Analog Verities

Published: Fri, 01/20/23

As I was rolling up to collect the Dauphin from some after-school activity the other night, I managed to clip the curb and get a flat tire. Presumably nothing is more mortifying to a teen than seeing the old man mishandle the family vehicle, particularly when said teen is standing around with a bunch of his peers, shooting the breeze and waiting for the folks on a gorgeous Austin evening. However, much to my delight, as I shuddered up the curb and got out, I was mobbed by a well-meaning impromptu pit crew. Turns out the same individual who runs the outdoor leadership program also presides over the required semester-long Life Skills class, so faster than you can say "teachable moment," a couple of particularly enterprising young citizens were eagerly reaching for the car jack and tire iron, more or less spitting on their hands, rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business with remains of my front right Yokohama.

The whole thing was shockingly analog. Unlike any snag I might currently run into trying to make a phone call, watch a movie or listen to music, changing a flat, like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, is still done the exact same way I learned to do it when I was the Dauphin's age. Handing the remotes to the nearest kid may be the fastest way to get the latest Marvel series dialed up onscreen, but as I stood on the sidewalk watching the scene unfold, I thought, "Well, until the jetpacks come down in price, here's one thing I still know more about than they do."

I couldn't say why these kinds of tangible doings lift my skiff the way they do. I'm sure if I fixed flats on a daily basis the appeal would quickly dissipate; if nothing else, the novelty would fade into the woodwork in no time. And yet I find zeroing in on the analog verities of my own craft thoroughly enjoyable. Case in point: palm muting. If the essence of fingerstyle blues is the sense that two things are happening at once, then palm muting is an intrinsic part of creating that impression, and it's done with your bare hands, no other tools or technology in sight.

Palm muting is one of the most foundational fingerstyle blues techniques, and yet I often casually refer to it without necessarily taking the time to really break down what's involved, so that's what I cover in today's Youtube lesson. It's particularly tricky when alternating-thumb picking is involved, and yet it's essential for getting that distinction between the bass notes and the melody. You can find the lesson at the link below:

Fix Your Palm Muting Now

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More soon,

David
 
david@davidhamburger.com

P.O. Box 302151
Austin TX 78703
USA


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