This percussive muting techinique is another important characteristic of R&B guitar style.

We play the notes of the chord as inverions without the root note. The root note is played by the bass guitar, so it's not necessary to play it. Further, it can just muddy the overall sound of the arrangement if we play the entire chord every time. So, to get some variety and place the guitar effectively in it's own sonic space, we play just three note voicing in a higher range to stay out of the sonic space of the bass.

The trick to the technique is to on press down the notes briefly when strumming them. Then quickly release pressure enough to stop the strings from ringing. Do not remove your fingertips from the strings! Keep them in contact to make sure they stay muted.

Practice this lesson a lot! Just this small phrase will give you great insight and practice at R&B guitar style and everything else that we will do for the rhythm playing portion of this tutorial.