Guitarists are always on the lookout for ways to alter or distort their sound, and a very useful tool for the more aggressive styles of guitar playing is palm muting. As the name suggests, palm muting involves the use of the palm of your picking hand to dampen, or mute, the vibrations of the strings—on purpose!
Palm muting creates a “chugging” sound. While it is mostly associated with heavier styles of music played on electric guitar with lots of distortion, it’s also used in other forms of music, including country and folk. Palm muting is a technique you should know whether you play electric or acoustic guitar.