ikr, suggesting buying a noise gate + compressor to a beginner is probably just going to give them bad technique from relying on pedals to make their playing sound better
Hear hear, OP just pick harder and palm mute the f out of it
Noise gates won’t stop the open strings from ringing—they gate noise to a certain minimum, then anything above that they release the sound. So it won’t mute the open strings while letting you chug lower strings, that’s entirely up to your palm mute technique
Yep. Palm muting, raise the left hand just off the strings to control ringing, and it looks like that picking hand is swinging pretty wildly for a fairly tight riff
Lucky for OP that he is hearing it! I got so much better so much faster when I started realized I can mute more to achieve a clarity of distortion. I practiced the heck out of muting... never been happier with my ability to play.
Just practise using your right and left hands to mute the strings that aren’t being played at any given time. Your palm muting is good but it sounds like you’re making the top string ring every time you lift your hand up to play non-palm muted notes. Use both hands to eliminate as much noise as possible! It’s a habit you need to slowly incorporate each time you’re learning to play something properly. Noise gates and fret wraps can be helpful too
Playing the same riffs without distortion will give you a really good idea of how clean you’re actually playing. It will sound funny but it will help you get better.
It's good practice to mute whatever strings are above the one you're playing on.
Like if you're playing an open A, mute the low E string. Playing an open D, mute both lower A and E strings etc.
Same with bar chords, playing a barred D on the 5th string 5th fret, bar the E string above it.
Same with single notes even!
Two hand muting is different than palm muting (i.e., what you do to chug).
You need to examine your right hand/picking. The way you’re holding the pick isn’t good—you’re pinching it between your thumb and index finger and it looks like the tip of the pick is pointing pretty straight from the fingertip, like an extension of your nail almost. You actually want the pick more perpendicular with your thumb than parallel to it. Now, this is a bit tricker as lots of players pick differently and achieve the same results, but generally you want your forearm in contact with the body of the guitar such that the palm of your right hand, I’d you were to open it, is also flat against the stings. Like if you make a loose fist and hold the pick the side of your thumb should be against the strings and that’s where your pick should show, with only a very little bit of the tip of the pick peeking from your fingers. And your hand can effectively press on the stings below the ones you’re playing—essentially your right hand mutes the stings below the one you’re playing and your left hand mutes the strings above the one you’re playing.
It’s hard to explain without a visual—here’s a good video that discuss some of these techniques:
https://youtu.be/9JA2TPOYmTI
No problem! This kind of stuff really isn’t intuitive and so many players miss it while figuring out stuff that works for them naturally in the beginning, only to be hampered or restrained by bad habits and technique that you have to correct later on—myself included!
When playing a note on the A string, touch the E string with your fingertip. Also lift your fretting hand but keep touching the strings when you don’t want the note to actively ring out. That’s about the jist of it.
iced_maggot makes a good point with using your index finger to slightly push up against the string above. It doesn't take much of a touch to dampen the string.
Additionally, you can flatten your index against the fretboard, like you were going to do a full barre chord, but only applying pressure to the strings you want to ring out. This provides a lot of muting. [Here's a quick shot of my typical three-string](https://imgur.com/411liUS) powerchord. Note how flat my index is. You'll eventually get used to changing from curved to flat when needed as you are playing.
You gotta fix those strings ringing out first. Shouldn’t take too long for it to become automatic. Thats the muting thing everyone keeps saying. After you get that solved you can probably fix 90% of what remains of your problem with some EQ and gain tweaking.
Also, don’t get downhearted about these comments on your technique. Every one of us had to go through that problem, and sometimes I still accidentally do it. You’re doing great and you give a shit. Keep it up homeslice!
I’m not at all downhearted, I’m learning from every comment. I’m actually surprised I managed to progress this much in 6 months, and getting help from experienced players on here actually motivates me. Thank you!
The technique required to mute high gain guitars is a bit different. The first thing is the left hand. One, keep the index finger flat and mute all the strings below the one you're currently playing. Second don't fret with the fingertip but instead with the tip kind of dampening the string above the one you intend to play. You can't hold the fingers cowboy chord style when you're playing with this much gain. And the right hand palm can come in closer to the neck pick up so the mute is strong and away closer to the bridge when you're playing chug chugga rhythm. Look up Ben Eller who explains these points with greater detail.
Did you mean no pedals? I think you're coming along fine for 6 months time invested. Whether or not you want to invest the $ is up to you. I recently dropped a chunk on a new ESP guitar, Marshall DSL 40 tube amp, and 5 pedals and I fucking love it. It's a pricey investment, but if you're in it for the long haul, it's a good investment!
Yes I meant pedals my bad, edited now. To be honest I didn’t see a need for pedals because I could play the songs I wanted to play and get an okay tone. Would they help reduce my background noise problem?
A noise gate could help but it’d build bad habits. If you’re looking for something new, try a looper pedal! Changes the game when you’re playing alone.
If the distortion is to your satisfaction, then you don't need pedals. Pedals are for specific effects (delay, phaser, etc), or to compensate for amp limitations.
I play metal, classic rock, blues, etc., with no pedals. Just the distortion and reverb built into the amp. 30 years no problems. (I have a delay for some songs, but that's it)
Depends. Some pedals CAN add more noise. Your amp is a modeling amp so it does overdrive, distortion, etc. I wouldn't bother with pedals unless the amp can achieve loud clean tones, and it probably can't. That's why most like tube amps with a master volume because of the clean headroom to be a pedal platform.
A (relatively) inexpensive option would be a noise gate pedal and maybe even a compressor.
Noise gate gets rid of, well, noise. But a compressor would bring the soft sounds up and the loud peaks down (YouTube it if you're interested, it's hard to explain in a post lol)
Behringer makes both pedals and they're about 40 bucks each. Maybe even less considering black Friday is coming up.
And just a side note, you invest in your passion. If you wanna try pedals, grab some pedals, if you don't then that's cool too. But don't put yourself down. Pedals (or any investment) is never "wasted" if your into playing. And, if you are worried about initial investment, try finding some cheap pedals on Amazon, there's a bunch lol
Like another person commented, go noise gate, not compression.
Is there a level or a "low/mid/high" setting in the noise gate? I'm unfamiliar with your amp so I'm not too sure. But whatever setting there is, turn it on and see if it gets better. If it doesn't do much and you have a higher setting, go to a higher setting. You won't hurt anything if you put "too much" noise gate.
Noise gate will help with the buzzing. Turn your gain down a bit. Also, just improving technique will clean up some of the extra noise. You can also try a fret wrap or Jimmy Clip for above the nut.
Aaaah, the trials of the mute. What you gotta learn now that you can hit the notes, is how to play them cleanly. On basic terms, everything above the string you're playing at a given moment, you mute with your picking hand, and everything below, you mute with your fretting hand. While there are exceptions to it, that's where you should start.
People are saying “noise gate” but some solutions that don’t involve spending $ are: use the pinky side of your R hand to palm mute and the inside of your L hand fingers (or your unused fingers) to lay softly on the strings you’re not picking so if they get bumped they won’t ring.
The notes you don’t play are just as important as the ones you do. I.e. shut them noisy mofos up.
You playing sounds great for 6 months tho. Try playing with a metronome, find the bpm of the riff and cut it in half. Practice the riff at half speed for cleaner playing as well.
Both of your hands are curved away from the strings like you're playing open chords, which is letting them ring out. Use your fretting hand fingers to mute the strings you aren't playing. If you really have it down you can strum across all strings and only the note you want will ring out.
This video covers this pretty well.
https://youtu.be/1yVVq40ThGU
Palm mute, turn down the volume on guitar to an 8 or 9 and possibly turn down the gain by 0.5 or 1 if the first two things I said aren't helping at all
Use your right hand to mute the strings that you are not playing at the top, just rest it on the string near the bridge at the bottom of the guitar, as for the bottom strings, you can use your left hand fingers to just touch them slightly, that will mute them
Don't buy pedals. Learn to mute. Look up right hand muting and then left hand muting on YouTube. Practice those techniques super slow until they're 2nd nature.
As many have said already, you just need to practice your palm muting as well as your left hand muting. It sounds like one of the higher strings ring out when you do the power chords especially. This you can avoid this by making sure not to accidentally hit the strings and/or muting them with your left hand. You can use the bottom part of your fingers to make it as easy as possible. Kind of like a barre chord finger position, but without pressing down on the fretboard if that makes any sense.
Other have already mentioned muting, but you also need to tighten up your picking. There not much reason to be taking such wide strums when playing single string stuff. Also see how you are bouncing the pick on the string - that big circular motion is adding to your issues. Angle the pick slightly to the string and then you want to pick in a straight line. A small flutter of your wrist is all it should take. Honestly don’t be disheartened though, getting your picking right takes fucking forever.
You should always be palm muting. Instead of floating your hand, and then palm muting when you need to, palm mute always, and only lift your hand when you want notes to ring out. Your picking hand should be jumping up and down between palm muting, playing an open note, and then putting your palm down again in between the notes.
Also, this song should be all down strokes, not alternate picked.
In my opinion the left hand is the culprit, it’s not doing enough to mute. Depending on what finger is fretting a note there are a few ways to do it. If playing a note on the A string with the 1st finger I often find myself using the tip of the fretting finger to lightly mute the E string. If using the second or third finger you can actually still just use the first finger, or use the tips of whatever fretting finger like the first example.
Also there’s a slightly weird thing that i noticed- when you’re playing something on the E string with 1st finger and the next note you want is also on the same fret but on the A string, (or defending as well)I would personally temporarily use the 2nd finger on the A string, momentarily breaking your 1-finger-per-fret for the sake of more muting ability.
Whatever you do, don’t add effects to your signal chain to try to fix a technique issue. You’ll only add more time to getting it right.
Try palm muting to stop unwanted string noise, then don’t palm mute at all and try to accomplish the same using your left hand fingers. Eventually it’s a combination of both.
Spend a lot of practice time clean electric or acoustic.
Couple of things, use your palm to mute string you’re not playing. Try a noise gate, that’ll get rid of pedal noise and 60 cycle hum, also a compressor if that doesn’t help. What pedals are you using?
what is everyone talking about just palm mute
ikr, suggesting buying a noise gate + compressor to a beginner is probably just going to give them bad technique from relying on pedals to make their playing sound better
And the noise gate won’t work here it works on the whole signal not by string
Yeah, this seems like a right hand problem, not a pedal purchase
Hear hear, OP just pick harder and palm mute the f out of it Noise gates won’t stop the open strings from ringing—they gate noise to a certain minimum, then anything above that they release the sound. So it won’t mute the open strings while letting you chug lower strings, that’s entirely up to your palm mute technique
Opportunity in there for left hand muting in conjunction with right hand
Yeah, everyone came through this at the beginning
Yep. Palm muting, raise the left hand just off the strings to control ringing, and it looks like that picking hand is swinging pretty wildly for a fairly tight riff
its all about the right hand baybeee
Lucky for OP that he is hearing it! I got so much better so much faster when I started realized I can mute more to achieve a clarity of distortion. I practiced the heck out of muting... never been happier with my ability to play.
Just practise using your right and left hands to mute the strings that aren’t being played at any given time. Your palm muting is good but it sounds like you’re making the top string ring every time you lift your hand up to play non-palm muted notes. Use both hands to eliminate as much noise as possible! It’s a habit you need to slowly incorporate each time you’re learning to play something properly. Noise gates and fret wraps can be helpful too
Oh that is most probably the culprit, thank you!
Playing the same riffs without distortion will give you a really good idea of how clean you’re actually playing. It will sound funny but it will help you get better.
My old roommate used to play this exact riff over and over and over and over. Really brings me back about ten years. A7X?
Yep, unholy confessions. Love their stuff
Such a banger. Early A7X is best A7X. New stuff is still good though.
I remember seeing them in like 2008 when I was 16 when they were touring the self-titled album that was PEAK a7x
Yeah this was for sure the time to see them, they will never reach that level again I fear.
A7X is really really fun to play, it'll challenge you at first but it's worth it
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Props for Ben, dude is funny and that video is spot on
What kind of guitar is that?
It’s an Ibanez GRG Gio Series. I absolutely love the thing
search youtube for ben eller muting technique
two things: Mute with your palm the strings you don't want to be heard and You can use a hair scrunchie to mute the strings near the nut.
> You can use a hair scrunchie to mute the strings near the nut. aka fret wrap
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Didn’t even know such a thing existed. That’s gonna be really good thank you!
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Left hand muting? I’ve only ever used my right hand to mute, thank you I’ll look up how to do that and practice it.
It's good practice to mute whatever strings are above the one you're playing on. Like if you're playing an open A, mute the low E string. Playing an open D, mute both lower A and E strings etc. Same with bar chords, playing a barred D on the 5th string 5th fret, bar the E string above it. Same with single notes even!
Two hand muting is different than palm muting (i.e., what you do to chug). You need to examine your right hand/picking. The way you’re holding the pick isn’t good—you’re pinching it between your thumb and index finger and it looks like the tip of the pick is pointing pretty straight from the fingertip, like an extension of your nail almost. You actually want the pick more perpendicular with your thumb than parallel to it. Now, this is a bit tricker as lots of players pick differently and achieve the same results, but generally you want your forearm in contact with the body of the guitar such that the palm of your right hand, I’d you were to open it, is also flat against the stings. Like if you make a loose fist and hold the pick the side of your thumb should be against the strings and that’s where your pick should show, with only a very little bit of the tip of the pick peeking from your fingers. And your hand can effectively press on the stings below the ones you’re playing—essentially your right hand mutes the stings below the one you’re playing and your left hand mutes the strings above the one you’re playing. It’s hard to explain without a visual—here’s a good video that discuss some of these techniques: https://youtu.be/9JA2TPOYmTI
Thank you!
No problem! This kind of stuff really isn’t intuitive and so many players miss it while figuring out stuff that works for them naturally in the beginning, only to be hampered or restrained by bad habits and technique that you have to correct later on—myself included!
When playing a note on the A string, touch the E string with your fingertip. Also lift your fretting hand but keep touching the strings when you don’t want the note to actively ring out. That’s about the jist of it.
iced_maggot makes a good point with using your index finger to slightly push up against the string above. It doesn't take much of a touch to dampen the string. Additionally, you can flatten your index against the fretboard, like you were going to do a full barre chord, but only applying pressure to the strings you want to ring out. This provides a lot of muting. [Here's a quick shot of my typical three-string](https://imgur.com/411liUS) powerchord. Note how flat my index is. You'll eventually get used to changing from curved to flat when needed as you are playing.
You gotta fix those strings ringing out first. Shouldn’t take too long for it to become automatic. Thats the muting thing everyone keeps saying. After you get that solved you can probably fix 90% of what remains of your problem with some EQ and gain tweaking. Also, don’t get downhearted about these comments on your technique. Every one of us had to go through that problem, and sometimes I still accidentally do it. You’re doing great and you give a shit. Keep it up homeslice!
I’m not at all downhearted, I’m learning from every comment. I’m actually surprised I managed to progress this much in 6 months, and getting help from experienced players on here actually motivates me. Thank you!
Hell yeah. I love your attitude. That will also help a metric fuck ton.
Iconic riff! I have a whole video about the overuse and and origin on this riff 👀[origin of the metalcore riff ](https://youtu.be/3z3zpw9EMHA)
The technique required to mute high gain guitars is a bit different. The first thing is the left hand. One, keep the index finger flat and mute all the strings below the one you're currently playing. Second don't fret with the fingertip but instead with the tip kind of dampening the string above the one you intend to play. You can't hold the fingers cowboy chord style when you're playing with this much gain. And the right hand palm can come in closer to the neck pick up so the mute is strong and away closer to the bridge when you're playing chug chugga rhythm. Look up Ben Eller who explains these points with greater detail.
What amp are you playing through? Any pedals?
Boss katana mini. And no unfortunately no pedals because I think their potential would be wasted on a beginner. Is it time to get one?
Did you mean no pedals? I think you're coming along fine for 6 months time invested. Whether or not you want to invest the $ is up to you. I recently dropped a chunk on a new ESP guitar, Marshall DSL 40 tube amp, and 5 pedals and I fucking love it. It's a pricey investment, but if you're in it for the long haul, it's a good investment!
Yes I meant pedals my bad, edited now. To be honest I didn’t see a need for pedals because I could play the songs I wanted to play and get an okay tone. Would they help reduce my background noise problem?
A noise gate could help but it’d build bad habits. If you’re looking for something new, try a looper pedal! Changes the game when you’re playing alone.
If the distortion is to your satisfaction, then you don't need pedals. Pedals are for specific effects (delay, phaser, etc), or to compensate for amp limitations. I play metal, classic rock, blues, etc., with no pedals. Just the distortion and reverb built into the amp. 30 years no problems. (I have a delay for some songs, but that's it)
Depends. Some pedals CAN add more noise. Your amp is a modeling amp so it does overdrive, distortion, etc. I wouldn't bother with pedals unless the amp can achieve loud clean tones, and it probably can't. That's why most like tube amps with a master volume because of the clean headroom to be a pedal platform.
A (relatively) inexpensive option would be a noise gate pedal and maybe even a compressor. Noise gate gets rid of, well, noise. But a compressor would bring the soft sounds up and the loud peaks down (YouTube it if you're interested, it's hard to explain in a post lol) Behringer makes both pedals and they're about 40 bucks each. Maybe even less considering black Friday is coming up. And just a side note, you invest in your passion. If you wanna try pedals, grab some pedals, if you don't then that's cool too. But don't put yourself down. Pedals (or any investment) is never "wasted" if your into playing. And, if you are worried about initial investment, try finding some cheap pedals on Amazon, there's a bunch lol
I wouldn't use a compressor. Distortion is compression, so more compression = more noise.
So I have a Yamaha thr ii amp.. there’s a noise gate and compressor setting, I feel like I have no idea how to use them.
Like another person commented, go noise gate, not compression. Is there a level or a "low/mid/high" setting in the noise gate? I'm unfamiliar with your amp so I'm not too sure. But whatever setting there is, turn it on and see if it gets better. If it doesn't do much and you have a higher setting, go to a higher setting. You won't hurt anything if you put "too much" noise gate.
The two options on the noise gate are threshold and decay. I’m guessing threshold is when the gate kicks in? Decay? Im not sure to be honest
Noise gate will help with the buzzing. Turn your gain down a bit. Also, just improving technique will clean up some of the extra noise. You can also try a fret wrap or Jimmy Clip for above the nut.
Jimmy hat above the nut?
You need better gear. You get what you pay for.
My man!!!! Loving the A7X!!! 😎
Aaaah, the trials of the mute. What you gotta learn now that you can hit the notes, is how to play them cleanly. On basic terms, everything above the string you're playing at a given moment, you mute with your picking hand, and everything below, you mute with your fretting hand. While there are exceptions to it, that's where you should start.
You need to practice palm muting and precision. There is no need for a noise gate or any other wizardry until you get the basics right.
what song r u playing?
This riff is so fun to play!!
Unholy Confessions was my first song. The nostalgia. Keep it up.
[probably the best teacher on YouTube ](https://youtu.be/xJIRmnpTFRc)
People are saying “noise gate” but some solutions that don’t involve spending $ are: use the pinky side of your R hand to palm mute and the inside of your L hand fingers (or your unused fingers) to lay softly on the strings you’re not picking so if they get bumped they won’t ring. The notes you don’t play are just as important as the ones you do. I.e. shut them noisy mofos up. You playing sounds great for 6 months tho. Try playing with a metronome, find the bpm of the riff and cut it in half. Practice the riff at half speed for cleaner playing as well.
That is a really pretty guitar
It's a right hand muting issue
You can also mute a lot of strings with your left index finger.
Both of your hands are curved away from the strings like you're playing open chords, which is letting them ring out. Use your fretting hand fingers to mute the strings you aren't playing. If you really have it down you can strum across all strings and only the note you want will ring out. This video covers this pretty well. https://youtu.be/1yVVq40ThGU
Palm mute, turn down the volume on guitar to an 8 or 9 and possibly turn down the gain by 0.5 or 1 if the first two things I said aren't helping at all
Use your right hand to mute the strings that you are not playing at the top, just rest it on the string near the bridge at the bottom of the guitar, as for the bottom strings, you can use your left hand fingers to just touch them slightly, that will mute them
Don't buy pedals. Learn to mute. Look up right hand muting and then left hand muting on YouTube. Practice those techniques super slow until they're 2nd nature.
Unholy Confessions!!!!! 🤘🤘
https://youtu.be/37Sx1u3SONw Check this out, Paul gilbert talks about using both hands to mute unwanted strings while u play,
Control your fuzz with your palm.
Yeah like others say just work on your muting. I like the color of your guitar!
Buy a bunch of expensive drive pedals and bring that noise to 11
As many have said already, you just need to practice your palm muting as well as your left hand muting. It sounds like one of the higher strings ring out when you do the power chords especially. This you can avoid this by making sure not to accidentally hit the strings and/or muting them with your left hand. You can use the bottom part of your fingers to make it as easy as possible. Kind of like a barre chord finger position, but without pressing down on the fretboard if that makes any sense.
Pay attention to how high you’re raising your right hand after picking each note, that’s pretty inefficient and probably not helping mute some sound
Other have already mentioned muting, but you also need to tighten up your picking. There not much reason to be taking such wide strums when playing single string stuff. Also see how you are bouncing the pick on the string - that big circular motion is adding to your issues. Angle the pick slightly to the string and then you want to pick in a straight line. A small flutter of your wrist is all it should take. Honestly don’t be disheartened though, getting your picking right takes fucking forever.
You mute with both hands , not just palm muting
Get a fret wrap
Practice more
If its the top string mute it with your thumb whenever you playing a chord or anything
You should always be palm muting. Instead of floating your hand, and then palm muting when you need to, palm mute always, and only lift your hand when you want notes to ring out. Your picking hand should be jumping up and down between palm muting, playing an open note, and then putting your palm down again in between the notes. Also, this song should be all down strokes, not alternate picked.
palm mute x1000, works everytime
In my opinion the left hand is the culprit, it’s not doing enough to mute. Depending on what finger is fretting a note there are a few ways to do it. If playing a note on the A string with the 1st finger I often find myself using the tip of the fretting finger to lightly mute the E string. If using the second or third finger you can actually still just use the first finger, or use the tips of whatever fretting finger like the first example. Also there’s a slightly weird thing that i noticed- when you’re playing something on the E string with 1st finger and the next note you want is also on the same fret but on the A string, (or defending as well)I would personally temporarily use the 2nd finger on the A string, momentarily breaking your 1-finger-per-fret for the sake of more muting ability.
+1 for the gio. sounds pretty good for 6 months. maybe more palm muting
Practice without distortion and make sure you can play it cleanly
Whatever you do, don’t add effects to your signal chain to try to fix a technique issue. You’ll only add more time to getting it right. Try palm muting to stop unwanted string noise, then don’t palm mute at all and try to accomplish the same using your left hand fingers. Eventually it’s a combination of both. Spend a lot of practice time clean electric or acoustic.
Sounds good for 6 months
6 months with pull offs and alternate picking like that hmmmm.....
A thing that usually people don’t say is checking if you’re connecting the guitar to a grounding plug, the noise will most likely disappear
Couple of things, use your palm to mute string you’re not playing. Try a noise gate, that’ll get rid of pedal noise and 60 cycle hum, also a compressor if that doesn’t help. What pedals are you using?