Lesson: Palm Muting

From a heavy, chunky rhythm tone to a slightly muted clean tone the palm mute is used in almost every genre of music. This is definitely a technique worth learning and perfecting.

So here goes, this lesson - Palm Muting

The palm mute is commonly used in Metal oriented music from chugging to galloping rhythms. It can provide a really heavy, chunky tone and with distortion it will give a percussive sound. If your an aspiring metal guitar this lesson is a must read!


Rest your picking hand on the bridge of your guitar, this is the area by your picking hand where the string comes off the body. Use the picture as a reference. Keep your palm resting on the bridge of the guitar and strike the strings with your pick. Do this while fretting a chord and hit the strings pretty hard. If your using distortion you will get a heavy percussive tone. If your palm is too close to the bridge the sound will be too muted but if your palm is too far toward the neck of the guitar you will have a really loose sounding palm mute. Practice different rhythms and picking techniques while palm muting. Try Chugging rhythms and gallops. Speed up and slow down. The palm mute is a popular technique for heavy metal rhythm guitar.

Remember to practice, it's the only way you will ever get better!

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