I’m on a bit of a Marty Friedman kick right now. Been learning a couple of solos he played in Megadeth. He’s every bit as awesome as I remember—killer tonal palette, amazing phrasing and feel. The dude is an incredible lead player, no doubt. His newer stuff is full of insanely tasty playing too.
But I just can’t help but wonder—given his right-hand technique—how the hell did he manage to play metal for all those years without palm muting? How is that even possible? I’ve been playing for decades and have often been complimented on my own “control.” I definitely get that clean playing and left-hand muting go a long way. But you still have to palm mute to play a lot of metal riffs. It’s an essential technique. I can name a gazillion riffs that just can’t be played without it.
Does anyone here have any insight on how Marty pulled this off? It’s honestly kind of bewildering to me.
