In this lesson, I’m talking about “right hand muting”. There are various ways to mute the strings with your plucking hand on the bass, and it’s important that you know and use at least one of them. If you’re not convinced, the first example I give in the video, in which I play a scale without muting any strings should make it pretty obvious! Yes… there’s a lot of noise going on and it sounds… horrible!
There are two basic techniques to mute the strings you don’t play on the bass:
- The ‘floating thumb’ technique –used by guys like Gary Willis, Todd Johnson, etc.
- The unnamed technique ;), which consists in muting the unplayed strings with the ring finger and pinky (although I call it ‘index’ in the video, I meant ‘pinky’ or ‘little finger’, sorry!). This technique is used by guys like John Patitucci, Jaco Pastorius, among others.
No muting technique is better than the other and there are great players using each of them. Plus, you can use both, depending on the context… A video with nice close-ups should make all that clearer…
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For my technique the string seems to mute from my picking fingers hitting it. Do i have excessive picking motion?
Thanks, Love your vids, Ben
No… this is part of many muting systems. If it works… it works ;)
Hi Scott,
Nice lesson!
In your video you shows how to mute when ascending, but how to mute when descending, since i can’t mute the g string when i play e with your method,right?
Another question, do we really use mute when we play music? my finger can’t do so much task at the same time. i suppose when we play fast (or normal speed) the noise can’t stay long? right?
Thanks again.
Hey man, when your descending the higher strings are muted with the left hand fingers… not the finger tips, farther down towards the palm. The lower strings are muted by the same way you mute when ascending. Hope that makes sense man… give me a shout if it doesn’t ;)! ez, Scott
Hi Scott,
Like the tutorial on raking, etc., this one prompted me to have a thorough look at my right-hand technique and how I actually mute. A lot of the techniques are already in there in some form or other, but it prompted me to put them under the microscope and see how I could coordinate them better, or where I could perhaps use some alternatives. Great stuff!
However, I was wondering if you always pick with two fingers or whether you occasionally throw in your ring finger for certain types of grooves or patterns. I do use mine, but in a somewhat random fashion, so it’s still not as integrated into my playing as I would like. Any tips?
Cheers,
Kees
Hey kees, I generally just use two fingers although when I’m playing chords I use my ring finger too. Ez, Scott
I mute the strings using the left hand… is there any problem?
should I change it?
Not a problem at all… but the bass strings can be a problem sometimes so it’s good to use both hands.
Great lesson Scott! I’m a beginner (4 months) and trying to put a lot of effort in being able to play clean, I figure speed will come with time I hope :)
Your open discussion of both techniques and choosing a style based on what you feel more comfortable with is important. I initially started playing bass with the floating thumb then had a couple of lessons which I was told that is incorrect and I must use pinky muting. After watching your lesson I’m switching back due to it feeling more natural, of course this is a personal preference and different for every person.
Thanks again for the great lessons.
You playing is extremely clean: it is kinda hard to tell from the angle, but it seems that with your
hybrid approach that even though the tip of your thumb is always anchored on a string, that your thumb is also laying flat or at least making contact with the un-fretted strings.
For example, if your playing a note on the G string, your thumb is still maintaining contact with
the low E string?
Also, nice to see your dog put in a cameo appearance around 7.58′ mark of the video. :-)
Yeah that’s it man… my thumb kinda dampens the other strings at the same time. Thanks for tuning in man! Scott
Thank you for making all this valuable info available.
Having decided to actually learn proper technique rather than just thumpin’ away, I discovered it is rather “painful” to develop good right hand movement. But essential: so a few more basic questions if I may.
Analyzing your right hand motion, the key to producing consistent tone & volume across all the strings seems to be maintaining the angle of attack the same across all the strings?
…or do you change the angle of attach slightly as you cross the strings?
..and is the plucking motion a pulling back across the strings with the pad of the finger, or more finger tip?
Thanks
Hey Mac good question.The angle is always pretty much the same… it obviously changes a tiny bit but nothing noticeable. I kinda use the finger tip to pluck the string as using the pad gives me a little bit to much resistance against the string and ends up slowing me down. Hope that helps! Scott.
Hi Scott, this is a fantastic resource for any bass player. I’m 53 and just starting from nothing, it became obvious almost straight away that I need to focus on my right hand technique before I can even remotely think about what my left hand is doing. It’s all very well learning from scratch with scales etc but if you’re trying to learn from nothing it’s impossible to concentrate on both hands simultaneously. I’m saying this should be the first three lessons for any beginner: 1. ‘THE’ most important bass lesson I ever teach! 2. Strap Height 3. Right Hand Muting (Floating Thumb & More!). Kev.
thanks a lot man Godbless
In this video, Jaco Pastorius is moving his thumb to rest on the A string when playing on the D and G strings, just like you do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5reMx8v1J5k He’s not moving it further to the D string, however, as far as I can tell.
I seem to have the same technique as your hybrid floating thumb. Gonna try the regular floating thumb now and see how it feels. I’m hoping it’ll help with my speed and accuracy too.