Palm Muting Technique
Let's talk about the palm muting technique.
So this can give your playing a bit more of an aggressive sound. You take your picking hand and rest it very lightly on the strings, right down here at the edge.
It's very important that you position your picking hand correctly. You can't just touch the strings anywhere. The point that you should touch them is actually all the way at the very end. It's also important that you should make only very light contact with the strings.ÊYou don't wanna push down or apply any pressure.
We're going to do a couple of quick examples, and that should give you an idea of how you can use this technique.
First, let's try some chords. It's common to mute chords, especially low-note chords like power chords, and give them a bit more of an aggressive sound. I'm going to play a power chord progression of A5, D5, E5, A5.Ê
You can also use this to play a bass line, or some kind of melodic idea.Ê
So give palm muting a shot and see if you can find a use for it in your own playing.Ê
Palm Muting Technique
- Touch the strings lightly at the exact point where they meet the bridgeThe typically dark mahogany-colored piece of the guitar fixed to the body of the guitar. The saddle and bridge pins are mounted on it. .
- Strum or pluck notes as you lightly touch.
- Maintain contact with the strings.
- The effect is more pronounced on heavier strings.
- Take careful note of the point along the string where the palm of the hand makes contact with the string.
What is Palm Muting?
Palm muting is a technique that uses the picking hand to deaden the sound of the strings. This technique is useful when strumming power chords because it can be used to make them sound more aggressive and percussive. It’s also useful when picking lead lines because it adds an interesting effect to the tone of the guitar, and can help the player to achieve higher picking speeds because the muted string vibrates less widely.
Let’s start by plucking out a simple chord progression using power chords.
Palm Muting Example #1
We can add some more power and aggression by very gently resting the edge of the picking hand against the strings as we strum. It’s important to rest the palm extremely lightly on the strings. The point of contact is also important: the hand should be almost all the way at the end of the string, where the ball-end feeds into the guitar by the bridge.
Let’s try playing some basic scale patterns with this technique to get a sense of how it can be used during lead passages.
Palm Muting Example #2
Palm Muting Exercises
- Play the A Major scale using palm muting. Try to see if you can play the scale faster using this technique.
- Play the “Chromatic 1-2-3-4” exercise using palm muting. Again, try to push the speed higher than before.
- Strum the power chords above with a palm mute. Play this along with a metronome.
As the creator of Hub Guitar, Grey has compiled hundreds of guitar lessons, written several books, and filmed hundreds of video lessons. He teaches private lessons in his Boston studio, as well as via video chat through TakeLessons.