Warehouse muting/strumming question

[liljoey90]

Hi guys,

Sorry if this is a newb question... I'm pretty new to guitar, only been playing a little over a year and never took lessons so I don't know who else to ask. Can anybody give me some advice on how to mute the strings while strumming warehouse? I got the riff down pretty good and can strum it pretty good, I just don't know his technique on how to mute all the other strings while doing the riff and get that percussive sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[dpduke5173]

I think the toughest part is muting the low E while doing the second part of the riff. Depending on hand/finger size you can use your thumb to mute or the edge of your ring or middle finger to mute the low E while fretting the A String. You have to be very conscious of how your index finger is muting the rest of the strings in the first part of the riff as well.


A tough one to get down but once you do it's so rewarding!

[rantingthespian]

Originally Posted by liljoey90

Hi guys,

Sorry if this is a newb question... I'm pretty new to guitar, only been playing a little over a year and never took lessons so I don't know who else to ask. Can anybody give me some advice on how to mute the strings while strumming warehouse? I got the riff down pretty good and can strum it pretty good, I just don't know his technique on how to mute all the other strings while doing the riff and get that percussive sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I will make a video for you in the next day or two to help you out.

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by dpduke5173

I think the toughest part is muting the low E while doing the second part of the riff. Depending on hand/finger size you can use your thumb to mute or the edge of your ring or middle finger to mute the low E while fretting the A String. You have to be very conscious of how your index finger is muting the rest of the strings in the first part of the riff as well.


A tough one to get down but once you do it's so rewarding!

So most every other string besides the low E is getting muted with your index finger?

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

I will make a video for you in the next day or two to help you out.

Wow that would be incredible. Thank you so much!!

[rantingthespian]

Originally Posted by liljoey90

Wow that would be incredible. Thank you so much!!

I hope to make one when I get home from X-Men tonight. It will be up hopefully tonight or tomorrow. If something goes wrong and I can't get it made or up, it should be up by Saturday at the latest.

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

I hope to make one when I get home from X-Men tonight. It will be up hopefully tonight or tomorrow. If something goes wrong and I can't get it made or up, it should be up by Saturday at the latest.

Awesome, thanks so much! I'll be checking tonight just in case

[rantingthespian]

Sorry, way too tired. I'll try tomorrow.

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

Sorry, way too tired. I'll try tomorrow.

Okay, thanks

[rantingthespian]

OK, I got a video made. I went through the whole song, and how to play each part. I hope it helps and not further confuses you.

I am not sure when it will be up, though. I am currently in the process of a download that I cannot pause or slow down, the video is larger/longer than I intended, and I have terribly slow internet. It could be up later tonight, or it may not be up until later tomorrow. When I do get the confirmation, I will post the link in here.

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

OK, I got a video made. I went through the whole song, and how to play each part. I hope it helps and not further confuses you.

I am not sure when it will be up, though. I am currently in the process of a download that I cannot pause or slow down, the video is larger/longer than I intended, and I have terribly slow internet. It could be up later tonight, or it may not be up until later tomorrow. When I do get the confirmation, I will post the link in here.

My main struggle is how to mute all the other strings during the riff while fully strumming. (Album intro)

[rantingthespian]

Originally Posted by liljoey90

My main struggle is how to mute all the other strings during the riff while fully strumming. (Album intro)

I tried my best to explain that. I went through that whole riff. I also explained how to actually strum it correctly. It's what I mainly focused on (playing the riff, the strumming, and the muting). My major points in the video were that you aren't just strumming wildly with the right hand, and that to mute it's more about letting fingers just naturally rest on the strings, and not thinking too hard about it.

Also, I went on to explain why my room looks horrible, and why you don't see my head ... but that is the least important part of the video.

Currently the upload is at 40%. The internet is being very cruel tonight.

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

I tried my best to explain that. I went through that whole riff. I also explained how to actually strum it correctly. It's what I mainly focused on (playing the riff, the strumming, and the muting). My major points in the video were that you aren't just strumming wildly with the right hand, and that to mute it's more about letting fingers just naturally rest on the strings, and not thinking too hard about it.

Also, I went on to explain why my room looks horrible, and why you don't see my head ... but that is the least important part of the video.

Currently the upload is at 40%. The internet is being very cruel tonight.

Lol okay cool. Looking forward to watching it. Sounds like you understand what I'm struggling with

[rantingthespian]

Ok, after a couple problems uploading, it's finally up:

https://youtu.be/GJflgWh0mh4

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

Ok, after a couple problems uploading, it's finally up:

https://youtu.be/GJflgWh0mh4

It says "we're still processing this video"

[rantingthespian]

Originally Posted by liljoey90

It says "we're still processing this video"

It's been stuck at 53% processing since 5:30 this morning?!?!? 8 hours to upload, and now stuck in processing.

Trying to figure out what to do.

[rantingthespian]

It failed again! One last try. I have had to lower the quality of the video, and will try to upload it one last time.


... fingers crossed ...

[rantingthespian]

It is finally up and working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x4C...ature=youtu.be

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

It is finally up and working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x4C...ature=youtu.be

Awesome! Can't wait to watch when I get home !

[ToySoldier#34]

Good video, the part that ratingthespian is talking about at 15:25 - 15:30 is the same as what Dave (purposely) does at 1:11 ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LycMZAPTieo


One of Dave's strengths is how he divides the guitar into 3 parts, Warehouse is the perfect example of how he separates the low, middle, and high notes by his strumming

[liljoey90]

That's the part I didn't know and will have to practice over and over. I didn't realize he was only playing certain parts of the guitar at certain times. Is there a way to practice that for someone just starting out? I tend to always hit the A string on the way down on the warehouse riff.. The first few notes of the riff I can mute good with my index finger... It's the way down that I struggle with

[ToySoldier#34]

Yeah his way of doing that really stands out throughout the Benaroya show, in general it is usually more effective to learn things very slowly as opposed to trying to figure it out at the speed Dave plays. I've seen a lot of beginners try learning guitar parts at the beats per minute of whatever song they are trying to learn and it turns into a bit of a full strumming mess as shown in the video. I guess the way I would learn it would be two steps ... I would slowly hit the low, middle, and high notes going up and down the riff to start. Just down strokes so that it sounds like "one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three" etc. and make sure those all sound clean. Next step that I would take is to put your fretting hand over the guitar so that you aren't playing any notes and just work on strumming the pattern. Then once getting that down I would work on slowly combining them, emphasis on playing slow and efficiently. I hope that makes sense haha, ratingthespian's video is really good.

[rantingthespian]

Dave really does play the guitar very uniquely. It's one of the many reason why I really enjoy playing his stuff. However, his style isn't easy. The only other advice I can give is just to take it slow, and practice.

Edit: you could also try it without a pick. The 3 reasons why I don't use a pick is because I really love to fingerpick, you can control your volume more, and you can be more percise where and how you strum because you feel the strings. You can try that, it may help a little.

[rantingthespian]

Well, you could also try to play without a pick. I prefer to play without a pick because I love to fingerpick, you can control your volume more, and I find you can be more percise where and how you strum (since you can feel the strings). It might help.

[dpduke5173]

I agree on the fingerpicking. I haven't used a pick in about 3 years because I found I was limited in dynamics/techniques strictly using the pick and have found some of Dave's rhythms/strumming patterns to be easier using the fingerpicking/strum technique I've grown into over the last few years. Nice explanation on the video.

[rantingthespian]

If you'd like me to do a video on how I don't use a pick, and the different ways I strum without one, I can do that.

[liljoey90]

Originally Posted by rantingthespian

If you'd like me to do a video on how I don't use a pick, and the different ways I strum without one, I can do that.

I just PMed you

[Gjimmy]

This was all quite helpful. Thanks!