Palm Mute In Solos And Melodies

Palm mute mostly use in rhthym and on up strings, but hear I try to show some palm mute technique in melodies & solo riffs. Lets go to wrok, these riffs sort from easy to hard!

(PM = palm mute)
(fb = full bend)
(p = pull out)
(h = hammer on)

1-palm mute in melodies!

So here is an easy melody, be careful for free notes! Play all notes with downstroke picking and with same timing

Riff a)

   PM  PM      PM  PM      PM  PM      PM  PM      PM  PM
||---------------------------------------------------------| 
||---------1-----------1-----------1-----------------------| 
||---------------------------------------------------------| 
||-----2-----------2-----------0---------------3-----------| 
||-0---------------------------------------3-----------2---| 
||-------------3-----------2-----------1-----------0-------| 
 
  PM  PM      PM  PM      PM  PM      PM  PM    
|---------------------------------------------------------|| 
|---------1-----------1-----------1-----------------------|| 
|---------------------------------------------------------|| 
|-----2-----------2-----------0---------------3---2-------|| 
|-0---------------------------------------3-------2-------||
|-------------3-----------2-----------1-----------0-------||

Riff b)

   PM  PM          PM  PM          PM  PM          PM  PM
||---------1---0---------------------------1---0---------------| 
||-------------------------1---3---------------------------3---|  
||-----2-----------------------------------------------0-------| 
||-0-------------------2---------------3-----------------------|  
||-----------------0---------------1---------------------------| 
||-------------------------------------------------3-----------|
 
  PM  PM          PM  PM          PM  PM          PM  PM
|---------1---0---------------------------1---0---------------|| 
|-------------------------1---3---------------------------8---||  
|-----2-----------------------------------------------7-------|| 
|-0-------------------2---------------3-----------------------||  
|-----------------0---------------1---------------------------|| 
|-------------------------------------------------8-----------||

2- scale palm mute!

Lets do more complex riff, use alternative picking, try to play it fast, but be careful for timing,

   PM PM PM          PM PM PM          PM PM PM       
||------------------------------------------------------- 
||-------------------------------------------------------  
||----------------------------------------------15-17-19- 
||----------------------------15-17-19-15-17-19----------  
||----------15-17-19-15-17-19---------------------------- 
||-15-17-19----------------------------------------------  
 
  PM PM PM          PM PM PM          PM PM PM
----------------------------17-18-20-17-18-20-20fb-----|| 
-15-17-19-17-18-20-17-18-20----------------------------||  
-------------------------------------------------------|| 
-------------------------------------------------------||  
-------------------------------------------------------|| 
-------------------------------------------------------|| 

3– bending and palm mute!

this riff use in a lot of solos, with some changes, try to play it faster each time, (all notes have a same timing)

                 PM PM               PM PM
||----------------------------------------- 
||-----------------------------------------  
||-14fb-12-14-12-------14fb-12-14-12------- 
||---------------14-12---------------14-12-  
||----------------------------------------- 
||-----------------------------------------  
 
                PM PM PM PM PM PM PM
-----------------------------------------|| 
-----------------------------------------||  
-14fb-12-14-12---------------------------|| 
---------------14-12---------------------||  
---------------------14-12---------------|| 
---------------------------15-12-15-12---||

4-open notes!

Here is a fast riff, you have to palm mute some open notes while you are playing your solo.

          PM PM       PM PM       PM PM      PM PM
|| ------------------------------------------------ 
|| ------------------------------------------------  
||.-14p12-0--0—-11h12-0—-0--15p14-0--0—12h14-0--0-- 
||.------------------------------------------------  
|| ------------------------------------------------ 
|| ------------------------------------------------  
 
       PM PM       PM PM       PM PM      PM PM
------------------------------------------------ || 
------------------------------------------------ ||  
-17p15-0--0—-15p14-0—-0--14p12-0--0—11h12-0--0--.|| 
------------------------------------------------.||  
------------------------------------------------ || 
------------------------------------------------ || 

5- fix finger!

In these riffs your 2nd figner must stay fix while you are palm mute this note, so play it fast and with same timing for all notes.

Riff a)

    PM PM    PM PM    PM PM    PM PM    PM PM    PM    PM    PM
|| ------------------------------------------------------------- || 
|| ----------------17-------15-------14-------15----12---------- ||  
||.-------14----------------------------------------------14----.|| 
||.-12-14----14-14----14-14----14-14----14-14----14----14----14-.||  
|| ------------------------------------------------------------- || 
|| ------------------------------------------------------------- || 

Riff b)

    PM PM    PM PM    PM    PM    PM    PM PM    PM    PM    PM 
|| ------------------------------------------------------------- || 
|| -------7--------8-----10----8-----7--------7-----8-----7----- ||  
||.-7--8-----8--8-----8-----8-----8-----8--8-----8-----8-----8--.|| 
||.-------------------------------------------------------------.||  
|| ------------------------------------------------------------- || 
|| ------------------------------------------------------------- || 

6- fast changing!

Here is another riff, use downstroke picking, it’s little complex but with more practice it’s not much hard

    PM PM    PM PM    PM PM    PM PM
|| ------------------------------------- 
|| -------15-------13-------12-------13-  
||.----16-------14-------13-------14---- 
||.-17-------15-------12-------15-------  
|| ------------------------------------- 
|| -------------------------------------  
 
 PM PM    PM PM    PM PM    PM PM
------------------------------------- || 
-------15-------17-------19-------17- ||  
----16-------18-------20-------18----.|| 
-17-------19-------21-------19-------.||  
------------------------------------- || 
------------------------------------- || 

7- final exam!

I like this riff, so I write this one as a last riff, play this one fast, and use downstroke, it might be simple without palm mute, but try to do it in this way, it sound so much better!

    PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM 
|| ----------------------------------------- 
|| -----------------------------------------  
||.-------------12----------------------14-- 
||.-12--14--15------15--14--12--14--15------  
|| ----------------------------------------- 
|| -----------------------------------------  

 PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM 
----------------------------------------- || 
-------------11----------------------13-- ||  
-----------------------------------------.|| 
-12--14--15------15--14--12--14--15------.||  
----------------------------------------- || 
----------------------------------------- ||

Comments

[Behnam H.]

first i have to say, i'm not much good in writing english, so excuse me for my mistakes (enjoy it)

[crazysam23_Atax]

Decent article.

[palm mute]

This is my favorite technique to use during soloing, makes rising during a solo sound better

[libertines4ever]

palm mute wrote:

This is my favorite technique to use during soloing, makes rising during a solo sound better

yes mr. palm mute :p

well never thought about it, I'll give it a try

well an introduction or a conclusion, would have been good for this article, but as you say your english isn't that good, I'll let you off

good idea, and I don't think it has been covered in UG lessons very often

[Lord_Hondros]

Well, if you had given some tips on making palm muted solos sounding better, or more heard, it might have helped.
To do so, simply crank the gain on your pedal, turn down your tone on the guitar a bit, boost your low mids a bit, and i usually scoop the hi mids.
That's my technique anyways