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Este artigo é escrito por um amigo meu do Líbano, que frequenta o mesmo curso de Professor de Música de Elite que eu. 

In this article we will discover ways of practicing efficient palm muting techniques. Using very easy and basic ideas that could yield great results if practiced appropriately.

But first lets start by defining what is the palm-muting technique, why do we use it and how can it be done effectively.

What is it ?

 There are some guitar-playing techniques that are appropriate in just about any musical style. Palm Muting is one of such techniques.

It is used by guitarists for many reasons, among them is:

• To dampen the sustain notes in a way that gives a more staccato feel, be it on acoustic or electric guitar,
• To creating the powerful, attack of heavy metal and Rock power chords.

A technique that is universal for any musical style.

Thankfully, this useful trick is also very straightforward, too.

How do we perform it ?

 The essence of palm muting is to dampen the strings in a way to reduce the notes’ sustain to a minimum, but the notes are also not completely deadened.

We perform this by:

1. Resting the outside of your right hand/your strumming hand (the area at the edge of the palm, on the same side as your little finger) across the strings to be played, just next to the bridge (where the strings are coming out from).
2. You only need to rest this hand gently on the strings. If you press too heavy you will deaden them too much. Plus, you still need to be able to play the strings with this hand. So DO NOT press, only rest.
3. The closer it is to the bridge (where the strings are coming out from), the more sustain the notes will have and the fuller/rounder the sound will be. The closer it is positioned to the neck (which means away from the bridge), the ‘deader’ the sound will be (which is not advisable)
4. Play the muted strings, making sure to leave your muting/ strumming hand in place, muting the strings.

 It’s easy! If you don’t get it right at first, try moving your muting hand closer to the bridge. This is probably the most common mistake, and as guitar bridges (and players’ hands) differ, so does the ideal position to place your hand.

How to practice it

Now when it comes to how to practice it efficiently. I will propose to you 3 simple and very easy steps to follow. I advise you to use a metronome starting around 68 bpm to help you keep a steady rhythm.

Later you will be able to speed it up.

Step 1

 We can start by playing an open E string (the lowest) in 8^th notes fashion and apply some P.M (Palm mute) to it like described in the tab below in the picture.

In case you are using a metronome, set it up to a 4/4 pattern and play 2 notes for every beat you hear.

Keep in mind that all notes are to be played equally, meaning one note shouldn’t be played faster or harder than the other.

Also for now, only use downstrokes:

  Once you get used to playing open 8^th notes with P.M you can also try to add your fretting hand to the mix to make things a little bit more colorful.

 Step 2

 In step 2 we will introduce shifting from a P.M and to a P.M.

Meaning we will be practicing playing Palm muted notes mixed with non palm muted notes. At first it might seem uncomfortable to raise your hand in order to play regular notes and then re-placing your hand on the strings afterwards. But soon enough it will become second nature to you. Practice the exercise below, Open-PM-PM-Open-PM-PM-Open-PM

 Like in step 1, introduce your left hand and play any variation of your taste. I will be using the same notes as above.

Step 3

 In Step 3, Start Increasing the metronome speed by 4 to 6 points at a time until it becomes challenging for you to switch back and forth in time from P.M and to P.M. At this point start increasing by only 1 or 2 points at a time.

 I hope you would find this beneficial to you. Many of my beginner students wishing to play rock and metal guitar have. One last thing to keep in mind, just be patient and you’ll be rocking in no time !

About the Author: Jack Haddad is a guitarist, singer/songwriter, performer and guitar instructor. He is the director of JHGuitarSchool in Jounieh -Beirut, Lebanon. Anyone in Lebanon interested in becoming a better guitarist, click here for the best guitar lessons in Lebanon.