THENOISE EXCHANGE
All exercises

Palm mute · 4/4 · 70–140 BPM

Mute machine

Even 16th-note chugs on the open sixth string. The whole genre sits on this.

If the mute isn't identical every hit, the riff turns to mush. Tightness is a mute, not a faster pick.

16ths

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The note should be a thud with a pitch, not a click and not a ring.

  1. 01

    Rest the picking-hand palm on the strings right at the bridge saddles — flesh, not wrist bone.

  2. 02

    Use downstrokes only. Tiny motion. The pick attacks; the palm kills the ring.

  3. 03

    Count 1-e-&-a out loud. Every cell is a hit. No accents yet.

  4. 04

    When 70 is boring, add a slight accent on each quarter. Then bump 8 BPM.