Muting Low B string

[toons545]

Hey everyone,
I find that I'm having trouble muting the low B string of my lakland. I play where my right thumb is always on the string below the one that I'm playing (like If I'm playing on the D string, my thumb rests on the A string. I find that especially if i play a bassline that only uses the A, G, D strings, (like "funkifize" by Tower of Power, for example) that my low B string starts to rumble. Also my Low E will do this aswell but not as bad. I haven't really found any way of preventing this. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
johnny

[janekbass]

if you're playing on the top two strings you can try to mute the B with the thumb, the E with the pinkie, and the A with the ring finger.

leaving your first and second fingers open to play with.

Easy,

Janek

[Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by janekbass

if you're playing on the top two strings you can try to mute the B with the thumb, the E with the pinkie, and the A with the ring finger.

leaving your first and second fingers open to play with.

Easy,

Janek

+1, that's how I do it. Works a charm but not a lot of cats seem to try it very often.

There's also the method Todd Johnson and Gary Willis use. Lay your thumb on lower strings by fixing it parallel to your index/middle fingers. Check Todd's Ask forum for more info...

I personally find Janek's a bit easier

[Chad.mundt]

I personally switch mostly between the floating thumb technique (todd johnson) and the patitucci technique that janek just described. The patitucci technique has more bite while the floating thumbs is smoother to my ears. Both are excellent techniques.

[funkydanbass]

On a five string I never move my thum lower than resting on the E string, and back against the B. If Im playing the A string, its all good. If Im playing the D, rest stroke takes care of the A string. Now, it gets a little tricky when your perched on the E string and playing the G because the A string is not covered. In this case I use my ring finger to mute the A string. Took a little bit of getting used to after playing 4 strings. I prefer this method because this way the B string is always covered.

Hope that helps.

[cybersnyder]

Originally Posted by janekbass

if you're playing on the top two strings you can try to mute the B with the thumb, the E with the pinkie, and the A with the ring finger.

leaving your first and second fingers open to play with.

Easy,

Janek

This is what I usually do for fingerstyle, but slapping is an issue on a 5 string. It's easy to mute with your left hand on a 4 string, but on a 5 string that low B ends up rumbling. Even playing as cleanly as possible, the low B picks up some sympathetic vibrations so it needs to be actively muted. I've even tried the hair scrunchie, but it seems to be much less effective in muting the low B. So my "technique" is to calm down the B string with my forearm as much as possible. Do you have any suggestions as this is only 80% effective and I still get some rumble. (Slap on a 4 is an acceptable answer.)

[janekbass]

I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong guy about slap. I'm really not into it, I never do it unless I'm being paid a lot of money on a record date, and my only advice would be not to slap regardless of how many strings you have on your bass.....

I'm sure that's not the answer you wer looking for, but it's really all I can say about slap while being honest.

Easy,

Janek

[cybersnyder]

Honest answer are much better than BS answers any day. I had to chuckle a little at "unless I'm being paid a lot of money".

Actually, I was thinking about it a little more and while doing fingerstyle I mute both the E and the B with my thumb. I guess it's like a limited version of the floating thumb technique. If I'm playing the E, then my thumb is on the B string, if I'm playing any higher strings, my thumb is on the E string and leans back to mute the B string. Any higher than the one I'm playing gets muted by my left hand and the pinky and ring finger handle the A and the D string as needed.

[JimmyM]

I cure this problem by playing 4-string as much as possible

[eunchang]

Originally Posted by janekbass

I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong guy about slap. I'm really not into it, I never do it unless I'm being paid a lot of money on a record date, and my only advice would be not to slap regardless of how many strings you have on your bass.....

I am glad to find I am not the only bassist who doesn't enjoy slapping!!

Still, I want to hear why you don't want to play in that style. Hard to find individual voice through that style of playing? Just don't like the sound??

More important question, how to deal with a band leader asking a slap solo out of no musical context??

[janekbass]

Well I've never come across a band leader asking me to play a slap solo. I think people know better than to ask me to do that these days as I've made no secret about not wanting to do it.

My reason for it is probably a combination of a few different things.

95% of bass players I hear from beginner to pro have more than just a casual reference to the likes of marcus miller and victor wooten in their playing. I find it really annoying to hear the same 5 licks played over and over again with no thought whatsoever. It gets those players noticed because everyone has heard those 5 licks before and can immediately relate to them. The human ear and brain takes a while to adjust to new sounds, and it certainly isn't being helped by bass players who refuse to go beyond those few licks. And I think the thing that pisses me off the most about it is that there are just too many bass players that play like that, and are making careers out of ripping someone else off. I certainly couldn't live with myself coming home every night having rehashed what marcus or vic did 20 years ago.

Then there is the sound issue. Playing in that style is fairly one dimensional in the sense that the mids are all scooped out and the bass and treble are all boosted to get that marcus sound. So as soon as a bass player playing in that style tries to play anything remotely melodic it gets lost in the ether, and is never heard. It's just incredible to me that people can a) sit there and listen to that or b) stand there onstage and play like that. If people recorded themselves and listened back more often the world would be a much more open and aware place as far as musicians go. And also the players who do that pretty much exclusively tend to have a very single minded record collection or listening choice.

I'm into what I'm into, and it's a certain thing that a lot of people might not dig. But when it comes to being open and checking out, and understanding other types of music, I dig as deep as I possibly can. That means going far away from what I'm most comfortable with a lot of the time, and really changing the way I think about music, and the way i play my instrument.

It's that safety zone that playing slap creates, that is detremental to the advancement of a players voice. You'll find that all the insanely fast and accomplished slap players, who have all these blinding victor wooten licks under their thumb, can't play with two fingers worth anything. That's a very closed minded approach to an instrument that really has a lot of range in it.

If someone asks you to play a slap solo..... or rather I'll tell you what i would do if someone asked me. You can take it or leave it, but this is what I would do.

1. check to make sure they weren't smiling and just being silly, making sure they are actually serious...

2. not play the slap solo

3. never work for them again

4. suggest that some like minded friends of mine not work for them either

5. after the gig where this occurs, try and explain as nicely as possible that's not something I do, and if they're looking for a marcus miller solo his number is xxx-xxx-xxxx, and should they be fortunate to have sufficiant money shashed away somewhere he would be more than happy to come and play a solo for them.


Easy,

Janek

[janekbass]

P.S. if you're talking about a record date situation that you've been hired for knowing there may well be slap involved, ignore the end of the last post.

When there is money involved and a professional recording situation, I am a bass player being hired for a job, and will do what a producer asks. I would have of course had the opportunity to say no to the session before arriving at the studio, so once in the studio if that's required then I tow the line and make it happen.

[cheapimitation]

Just wondering, Janek, have you ever worked hard at practicing slap, either because you thought it might be a useful or necessary (as a hired pro) skill, or perhaps at one time in your playing life you were inspired/curious about it?