Guitar technique
Palm muting is a technique where the edge of the picking hand rests lightly on the strings near the bridge, producing the chunky, percussive sound that defines rock and metal rhythm guitar.
Free for the first 3 songs.
What it is
Palm muting shortens the natural sustain of each note and emphasizes the attack. It is most recognizable on power chords in punk, hardcore, and metal, but is also used in funk, country, and pop guitar for rhythmic effect. The depth of the mute (how much hand pressure is applied) varies the sound from a tight chug to a fully damped click.
How to read it
Tab notation marks palm-muted passages with a 'PM' above the staff, often followed by a dotted line spanning the muted region. Some tab editors use a 'M' or a bracket notation instead.
See the full guide to reading guitar tab for the complete symbol reference, or browse the glossary for related terminology.
How audio2guitar detects it
Palm-muted notes have a shorter sustain envelope and a brighter, more transient-dominant spectral profile than open notes. The pipeline detects palm muting by analyzing the decay rate and harmonic content of each sustained note and marking regions where the decay is significantly faster than expected for the inferred string.
Where it shows up
The pipeline distinguishes light palm muting from full mutes when the decay envelope difference is clear, but does not currently grade depth on a continuous scale.
Palm-muted chords are still recognized as chords. The chord label is the same; the palm-mute marker is added as a separate annotation.
Every palm muting our pipeline detects gets marked in the tab automatically. First 3 songs free.