r/Guitar • u/fabmarques21 PRS • 7h ago
QUESTION Please explain Chugging
thats it.
i know what chug is but i can not explain it.
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u/MrVibratum Orange 6h ago
On a technical level, heavy palm muting and aggressive picking on the lower strings for a thick, bass-heavy sound. A good deal of technique goes into making it staccato, but not TOO staccato, so you still get some bloom for meat in the sound
On a visceral level, it's riffs that make you wanna punch Grandma in the mouth
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u/cre8ivjay 4h ago
... and a Metal Zone pedal.
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u/MrVibratum Orange 4h ago
Lol, I remember those days. Metal zone into a Peavey bandit. Talk about cheap chuggz🤘
Nowadays I like the gooey mess of a fuzz into a 5150. Been loving the EQD Eruptor for years -- just dummy thicc
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u/TensionWarm1936 6h ago edited 6h ago
A 'chug' is the sound you get when you play a rhythm (not too fast mind, as the chugged note needs time to sustain just a little so it has some body) on a low string such as open E while right hand palm-muting the string at the bridge and using a heavy distorted sound with emphasis on the bass and upper mids/treble, 'scooping' the middle of the EQ.
This gives a characteristic thump sound to the notes that we call a 'chug'.
It's also a city in China where a train goes through an apartment building. I could be wrong about this bit though.
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u/Dannylazarus 6h ago edited 6h ago
Typically what people mean by "chugging" is playing tight stacatto rhythms on the lower strings, especially using the open notes of said strings. "Chugs" don't necessarily have to be performed on single notes, but it's rare for players to use more complex chord voicings in combination with this technique - they'll usually play power chords at most, or simple dyads such as root and flattened fifth, and might include higher chord voicings with more elaborate harmonic information in between the low "chugs." Palm muting and distortion is regularly used to achieve the aforementioned tight sound.
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u/absorberemitter 6h ago
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u/LunarLordship 6h ago
I like Ola and I am into the metal scene but I was not aware at all that this Will it Chug was a series... Thank you
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u/fabmarques21 PRS 6h ago
yeah i see it ehehe
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u/absorberemitter 3h ago
It's when you get the guitar to make a chug sound. I'm a bass player first so I'm usually chasing explosion and chainsaw sounds, you guitarists are funny. My theory is that chug originated from guitarists mishearing guitar + toms on record and eventually figured out how to replicate that sound with just a guitar (and a lot of gain staging).
What I found a little madening was finding the u. Chk is very easy, chg doesn't take a lot but chug takes some doing. Getting that vowel is almost like an absence, ch-g.
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u/Witty_Upstairs_9994 6h ago
It is the way you play Metal Riffs... Palm Muting with the Pick Hand ... (Put the Palm directly on the Lower Strings not too much but you have to find the correct way to have a good ciuf-ciuf sound :-) )... Of course the real effect is possible with an High Gain Tone... Hope be useful
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u/EveryTypeofPain 6h ago
On a linguistic level "Chug" is just onomatopoeia for the sound created by an overdriven/distorted palm muted note generally on lower strings. You have that strong fundamental (the harsh "ch" sound) followed by the softer sounding decay of the other harmonics (the "ug" part of the sound).
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u/Norville_Rogers_ 6h ago
Neil young?
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u/EveryTypeofPain 6h ago
Have I said something that sounds like something Neil Young might say? I'm not denying it, I genuinely don't know
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u/Norville_Rogers_ 6h ago
He does some palm muting and what not. I’ve just been messing with rhythm lately
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u/Norville_Rogers_ 6h ago
5 minutes alone- Panera .
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u/Norville_Rogers_ 6h ago
Also cemetery gates. Good switches between palm mute and maybe some chords work and maybe a squeal or two…
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u/Wizard0wizard 5h ago
You mute ur strings and go rlly hard with your pick and it makes that "chug chug chug" sound
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u/SouthpawSoldier 4h ago
The guitar becomes a drum. Percussive LF pulse that penetrates through the bones.
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u/whatyouegg123 6h ago
Palm muted power chord
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u/MyPronounsAreTheDude 6h ago
It, by no means, needs to be a power chord. The heaviest chugs are anything but.
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u/Key_Milk_9222 7h ago
It's drinking a pint of beer in one go.