How To Palm Mute | Guitar Tips & Tricks

If there is one guitar trick you absolutely CANNOT get by without, it’s palm muting. Palm muting is not exclusive to a specific genre, so no matter what style you play, this trick is something you’ll need to learn. It’s an essential technique that relies on your picking hand to dampen the sound of notes and chords by using your palm–hence the name, “palm muting.” This can be a tricky skill to learn because it’s sort of nuanced in its execution. I’d like to thank one of my rock n’ roll viewers for suggesting a more in-depth lesson on the subject because I know this is something that can help a lot of players out there. Grab your axe, take a seat, and let’s get ready to rock.

Purpose Of Palm Muting

Palm muting can be used for several reasons.  First, it can be used to add dynamics to your playing.  With palm muting, dynamics are achieved to make some notes stick out by dampening the sound of other notes.

This technique can also be used as an effect.  For example, you can implement a volume swell effect by sliding the palm of your picking hand from over your neck pickup to the bridge of your guitar.  If you're interested in more advanced picking moves like this, I strongly encourage you to check out this lesson.

Other benefits of palm muting include cleaner and clearer notes.  When palm-muting carefully, you can stop unwanted notes from ringing out.  In my opinion, the biggest, most widely used benefit of palm muting is that it adds "chug" to heavy, high-gain guitar riffs.

How To Palm Mute

To palm mute properly, rest the outer pinky-side edge of the palm of your picking hand against the strings of your guitar near the bridge.

Pressure and hand placement can vary depending on the tone you are chasing. If you are looking for a thicker chugging sound, keeping your picking hand by the bridge of your guitar while maintaining light pressure is the way to go. If you're looking for a tighter sound, you could apply more pressure with your hand by the bridge; however, this could be fatiguing. To achieve a tighter muted sound, you can keep a lighter pressure but bring your picking hand closer to the neck of your guitar and farther away from the bridge.

Palm Muting Exercises

Refer to the following guitar tabs for exercises that will help you nail palm muting. The lines of the tab represent the strings of your guitar with the strings lower in pitch depicted on the bottom. Numbers on the tab indicate what frets are played. The sheet music is there if you’re a rare player who knows how to read it, but it’s mostly for rhythm purposes. Whenever something is palm muted, it will be indicated by the “P.M.” symbol.

Conclusion

Palm muting is an essential technique that will add dynamics and clarity to your playing, as well as being the main ingredient for getting your guitar to chug. Pay close attention to how I’ve demonstrated the technique and do your best to replicate it yourself. It’s sort of a knack so stick in and stay consistent with practicing the exercises I’ve demonstrated. Once it clicks, you’ll be on your way to victory in sonic warfare.

Watch the full lesson here: How To Palm Mute | Guitar Tips & Tricks