Palm Muting and Separation Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (03:40) Introduction Review

- Warm up the body.
- Single note hum.
- Three note hum.
- Hum "me-me-me-me" to "mah-mah-mah-mah" to "me-ma-me-ma-me."
- Wake up the breath with "sah-sah-sah" etc. long and sustained then five times staccato.
- "Sah" in five-note descending scales, then five-note ascending scales.
- Work these scales faster and faster, then louder and louder.
- Practice singing along with rhythms that we’ve been working on in the last few lessons.
- Practice singing single note hums first. Then, as you get more warmed up, sing a melody line that you think might work well with the chords.

I just want to mention to all of you aspiring singer/songwriter/guitarists that although the review section may seem to be redundant, it is of the utmost importance that you properly warm up your voice. This is not only important to reach your maximum potential as a performer but even more important: to avoid harm! Proper warm-ups will relax the vocal chords, which in turn will help you to avoid straining them. So heed my warning, my friends! Do the review! Okay, I’ve taken my meds and calmed down now, so let’s continue!

Switching between openly strummed chords and palm-muting is an effective way to change the dynamics of a song. There are a number of ways to combine the two elements, and we’ll discuss some of those in depth. For those of you who may need to review chords or other fundamentals of the acoustic guitar, please feel free to peruse my Intro to Guitar series.
Chapter 2: (03:33) Exercise 1 We’ll use three open chords to begin with: Am, G and Dm.

Am
E_X_
B_1_
G_2_
D_2_
A_0_
E_x_

G
E_3_
B_0_
G_0_
D_0_
A_2_
E_3_

Dm
E_1_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

Palm muting can be defined as “a means of quieting or muting the strings with the goal of creating a softer sound; changing sound dynamics by covering strings with the palm of the performer's hand.” The palm muting technique is not difficult to perform once the basic mechanics of it are understood. The rhythm hand (usually the right for most) can be placed lightly over the width of the strings with the pick being held slightly above. This is actually near to the opposite of how the strum hand is usually held with the pick held more closely and the palm further away. Watch me in the video for more on this technique.

Exercise 1
Practice palm muting by playing through the three chords Am, G and Dm. Play the rhythm or "down, down, down" and strike the tonic or root note (the lowest note in the chord in this case) on the first strum of each chord. Play the chords in this order: Am, G, Dm, and Am. Pay attention to the sound coming out of your guitar. Does it sound like the normal sound that you usually get when you strum? If it does, then you need to seat your hand further down onto the strings. Is your hand muting the strings completely? Then you need to lift your palm slightly in between strums. Watch me in the video for more on this.
Chapter 3: (03:57) Transition Strumming Transition Strums
Transition strums are strums that can be used to link strums and chord progressions together. In our exercise, we used simple down strokes, but what do you think would happen if we threw another strum or two into the mix in between our regular strums?

Exercise 2 Play the same chords in the same patterns and strums as explained above, but this time, play the rhythm like this: or "down down down down-up." The down-up strum on the end is the transition strum and should be played as a snap strum in one smooth continuous motion (see also my Intro to Guitar series). Play the progression slowly at first until you get the hang of it and then faster and faster as you become more comfortable with it. What do you think of the rhythm with the transition strums? Without them? Do you think that the transition strums make the chords sound better together and more like a “real” song? Chapter 4: (05:34) Separation Separation
What does it take to separate what your mouth is singing and what your hands are playing? Do you tend to start singing what your hands are playing? These are perhaps the most important questions when it comes to singing and playing at the same time and the most difficult to answer. How do you separate the two actions?

Practice, Practice, Practice
Continuous and dedicated work will hopefully help you to improve the synthesis of playing and singing. Even the most gifted of performers have to log countless hours of practice and performance before they can reach their full potential. This is a good start.

Education
Learning from people who have some important skills can be very helpful even though this usually can’t be substituted for personal dedication and practice.

Birth
There is no doubt that some people are just more adept at learning to sing and play at the same time. There seems to be evidence of a genetic predisposition towards music that can be handed down from parent to child.

Despite the fact that your father wasn’t a concert pianist and your mother wasn’t a Viennese Opera singer, you should be able to acquire some or all of the skills necessary to sing and play. We here at JamPlay are dedicated to passing on the insight and exercises necessary to help you become a better performer. Chapter 5: (07:33) Humming and Playing Exercise Exercise 3
Play the chords as explained above, but this time, hum along with them. Can you make up a melody line that you think might go well? Do you find that the transition strums make it more difficult to sing along? Try the chords without the transition strums and see if that makes it easier for you. Once you’ve got a better handle on it, try to play it again with the transition strums.

Now, we’ll play the next three chords without palm muting. Pay attention to the change in dynamics as well as how volume changes in the song change the overall emotional tone of the song. The next three chords are F, C, and Dm. Watch me in the video for more on how to make clear and distinct changes between the section that is palm muted and the section that is played with an open strum.

Chapter 6: (02:19) Final Exercise and Closing Exercise 4: Singing the Notes
Humming the notes in a particular chord can be very helpful when trying to find the connection between strumming and singing. What I mean to say is, listen to the notes that you are playing in a particular chord, and try to hum them as you go. If it helps you, pick each of the notes in the Am chord (for starters) and hum each of them as you play. Start slowly and then pick faster and faster as you go. Once you feel more confident and warmed-up, then go back to strumming and listen to how the notes in the chord can be translated into hummed notes. Watch me in the video for more on this!

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