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Courses/Stage 5

Palm Mute and Staccato

Master8 minHammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, chucks, intro fingerstyle

Right-hand palm muting and staccato give your rhythm grit and drive — a common “seasoning” in folk playing-and-singing.

Video lessons are in production — follow the notes and practice checklist below and you'll learn it just fine.
Stage 5 · Advanced Techniques5 lessons

You're on lesson 3 / 5 in this stage

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  1. Hammer-ons and Pull-offs8 min
  2. Slides and Vibrato7 min
  3. Palm Mute and Staccato8 min
  4. Intro to Fingerstyle Solo9 min
  5. Figuring Out Songs, Improvising, and Where to Go Next9 min

Right-hand palm mute

Rest the pinky side of your right palm lightly on the strings near the bridge, then pluck or strum, and the sound turns short and low. The closer to the bridge, the clearer it stays; the closer to the sound hole, the more muffled.

Demo video · in production
右手闷音与切音

Watch Teacher Wei demonstrate: how the pinky side of the palm rests on the strings near the bridge to mute (clearer near the bridge, more muffled toward the sound hole), and how the palm drops to “choke off” the strings for staccato.

Staccato

Right after the strum sounds, immediately “choke off” the strings with your right palm (or by relaxing the left hand), making a short, sharp “cha.” Use staccato as a “dead beat” in the rhythm and the groove instantly comes alive.

  • 💡 Get the “strum—chuck—strum—chuck” steady on one chord first, then work it into a song.

Chords in this lesson

Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.

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Go play these

Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:

See all songs →

Practice this with famous songs

We don't host sheets for these songs (copyright); only the “what to practice” direction — find the sheets yourself:

  • “Goodbye” (Zhang Zhenyue) — staccato on the dead beats brings the groove to life.
  • Intro to “Summer of Kikujiro” — right-hand palm muting to control the grit.
Open the metronomeUsing staccato on the backbeats feels great.→

Practice checklist

  • On Em, do “downstroke—staccato—downstroke—staccato” along with the metronome for 2 minutes.
  • Use a right-hand palm mute to play a passage of bass root notes, and feel the grit.