# Palm muting highest string on upstrokes?



## 80H (Aug 20, 2011)

cant quite seem to keep the mute while still moving upward on my highest string, get this odd deadened sound that doesnt blend at all. had this problem for a while. 

the only way i can get it somewhat decent is by turning my pick angle the opposite way and kind of sliding my palm up with the upstroke but even then it still comes off like 10-30% of the time 

whaswrong

(edit, this is only while holding chords, single string is np)


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## Solodini (Aug 21, 2011)

Is your pickIng hand the same distance from the bridge on all of the strings?


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## brootalboo (Aug 24, 2011)

You are palm muting your highest string? You mean the e string? I read your edit but it still doesn't quite make sense


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## 80H (Sep 5, 2011)

coming along. still doesn't sound as natural as my downstrokes though and cant keep speed with them but with time(!)

i go from muted to unmuted a lot for dynamic rhythm play, but the upstrokes can sometimes sound terrible and i dont like chugging downdowndowndowndowndowndowndowndown forever. ive realized that the arc of the palm-side of my pinky knuckle will sometimes cause the string to come unmuted and hit the flesh of my palm after its struck...making it sound terrible. been keeping my pinky a little bit straighter while doing the upstrokes. doesn't feel natural yet but soon


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## Solodini (Sep 5, 2011)

Try angling the neck up so having your hand parallel to the bridge is less unnatural.


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## 80H (Sep 5, 2011)

much more uncomfortable on my left wrist is the only problem. i need a different chair ideally


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## Solodini (Sep 6, 2011)

Are you a right knee guy? Try left knee, if you are.


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## 80H (Sep 8, 2011)

yeah i am. dont have the best seating/posture options but im making it a point to play in different positions (left/right/standing). definitely most comfortable with right knee though 

left knee helps though yeah. my main 6 string now has a little tail cut that makes left knee pretty comfortable that i never paid attention to


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## SirMyghin (Sep 9, 2011)

Right knee playing will take a dump on your wrists, not to mention restrict your ability to do long stretches easily. The angles and dangles come out much easier playing left knee.


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## TelosHedge (Sep 15, 2011)

while left knee playing will fix many technical issues due to anatomy almost instantly, for me i've found that playing on my left side does nothing for me as a guitar player when i'm standing up. i feel when i've got a strap on and a guitar hanging off of me the sensations are a little bit more 'right knee' to me.

there are advantages to each of these ways. i feel right side orientation helps me feel quite a bit more connected to my instrument. there is a proximity that happens with my guitar on my right side - i seem to pull it 'in' to me more. i find bending and vibrato type actions to feel much more natural and 'soul-y' to me when the neck is (nearly) parallel to the ground. i also have an easier time throwing my thumb over the top of the neck on my right knee, hence the bending advantages.

on my left side i feel less hindered by my body, and my wrists seem to 'open up.' i'm not entirely sure if this is due to the angle of the neck being a bit higher off the ground, or because my fretting arm is 'straighter' out. it might be a little bit of both. 

standing, i generally feel the least comfortable, presumably because this is the position i'm in the least. strap height obviously makes a huge difference, but even bringing my strap up to sitting position still doesn't feel quite the same as actually sitting. this is probably because i don't get to rest my left elbow on my leg (which happens on and off automatically depending on what's going on) and the obvious lack of that 'pulling the guitar into my body' thing i said earlier. regardless, to my wrists, standing feels closer to right leg playing than left leg.

what i've done is adapted all of this into my practicing. if i have to play some silly long stretchy thing, i'll give it a go at first played on my left leg for the immediate comfort. i have found that over time as i get more comfortable with a certain riff or stretch that i can begin to 'convert' it over to my right leg with practice - it's kind of like working out a new muscle or something. eventually stretches that were once impossible on my right side have become second nature. after that, i'll stand and start the process again.

WOW, i'm almost running off topic here. what does this have to do with your PM problem? i think you should experiment with different legs and a standing position, and focus on what the right hand is doing differently between all these positions. notice on your left leg the guitar neck is raised slighty - that would put your picking hand at a different angle, as already mentioned... but what about the height of your hand? in the world of palm muting, there are two axises (grammar?) involved... the height of your hand off the strings, and the depth of your hand into the strings lengthwise. in other words, if your hand is pushing too deep into the strings, you'll kill the notes. also, if your hand is too far forward (toward the neck) you'll get the same result. maybe putting your hand at an angle off your left knee will slightly raise your hand up, or maybe pull it more backward towards the bridge.

you'll just have to play around and see.


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## F0rte (Sep 23, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> Right knee playing will take a dump on your wrists, not to mention restrict your ability to do long stretches easily. The angles and dangles come out much easier playing left knee.



Playing an electric guitar in classical positioning solved 90% of my bad habits almost instantly when it became natural.


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