Palm Muting & Harmonics
P.M. and harmonics: chug and chime in a tab.
P.M. with a dashed line means palm mute; a fret number in angle brackets means a natural harmonic. One makes a note tight and percussive, the other makes it ring like a bell, and both start from an E5, E B E.
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P.M. and the dashed line
P.M. written above the tab, followed by a dashed line, means rest the side of your picking hand on the strings right by the bridge for every note under the line. Too far from the bridge and the note dies; too close and it is not muted. Find the spot where you get a tight, punchy chug that still has pitch.
- P.M. ---- = palm mute until the line ends.
- Rest the hand right at the bridge saddles.
- Chug an E5, the open low E with fret 2 on the A and D strings.
Harmonics: <12>, N.H., A.H., P.H.
A fret in angle brackets, <12>, or marked N.H., is a natural harmonic: touch the string lightly right over the fret wire, do not press, and pick. On the low E, the 12th fret gives E, the 7th gives B and the 5th gives E again — the notes of E5. A.H. is an artificial harmonic and P.H. a pinch harmonic, the squeal you get by catching the string with the thumb as you pick.
- <12>, <7>, <5> = natural harmonics over those frets.
- Touch the string over the fret wire, do not press it down.
- A.H. = artificial, P.H. = pinch harmonic.
Chug, then let it ring
The classic move is to palm mute a riff and open up on the last chord or a harmonic, so the contrast does the work. In More Than Modes a Guitar Pro tab plays its palm mutes and harmonics on the fretboard, so you can hear how tight the chug should be before you play it.
- Palm mute the verse riff, open up on the accent.
- Harmonics at the 12th fret are the easiest to start with.
- Turn the gain up a little: harmonics speak more easily.
P.M. means rest your hand at the bridge; <12> means touch, do not press. Mute and chime are the two colors a riff is built from.
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