How to make a guitar stub for beginners?

The ability to mute the strings is just as important a technique for the guitarist as getting the sound out of them correctly.

By muting the strings on the guitar, one should understand not only the complete cessation of their sound by blocking vibrations, but also special techniques for partially muffling the sound intensity or creating percussion or other guitar effects... Therefore, it is worth distinguishing when a musician performs muting (complete cessation of the sound of an instrument or individual strings), and when a muting (muting or percussion).

There are, however, in some guitar forums attempts to distinguish the types of strings muffling of the left and right hands into separate groups called “subdues" and "plugs"Respectively, but this, unfortunately, is not widespread. Everything is considered together, as a result, a beginner often has to figure out for a long time what the author of the analysis of a particular battle for a song means in online courses or on a video on the Internet, not to mention articles on such a topic (without video).

There are several reasons for the complete or partial muffling of strings when playing the guitar.

1. You need to create a choppy accompaniment character... This can be achieved by playing with all chord sounds muted.
2. Not all pressed or open strings are included in the chord... Therefore, you need to get rid of them, since they can distort the purity of harmony or even, as they say, sound completely out of tune.
3. Changing the position on the fretboard... When you move your left hand while playing from one place on the fretboard to another, you often also need to muffle the strings in order to get a clear sound of the composition.
4. The desire of the guitarist to diversify the rhythm of the accompaniment... If even one of the usual strikes on the strings is drowned out by half the duration, thereby creating a short pause in the sound of the instrument, the result is a more interesting rhythmic pattern.
5. Adding Percussion Effects to the Guitar Part... One of the means of imitating percussion instruments is to mute the strings.
6. Reducing the intensity of the sound of the instrument or its separate registers. Sometimes you have to turn down the volume of an instrument or part of its string in order to achieve expressiveness in other voices (melody or bass).
7. Need to muffle some of the strings on an electric guitar to remove the feedback from the amplifier, which creates an extra background.

The simplest types of guitar jamming are performed mainly with the right hand. These are the techniques:

• laying on strings or clapping on them with an open palm;
• jamming with the edge of the palm from the side of the little finger;
• a blow with a closed palm (practically with a fist from the inside);
• plug with your thumb.

On an acoustic or electric guitar, when playing with a pick, a technique called "palm mute" is often used.... The technique of its execution involves a partial muffling of the sound of the strings of the lower register. At the same time, the edge of the palm of the right hand is placed on the basses (strings nos. 4, 5 and 6) in the bridge area at an acute angle, and the playing on them is continued in the usual way with the pick. Sounds like a double bass. The same technique is used by bass players as well.

On the electric guitar, of course, in the foreground (due to the amplified acoustics), methods of muffling unnecessary sounds, arising overtones of different orders, as well as ways of preventing unwanted feedback from the amplifier are put forward. Both hands of the guitarist are equally "struggling" with all this. That's why the position of the left hand on the neck of an electric guitar is fundamentally different from its setting on a classical guitar... This is especially noticeable among guitarists playing power chords (fifth chords) in various styles of rock.

All free (and even not free) fingers of the left and right hands of a rock guitarist are busy muffling or muffling unnecessary sounds. At the same time, it is also necessary to set the rhythm by standard methods of muffling the strings, creating certain guitar effects.

One of the most effective types of muffling strings clamped in a chord on classical, acoustic and electric guitars is a method of removing the sound by simultaneously weakening the force of pressing the fingers of the left hand involved in receiving the chord.... When the clamping force is weakened, the sounding strings move away from the sills, and since the fingers continue to touch them, the vibrations instantly damp out, the sound stops.

Thus, it turns out that periodically (in the required rhythm) pressing and loosening the fingers holding the chord, and acting simultaneously and synchronously with the right hand, making sounds, you can get many options for fighting.

The rules for performing the simplest mutes when playing chords depend on the rhythmic pattern of the accompaniment. To learn how to do them, beginners should first understand the notation that is most often used when recording a battle.

Strings are usually struck with arrows indicating the direction of the stroke. Unfortunately, according to different authors, the downward or upward strokes on the strings have the opposite direction of the arrows: in some, for example, the downward stroke is indicated by an arrow pointing downward (↓), while in others, on the contrary, the same stroke is indicated on the diagram by an arrow directed with its top up (↑). Examples:

The latter, oddly enough, are more right than the former. The fact is that they are guided by the rules for placing the strings of the guitar on the tablature (the sixth string in the tabs is from the bottom, the first is from the top).

This is also explained by the staff, in which the higher notes in sound are placed higher on the bars of the staff. Hence the position - hitting down means the movement of sounds from lower to highest., that is, it would be more correct to mark the blow from top to bottom on the strings with an arrow pointing up (↑).

For example, a diagram of a battle called "Six" is provided in order to understand both the designations and how to play the battle correctly.

The algorithm of actions when playing the presented rhythmic pattern is as follows.

1. On the count of "times and", click with the index finger of your right hand on the strings of the guitar from top to bottom from the 6th string towards the 1st.
2. At the count of "two", a blow is also made from top to bottom on the strings, but since the arrow next to it is the sign "NS»(Ducking), then immediately after hitting, you should either with the edge of your palm or your thumb across the strings to drown out their sound. If you act sharply, then at the same time there will be a characteristic click, which enhances the muting effect (percussion sound).
3. This is followed by the "i" count, in which the index finger returns from the bottom up, touching several thin strings (three or four).
4. On the count of “three”, only a blow is made on the strings with the edge of the palm (or with the thumb of the right hand). The thumb action is preferable - it creates a greater effect both in sound and in the aesthetics of the game.
5. Further, strikes are performed on the strings with an alternating stroke (from bottom up-down-bottom-up).

Arrow with the sign "NS"Next to it means chord ducking: the chord is played and muted immediately. Just the sign "NS»In the rhythm scheme on the rhythm line indicates complete muffling of the chord sound with reproduction of the percussion effect (imitation of a percussion instrument).

The thumb is struck on the strings with the obligatory rotational axial movement of the forearm and hand counterclock-wise... Strike with the edge of the palm, on the other hand, requires rotation of the forearm and hand clockwise... Both movements are performed quite sharply and quickly.