar lesson useful.
Rhythm
A beginner who’s new to music may sometimes have trouble just keeping rhythm, so this is something you should start practicing early on. Poor rhythm is one of the worst things for a musician. If you want to nail the riffs from your favorite songs, you’ll need to play them consistently. Practice slowly at first, and with a metronome, playing a steady 4/4 rhythm, plucking or picking the string at every beat. This is the first step.
Speed
After you’ve got a hang of a beat and can keep a steady rhythm going, now it’s time to work on building up your speed. Take your metronome and increase it in small increments, such as by 3 or 4 beats per minute (bpm). That way, each time it speeds up, you’ll barely notice. This is the key to picking up speed for any technique, not just for beginners. Even advanced players use this method, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind for the future.
Here´s a cool lesson to develop speed and good rhythm technique, check it out!
EASY GUITAR LESSON ON TECHNIQUE
You also may want to check out this lesson!
Palm-muting
Now you’re ready for the final part of this beginner guitar lesson. Palm-muting is extremely common and also very useful, so it’s a great technique to have down. You’ll hear it in tons of songs, and especially in punk and metal. You can identify it by the crunchier but muted guitar sound that doesn’t ring out, and it’s often used to sing over. To palm-mute, rest the side of your picking hand over the strings as close to the bridge as possible, and keep it there while picking the strings. You’ll notice your palm is keeping the strings from making much noise, but if you can’t hear anything, you might not be close enough to the bridge. Keep playing around with your positioning until you recognize the right sound. And there you go! You can now palm-mute.
That’s it for this beginner guitar lesson, but that doesn’t mean your learning period is over! There is a lot more to learn, including new techniques and skills, and new challenges. Don’t stop here!
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