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Posted by: Nihilist1 Sep 5 2011, 04:10 AM

I know there was another thread that was VERY closely related to this one; but I wanted to take it one step further.

I learned today that most people who pick with their wrists floating above the bridge at all times(i.e. no support for anything while Alternate Picking) get a lot of unwanted noise when they play with an amp. I was told this today by my guitar instructor who plays with his hand planted on the bridge so that he can eliminate unwanted noises whilst playing.

What are the experiences of the players here? I know that Jeff Loomis keeps his hand floating now, but I haven't seen him live since he changed his technique. I know that when Marty Friedman records in the studio, he actually has an engineer cover the first fret across all strings with a finger so that he doesn't have unwanted noise. Is there any way to beat this without some trick such as using a tubesock or a hairtie?

Posted by: Azzaboi Sep 5 2011, 07:47 AM

Are you referring to palm muting? There's various types of muting you can do with both hands to eliminate unwanted noise and create a clean or more aggressive/chucky sound.

I suggest finding a position (where you can rotate the wrist and pick all strings with no or minimum movement up and down) and while holding the pick, straighten out the other fingers (mostly the pinkie) like a karate chop on the bridge, move it back or forward depending on your attack and then relax the hand to fold over, fingers can curl in a bit if more natural. Start off light pressure and feel how much is required (depending on playing style). The palm should be muting the top strings. If required the pinkie can extend to the lower strings.

Also you can use the free fingers of the fretboard hand and/or under them (like the bottom of the index finger) to mute the strings below.

You can slap the fingers/palm to quickly mute and then create hard rock / metal effects, etc. Get timing down and your got yourself controlled rhythm. Some even use the thumb over top, however I personally think this can develop bad habits on holding the neck to tight.

Then it's a matter of pick attack angle, finding the right pressure and still playing muted as well as floating.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 5 2011, 07:52 AM

Your instructor is right, but things aren't black and white. You can and should float the hand in some situations, but it's also important to watch for the muting. Muting is being done with both hands, whenever you can. Usually there is some palm muting happening, depending what you play. If you use treble strings, some palm muting is always being applied on bass strings, along side with fretting hand technique.

By using muting with both hands you eliminate noise further, because sometimes with fretting hand you will get a harmonic. Introducing picking hand muting will help you clear out the tone. So just keep your muting tight and it will be OK. Hand should be on the strings muting them, but it should also be capable of moving away from the strings whenever it takes.

Posted by: Nihilist1 Sep 5 2011, 09:05 AM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Sep 5 2011, 06:52 AM)

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 5 2011, 10:40 AM

Not really, the noise is happening on any type of guitar really, even acoustic. It's just that when playing electric guitar (specially when choosing a hi-gain lead tone on big volumes), the noise gets amplified along side everything else, so this is why it's more prominent.


EDIT: typos

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Sep 5 2011, 11:53 AM

Floating wrist is a very unstable, especially for fast accurate picking. I like method where I rest my palm on the lower strings while playing the upper ones, and then move it onto the body of the guitar as I play the lower strings. My pinky and ring finger touching the guitar body (close to the 1st string) when I play solo. This method gives me anchor point, with the added benefit of the ability to mute the lower strings when I play the upper strings.

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Sep 6 2011, 04:28 PM

That to me sounds like a very basic hand position you need to avoid noise. I think almost any one puts their hand on the bridge to stop the other strings from ringing,

except maybe Pat metheny

Posted by: Nihilist1 Sep 9 2011, 05:31 AM

The only problem I am having, is the fact that keeping my hand on the bridge seems to be hurting my forearm, any suggestions?