Muting

[keny46]

Janek,

Hey I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned this yet but how do you go about muting the strings when your playing with four fingers? I know Garrison uses the palm of his right hand in conjuction with his left hand to accomplish this, but I was hoping maybe you could go a little more in depth about what your really doing technically.

Thanks, Kenny

[janekbass]

Kenny,

well the palm of the picking hand in conjunction with the fretting hand, as you put in your post, is pretty much it.

You should be very conscious of how well each combination works while you're practicing. Work out certain things with specific fingerings so you're not hearing a bunch of overtones and noise when you're doing someone focussed. Practice everything slowly so you really soak up the technique and have it under control at all tempos.

As an excercise, play everything that you would normally practice open, with the palm muting. See which things work and sound better open or muted. Also, be aware in the studio that the muted thing will often not come across as well. And be aware that you can fake a heavier groove easier with palm muting, and when you come to play it open you'll find it isn't as tight. Playing with open fingers is a lot more difficult to contorl, and I think should be worked on more than the muting thing.

Easy,

Janek