Palm muting takes a power chord from "buzzy chord" to "rock riff." Rest the side of your strumming-hand palm lightly against the strings right where they cross the bridge. Strum. The notes still sound, but tight and percussive, almost like a chug.
Get the contact point right
Too far forward (toward the neck) and the strings die completely. Too far back (past the bridge) and the mute does nothing. The sweet spot is right on top of the bridge saddles.Drill it with E5
Root on string 6
Strum E5 eight times in a row, palm muted, with downstrokes only.
Practice metronome
90BPM
Set 90 BPM. Eight quarter notes per measure. Listen for that consistent "chug chug chug" sound, every note the same length, same volume.
Mix muted and open
The most-used rock pattern: alternate muted strums with a few open (un-muted) strums. Try this pattern over four beats:
beat: 1 2 3 4
M M M open
Where M = muted strum, open = lift your palm and let it ring.
This pattern under E5, A5, then back to E5 is half of metal and punk.
Practice for five minutes
With the metronome above, alternate the muted-muted-muted-open pattern through E5 → A5 → G5 → E5. Loop. After five minutes the technique starts to feel automatic.Next: open chords. Power chords are 90% of rock, but the other 10% (and most pop and country) needs open shapes.