Six Strings
In this section: Techniques
Techniques

Palm muting

The edge of your picking hand rests on the strings, right by the bridge: the sound turns dull, short and punchy. It’s the sound of rock and metal rhythm guitar.

Notation
PM above the tab, x for a dead note
Hand
Picking hand
Difficulty
Beginner
Style
Rock, metal, punk, country, pop

Listen

   PM----  PM--
e|-----------------|
B|-----------------|
G|-----------------|
D|-----------------|
A|-----------------|
E|-0-0-0-3-0-0-x-5-|

What it’s for

A string played normally rings for a long time and lets all its highs through. With your palm resting near the bridge, the note keeps its attack but dies away almost at once, and the tone gets darker. You get a tight “chug” that drives the rhythm without filling up all the space.

It’s the engine of metal rhythm guitar: James Hetfield’s riffs with Metallica are built on muted low E’s played with nothing but downstrokes. In punk and pop-rock, you mute the verse and open up the chorus: the song gets bigger in an instant without changing chords. Country uses it too, on the muted bass notes and short chords of Johnny Cash’s early records.

Palm muting lives on contrast. A run of muted notes, then one open note that rings out: that push and pull is what gives a riff its character.

How to do it

  1. Rest the edge of your picking hand (the side opposite your thumb) on the strings, right where they come out of the bridge.
  2. Barely press: your palm dampens the strings, it doesn’t stop them.
  3. Pick the notes while keeping your hand in place: the note sounds, but dull and short. The motion comes from your wrist; your palm pivots in place without sliding.
  4. Find the sweet spot: too far toward the neck and the note disappears; too close to the bridge and the effect is weak. Move a few millimeters forward and back to hear it.
  5. Lift your palm a millimeter or two for an open note, then put it right back. Your hand barely leaves its spot.
abc

Palm muting, side view

  1. The edge of your hand (pinky side) rests on the strings, right in front of the bridge, barely pressing.
  2. The bridge: too far toward the neck and the note dies; too close to the bridge and the effect disappears.
  3. The pick strums as usual, without your hand lifting off.

In tab, PM followed by dashes above the lines shows which notes to mute. When the dashes stop, your palm comes up. An x in place of a fret number is a dead note, muted by your fretting hand (see “Variations”).

Examples

The example at the top of the page is played on the low E string: three muted open E’s, the 3rd fret unmuted, two muted E’s, a dead note, then the 5th fret unmuted. Listen to how the open notes jump out.

At the next level, the muted low E keeps going in steady eighth notes, and open power chords ring between the runs. It’s all downstrokes: D D D D, your palm comes up just long enough for the chord, then goes back down.

   PM------  PM------  PM
e|---------------------------|
B|---------------------------|
G|---------------------------|
D|-----------------------7-2-|
A|---------5---------7---5-2-|
E|-0-0-0-0-3-0-0-0-0-5-0---0-|

Finally, the gallop: one eighth note and two sixteenths, nonstop, always muted. Pick D, D U on every beat. An open power chord lands on the start of some beats. It’s the rhythm Iron Maiden made famous.

   PM----------  PM--  PM--------------  PM--
e|---------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------5-----4-|
D|-------------5-----7-----------------5-----4-|
A|-------------5-----7-----------------3-----2-|
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-3-0-0-5-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---0-0---|

Licks

Punk. Punk and pop-punk verses are often played as muted power chords in eighth notes, all downstrokes. Here it’s A5, F5, C5, G5, and your palm comes up on the last chord: that’s where the chorus kicks in.

Loop it in the Studio →
   PM--------------------------
e|-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------|
G|-2-2-2-2---------5-5-5-5-----2-|
D|-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-3-5-5-5-5-5-5-2-|
A|-0-0-0-0-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-5-5-0-|
E|---------1-1-1-1---------3-3---|

Country. The “boom-chicka”: a muted bass note, a muted chord on the higher strings, and so on. Over E then A, with a little bass walk-down before a big open final chord.

Loop it in the Studio →
   PM------------------------------
e|---------------------------------0-|
B|---0---0---0---0---2---2---------0-|
G|---1---1---1---1---2---2---------1-|
D|---2---2---2---2---2---2---------2-|
A|-----2-------2---0-------2-0-----2-|
E|-0-------0-----------0-------4-2-0-|

Folk. In folk-rock, a picked arpeggio with your palm down keeps a verse moving without crowding it. Over G then Cadd9, and your hand opens up on the last chord.

Loop it in the Studio →
   PM------------------------------
e|---------------------------------3-|
B|-------3-------3-------3-------3-3-|
G|-----0---0---0-------0---0---0---0-|
D|---0-------0-------2-------2-----0-|
A|-----------------3---------------2-|
E|-3-------------------------------3-|

Practice routine

On the open low E, eighth notes, all downstrokes. Metronome at 70 bpm.

  • 8 muted strokes, 8 open strokes, on a loop, without stopping in between;
  • then 4 and 4, then 2 and 2, then every other note: your palm lifts and lands on every eighth note;
  • replace the open notes with a G5 or A5 power chord, like in the intermediate example.

Go up 5 bpm each time you get through a minute without a mistake. Goal: 140 bpm in eighth notes, with muted notes that stay in tune. For the gallop, start at 60 bpm (one eighth and two sixteenths per click) and aim for 120 bpm.

Common mistakes

Can’t hear the note at all anymore? Your palm is too far toward the neck. Move it back toward the bridge.

Hand getting tense? It should rest on the strings, not crush them. Relax your shoulder and let the weight of your hand do the work.

Muted notes sound a little sharp? You’re pressing too hard: your palm stretches the strings and pulls them out of tune. Lighten up until the note sounds right again.

Riff sounds flat? Your open notes are still half muted. Lift your palm clearly for those notes, then put it right back: the contrast is what makes the riff.

Variations

Dead notes. Written x, a dead note is muted by your fretting hand: your fingers touch the strings without pressing them down. When you strum, all you hear is a click, with no pitch. It’s a percussive effect, used a lot in funk and rock to drive the rhythm. The example at the top of the page has one, right before the last note.

More or less muted. Palm pressure controls how much sound gets through. Rest it lightly for a soft mute that lets the note through, more firmly for a very short chug. Lifting your hand little by little over a few bars builds tension before a chorus.

Single notes. Palm muting isn’t just for chords. A bass line or a one-note riff, muted, sounds tight and round, halfway between guitar and bass.

Fingerstyle. In fingerpicking, your palm mutes only the bass strings while your fingers let the treble strings ring: the bass turns dull and steady, the melody stays clear.

Acoustic or electric

On a distorted electric, palm muting becomes the tight chug of rock and metal. The more gain, the less you need to press: your palm barely touches the strings. With a clean tone, it gives a short, plucky sound you hear a lot in country and pop.

On an acoustic, the sound is dull and round, without the bite of distortion. Press a little harder so the difference between muted and open notes really comes through. It’s the color of strummed folk-rock verses.

Going further