Dampening (dǽmpənɪŋ) is a technique that softens or, almost entirely, eliminates the tone of a note. To dampen a chord, a guitar player strums a chord with his strumming hand and dampen some strings by applying less pressure to them than a normal fretted note. This practice can be done in a rapid or slower method depending on the desired effect. The effects of dampening on the guitar can be very dramatic. When played successively, dampened notes may hardly resemble the actual note at all, although the tone will still ring true to the chord.

Dampening is used across many genres of music, such as bluegrass, rock n’ roll, country and even classical music. Classical music may use the dampening effect with fingerstyle playing, which gives the rhythm a stop and go feel.