Palm-Muted Strumming (Eighth-Note Chug)

161 strumming patterns from beginner to funk and Bollywood, played with real chords, with slow motion and a moving strum hand.

Rest the side of your picking hand on the strings by the bridge and strum down on every eighth note: the chug of rock and metal rhythm guitar. Written in arrows it is PP PP PP PP.

The player above plays it at 120 BPM over the chords A – D – E. Press Start to hear it, or slow it down to see each stroke.

How to count Palm-muted chug

Count	1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
Strum	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓
Hand	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓

Say the count out loud and strum only on the bold words: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

↓ down · ↑ up · ✕ chuck (muted) · B bass note · b second bass note · bold: accent · dashed: palm-muted · underlined: short. The last row is the strumming hand, which keeps moving even where nothing sounds.

PP PP PP PP fills all eight eighth-note slots in the bar: all of them down strokes. Four strokes fall on the beat and four between beats. The bar ends with a palm-muted down on the “&” of 4: change chord straight after it.

Playing it

Rest the fleshy edge of your strumming hand right where the strings cross the bridge. Too far forward and the chord dies to a thud; too far back and it rings open. Most players chug power chords with down strokes only.

All down strokes

Lift the hand just clear of the strings between strokes. Keep that return small: at 120 BPM each eighth note lasts 250 ms.

Palm muting

Every stroke is palm-muted, aimed at the lower three or four strings with the edge of the strumming hand resting at the bridge.

Practise it step by step

Rhythm only: mute the strings with your fretting hand and play it while saying “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &”.
Hold A, set slow motion to ×0.5 (60 BPM) and play along until four bars in a row are even.
Loop the trickiest moment on its own: the end of the bar, from the “&” of 4 into the next bar, where the chord changes.
Normal speed at 72 BPM, with the click on if you want the beat under you.
Chord changes: A – D – E, one a bar (or every 2 bars until the changes are clean).
Up 4 BPM at a time to 120 BPM, then toward 170 BPM for faster songs.

At 120 BPM a bar lasts 2.00 seconds and you play 240 strokes a minute. Slow motion at ×0.5 brings that down to 120.

Chords to try

A – D – E E – A – B7 Em – C – G – D

Rock rhythm guitar is mostly down strokes: driving eighths, palm-muted chugs and accented stabs, usually on power chords or open chords with an electric or a hard-strummed acoustic. The energy comes from evenness and from contrast between muted and open strums.

One step away

Make the palm-muted down on beat 1 an accented down and you have Open on 1, chug the rest (DP PP PP PP).
Make the palm-muted down on the “&” of 4 an accented down and you have Chug and open the last eighth (PP PP PP PD).
Make the palm-muted down on beat 2 an accented down, and make the palm-muted down on beat 4 an accented down and you have Chug with open accents on 2 and 4 (PP DP PP DP).

Change it in the pattern builder

Common questions

How do you count the Palm-muted chug strumming pattern?

Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” and play palm-muted down on beat 1, palm-muted down on the “&” of 1, palm-muted down on beat 2, palm-muted down on the “&” of 2, palm-muted down on beat 3, palm-muted down on the “&” of 3, palm-muted down on beat 4 and palm-muted down on the “&” of 4.

What tempo is Palm-muted chug played at?

120 BPM here, 240 strokes a minute. Learn it near 72 BPM; songs with this feel usually sit between 100 and 170 BPM.

Is Palm-muted chug good for beginners?

Yes, once four downs and chord changes feel easy. The one moment to watch is the end of the bar, from the “&” of 4 into the next bar, where the chord changes; start it at ×0.5, 60 BPM.

Where should my palm go for Palm-muted chug?

On the strings right at the bridge saddles. Move it toward the neck for a tighter chug, back toward the bridge for more ring.

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