Pulsing on every beat

JasonS

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/115337#Comment_115337

It definitely depends on the player. Some people play the 2 and 4 completely muted as you say but others will still fret the chord but play it much shorter.

wim

I've advised Santa Claus to add "playing the 2 and 4 completely muted" onto the naughty list, right below "reverse la pompe" players. Beware!

Rip

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/115445#Comment_115445

Agree!

The point I was trying to make, however, is the following.

Even when I play the the 2 and 4 as muted, I noticed that I still did "a little bit of a mini pulse with my left hand". In this case the strings are still muted. I eventually realized that, if I am muting the 2 and 4, that I DON NOT NEED TO DO A MINI PULSE, because if I just leave my left hand on the strings, then everything will be muted ANYWAY.

This is not something that you would hear, but it saves your left hand from unnecessary movements that are the result of doing an extra "mini pulse" on 2 and 4.

That's what I believe the rhythm guitar player is doing in the video above at 1:25. I've never heard anyone talk about this, but I think that it can be very helpful while playing at 320 bpm for 5 straight minutes, if you are the rhythm player.

You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?

JasonS

Yeah I think that makes sense. I'd add that, as Wim pointed out above, most players in the genre right now seem to frown upon completely muting the 2 and 4. I think you'll find most people don't really consciously think about pulsing the left hand... a better way to keep that stamina going is to play softer/quieter IMO.

Rip

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/115448#Comment_115448

I agree. These days I don't mute anything either and I don't play anything above 290bpm. With that said, if I ever find myself in a situation where I have to play rhythm for a shredder, then I am going to pull this technique out of my bag.😅