Guitar Palm Muting Technique

Palm muting is a guitar technique whereby the palm of the picking hand is used to damp the vibrations of the strings.

Basically, what this creates is a heavy and chunky sound which can be applied to any style of playing although palm mute guitar playing is most commonly found in rock music. So, if you are into rock music, be sure to learn and master palm muting.

Another important aspect of guitar palm muting is that it can enable precise control of different sounds depending on how the guitarist executes the palm muting.

By incorporating palm muting in your guitar playing, you will actually uncover a wider range of lead and rhythm playing.

In general, the palm mute guitar technique is denoted with a "P.M." or "PM" in guitar tablature. A dashed or dotted line for the duration of the palm muted is usually also denoted as well. This is a typical example of what you would see.

How to Palm Mute on Guitar

To execute the palm mute, rest the heel of the picking hand lightly on the strings near the bridge of the guitar. Palm muting is usually the most effective on the lower strings and really bring out the “chunky” sounds on lower strings. As an example, you should fret a power chord and try to hear the difference between a muted power chord and a normal power chord. The ideal sound is percussive and has less treble and sustain than a normal note.

Palm muting guitar technique exercise

As usual, we will end of the lesson with a practical exercise. This is my interpretation of the rhythm guitar in a chorus of a song called Krytonite by 3 Doors Down.

Download .gtp5 or .mp3 file ( Right-click Save Target as... )

Palm muting is a very versatile technique and can also be integrated with other guitar techniques such as sweep picking and rhythm playing. You should also explore playing guitar riffs and parts of guitar solos with this technique and I’ll bet you be amazed at the new rhythmic sounds that you’ll find. Lastly, check out the Power Chords lesson if you need more exercises.

Click here to grab it now before the promotion ends...