The basics of palm-muting aren’t all that difficult, but doing it well does take some practice. I’m not a guitarist by any stretch (I just screw around on guitar–keys are my instrument), but I would expect any rock guitarist to be able to palm mute, as it is everywhere in rock music, and especially so heavy metal. As mentioned above, though, that’s the only way you can mute the strings.
I think the quintessential example of this is Brian May’s fretting at the end of ‘We Will Rock You’ from Queen. No cite (because I have none due to it’s probably not true), but I like to believe it is Rock and Rolls most obvious first example of this. It’s because as a kid it’s the first time I heard the effect and over the decades of listening to the song, that eighth note lead in squeak at the start of each measure just makes that guitar solo.
Ack!!! Missing word. “That’s not the only way you can mute the strings.”
Let’s see if I can do this: Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, 1st movement:
After an unusually long intro (which keeps on hinting that something big is coming), the main theme of the movement is finally introduced, starting at about the 4:15 mark. (If this works, the link should drop you in at 4:10.) But it’s just with some quiet woodwinds, then some violins. But towards the end of the first trip through the theme, the rest of the orchestra finally kicks in(~4:38-4:47), like a pitcher winding up for the pitch. Then (between 4:47 and 4:48) there’s the perfect brief pause, before Beethoven throws his best heater down the pike, and they’re off to the races.
I love that buildup, and I love that pause. And then - pure joy.
Lots of string squeaking on Blackbird.
Three personal favorites stick out for me:
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In Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain”, the part that starts “Sometimes I wake up by the door…” somehow, she rhymes “door”, “for you” (twice) and “over” and totally makes it work. I love that stanza.
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In “Good Time” by Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City, where Carly gives this “whooo!” right before the chorus. I love that bit.
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This one is probably a bit obscure, but “Call Me When You’re Sober” by Evanescence. There’s a part, at the 2:50 mark, which starts “How could I…” the second time the lead singer sings the words “How could I” her voice does this “fluttering” thing on the “I” that really grabs my ears. I could play the whole song just to listen to that bit.
Speaking of Adele: In her song Rumor Has It, that crashing sound right after she signs the title words made me find out who was singing it.
Rumor has it (crash)
The short bridge in Sarah McLachlan’s “Adia” found right here is just brilliant: Sarah McLachlan - Adia - YouTube
The last and first words of Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
The best use of the trumpet for a piano player goes to Stevie Wonder’s opening of “Sir Duke.” Just hearing that horn makes me stop and listen.
I love the false start in the Mamas and the Papas, “I Saw Her Again.” Denny had jumped it a bit early, singing the first three notes. They kept it in.
“So…wall”?
Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’
Opening guitar riff but also “All the vampires walkin through the valley
Move west down Ventura Boulevard”
I look forward to the harmony in “Ventura Boulevard” every time.
The moment the high octave harmonized backing vocals come in on the “So before it e-mails your grandmother…” line in Virus Alert by Weird Al
Add the descending bass line right afterwards and I’m with you, too. Actually, the whole bass line in the chorus is one of my favourites in rock : driving but very melodic.
In Metallica’s “One”, when the guitar and bass fall silent and all you hear are the double-bass drums. Love that part.
The Who’s Who Are You has the amazing, beautifully sung “I really wanna know.”
Speaking of The Who, in “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” I love the part where, after Roger sings, “you know that the hypnotized never lie,” a few bars go by and Pete adds, “… do ya? …”
Just heard this again earlier today: Thorn in My Side by the Eurythmics.
That “Yeah!” at the opening puts a good swerve into the song from the initial guitar chords, setting up the rest of the song.
I’ve yet to play Tom Paxton’s Jesus Christ SRO for anyone who doesn’t laugh at the last two word:
Jesus, you’re the biggest star on Broadway
And what a proper superstar you look
A golden oldie, a blast from the past
It’s great to see that you’ve come back at last
And someday I just have to read (dramatic pause) The Book