come on, come over/ghosting help

[uethanian]

i just started playing someone's transcription of jaco's 'come on, come over,' and im having some trouble with the bridge.

its very specific about what notes are ghosted and what notes are not. to ghost notes i've been fingering normally but not pressing it down to the fingerboard (this is on fretless). the problem is in a lot of places harmonics come out. is there a trick to getting that funky thud?

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

It is not enough to release the pressure on the string to get a mute ("dead") note. If you do it like that, your fingertip is touching the string at a single point and a harmonic will most likely ring, specially if you have a good amount of mid frequencies in your tone. To avoid this, you must touch the string at least at two points at the same time and the best way to achieve this is to keep your other fingers extended resting on the string while releasing the pressure on the fretted note.

BTW, this is a great book for working on the muted notes technique.

Hope this helps.

[jazzcrime]

as alvaro said you'll need to mute with at least two fingers. the same principles apply to ghost notes and palm muting - if you palm mute with only one side of a finger or something it just won't deaded the strings enough to give you that thud therefore the same applies to your left hand. also try and not so much push down on the strings with your left hand as let them rest on there naturally - ensuring you get the best sound out of what you're doing. have a few at a few of the techniques alvaro and i suggested and use your own good judgement to find what's best for you!

[uethanian]

i get what u guys are saying, its just hard to imagine doing it while playing..

alvaro - yea, maybe i'll check out that book. i didnt realize that they had something specifically for muted notes. and great vid of 'what is hip,' im trying to learn it on my fretless but having some trouble with the octaves and such.

[jazzcrime]

uethanian , you'll also find that if you play with your fingers quite close to the strings at all times even when you're playing normally muting with your left hand will be 328947324892798 times easier because your hand will already be there. this will help with things like octaves too.

[uethanian]

thanks, finger height is defenitely one of my big faults.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by uethanian

and great vid of 'what is hip,' im trying to learn it on my fretless but having some trouble with the octaves and such.

Thanks, man. And I'm glad I'm helping. If you're interested in my transcription of "What Is Hip?", just let me know your e-mail address and I'll send you a copy.

[uethanian]

yea that would be great, i dont really trust the one im reading right now...

my email is ethanlouis@aol.com

[Mark Wilson]

http://www.lucaspickford.com/transcome.htm

There ya go.

[uethanian]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

http://www.lucaspickford.com/transcome.htm

There ya go.

hey yea thats the one i've been using.

what i really need right now is a teacher...

[Mark Wilson]

I misread your original post.
Sorry.

I'm assuming your problem with the harmonic is the A in the 8th bar. On the 7th fret.
An easy way to get rid of that harmonic is to keep the finger rested on the string behind it, so you have two fingers on the string at once. This will cancel out the harmonic.

If it's confusing, PM me your MSN address and I'll show you on webcam.

[John Wentzien]

Jaco said in his instructional video that he also mutes notes with the right hand pinky and ring fingers.