How to Palm Mute on Guitar: Complete Beginner Guide
Learn how to palm mute on guitar with this step-by-step guide. Perfect for beginners on acoustic or electric guitar. Includes technique tips, examples, and practice advice.
Video lesson will be added on Aug 25, 2025
How to Palm Mute on Guitar (Acoustic & Electric)
Hey, it’s James here from GoodGuitarist.com, and today I want to show you everything you need to know about palm muting on guitar—whether you’re playing acoustic or electric.
This is a super useful technique that adds punch, groove, and control to your rhythm playing. I’ll walk you through the basics, common pitfalls, and real examples so you can start using it right away in your playing.
What Is Palm Muting?
Palm muting is a technique where you use the edge of your strumming hand (your palm) to lightly rest on the strings near the bridge of your guitar. This gives you a tight, controlled sound—kind of like turning down the sustain while keeping the groove strong.
Don’t confuse this with percussive muting, where you mute the strings entirely for a rhythmic sound. That’s a different technique, and I cover it in another lesson (linked in the video and description).
Start with the E Chord
To begin, I recommend using an E major chord. It’s one of the easiest chords to apply palm muting to, especially when you’re just getting the hang of the technique.
- Strum your E chord normally so you hear the full ring.
- Now, bring the edge of your palm just beside the bridge, touching the strings lightly.
- Strum again using all downstrokes.
You should hear a more muffled, bassy sound, not a full ring and not a completely dead thud.
Adjusting Your Hand Position
Palm muting is all about finding the sweet spot:
- Too far from the bridge = too much muting
- Too close = no muting at all
If you shift your palm to mute higher strings, things get trickier. The thinner strings don’t respond the same way, and it can feel awkward. You’ll have to change your wrist angle and move your hand slightly to target different parts of the chord.
Also, keep in mind that palm muting every string all the time isn’t very practical. It’s more about accenting certain parts or creating a groove.
What About Upstrokes?
Adding upstrokes with your palm still touching the strings? It’s not ideal. Instead, try lifting your palm slightly as you play upstrokes. This is really useful for songs with that Jack Johnson or Jason Mraz feel. You end up creating a bouncy, off-beat groove that mixes muted and open sounds naturally.
Palm Muting Power Chords
Palm muting is a must-know technique for playing power chords.
Power chords are typically played with downstrokes, and since they only use two or three strings, it’s much easier to keep things clean and tight. This was actually my first exposure to palm muting—playing riffs like Barracuda. It just feels natural and comfortable.
Palm Muting Riffs and Scales
This is where things get really fun. You can palm mute single-note riffs or even your minor pentatonic scale, going up and down the neck to practice.
The goal here is to:
- Control the muting on each string
- Keep a consistent tone
- Lock in with the beat
It’s a great way to clean up your picking and build solid technique for lead playing.
Get the Worksheet
I’ve put together a worksheet to help you practice palm muting using scales, riffs, and chord shapes. It’s available for all members of my site.
Check out my All-Access Pass. You’ll get the worksheet, full song play-alongs, all my courses, and access to the private community.
Have a fun time practicing and I’ll see you soon!
-James
