Palm Muting
Lesson Palm Muting
Now we’re going to learn about palm muting. Palm muting will allows you to add
a percussive effect when playing. As you strum the power chord you lightly lay the palm of your picking hand next to the bridge.
The flesh on the outside of your palm is dampening the string so it does not sustain.
When you want the chord to sustain you simply lift your palm away from the bridge a little bit.
Let’s chug away on that “A” power chord and let the last notes ring out.
E---------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7------------------------------------ A---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7------------------------------------ E---5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5------------------------------------
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Another techniques that goes hand in hand with palm muting is string dampening. This is an important technique because what you don’t play is just as important as what you do play. When you have “holes” in your music it makes the loud parts seem more explosive.
Basically to dampen a chord you lightly lift your fretting hand of the strings so they don’t touch the frets anymore. Often palm muting is combined with string dampening together to get the desired effect.
E---------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7---7-x-7-7--x--7-7-x-7-------------------- A---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7---7-x-7-7--x--7-7-x-7----------------- E---5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5---5-x-5-5--x--5-5-x-5------------------
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