Guitar Today

Palm muting is a common technique used in rock, punk and metal music. It is also the ultimate test of a modern distortion box. Mixes of strumming and palm muting can dramatically affect the rhythm of a song. Here is how to do it:

Align the palm of your hand with the bridge of your guitar. Rest the outer left edge of your palm slightly over the bridge and the strings and strum.

See this video for examples:

Palm muting produces a heavier, harder hitting guitar sound, especially from lower pitched chords.  It can also give an open-close effect on the dynamic of a piece of music. In Neal Young’s “Keep On Rocking in the Free World the verses have an E chord palm-muted for four beats then D and C for two beats each. m=muted, *=let ring

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|---------|-2----|-----|

|---------|-3----|-1---|

|---------|-2----|-----|

|-22222222|-0*---|-2---|

|-22222222|------|-3*--|

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In the chorus the song opens up and Neal strums the chords giving off a louder feeling dynamic in oposition to the crisp, chopping verses.

Here is the full tab for keep on rockin’ in the free world by Neal Young.

Another example is the verse and chorus of “Dammit” by Blink 182. The chords and timing for the two parts are the same but in the verse guitarist, Tom Delonge, palm mutes the chords with quick downstrokes and in the chorus the same chords are strummed wide open. This occurs both during the vocal parts of the chorus and then again behind the main melody guitar doing the famous main intro riff for Dammit. Both parts are outlined in the guitar tabs for the song.

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