Quote:
Originally Posted by Spin Doctor  Just give it some time and attention. |
+1. Like any other facet of bass playing technique, it takes time and deliberation. Be aware of where your hand is and whether or not it's doing its job of muting the strings, then force yourself to adjust. My first teacher taught me to mute the strings with my individual fingers (pinky on E, ring on A, middle on D) which worked for a while, but when I moved up to 5 string I had to use my thumb, which took some getting used to; the biggest challenge was moving the thumb when crossing strings, but it's entirely possible with practice.
The problem with the scrunchie is it's only good for closed-position playing. That's why people often use it for tapping. If you were to play an open note, you'd have to spend extra time moving it past the nut before playing said note. Also, I've found that using the thumb to mute gives me more speed and strength in plucking, since I don't have to stretch my hand as much to reach the higher strings.
Edit: And keep in mind that the scrunchie only mutes so much of the string; if you're playing past the 8th fret or so, it won't do much sitting on the first fret. You'll have to be adjusting its position the higher you go on the fretboard, which means you'll have to preemptively move it back as you go down the fretboard. More trouble than it's worth IMO.
is it cheating? 
any help would be appreciated
