Palm Muting

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 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.

Palm Mute Tablature

How to palm mute

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

Tips

Palm muting is a fairly easy technique and after a little practice you would be able to apply it to your playing. Here are some tips and hints to perfecting your palm muting technique.

Make sure that your picking hand is not placed too far from the bridge as it will cause excessive muting.

The pressure applied by the picking hand on palm muting can cause distinctly different sounds. Fiddle around abit to and explore which sound works for you.

Turn on the overdrive/distortion of the amplifier or effects. You will actually find it easier to hear the differences when exploring palm muting.

Use the heel and not other parts of the picking hand when palm muting.

Practice a lot!

Palm muting guitar technique exercise

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

Kryptonite Palm Mute Chorus

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 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.