dampening strings... this is a weird one :S

[richardjones89]

i have a problem and i cant figure what to do! i dont know how to dampen the strings!

ok ive never fully committed myself to playing guitar or bass, ive always been a harmonica player since school. recently ive joined a band and taken the role as the bassist/lead singer of the band. now first things first, i need to be able to play bass well. and something that is stopping me i find is my poor technique which is due to learning the instrument myself. so i have to go back to the basics...

now the problem i have is this; i play for example Breed by Nirvana on the first string, and it vibrates and causes the other strings to vibrate too, and the ringing from the other strings will be heard in the backgroud producing a horrible sound. how would i go about stopping this? i tried dampening it with my fretting fingers but it feels odd, and it only slows my hand action down. and i tried dampening with my plucking hand but this again felt awkward.

what is the best way of solving this problem please?

p.s. my bass is a nirvada copy of a standard fender bass

[middy]

The higher strings (higher as in pitch) I dampen with my fretting fingers. For example, if I'm playing on the E string, pressing the note with the tip of my finger, the rest of the the finger will be laying across the other 3 strings lightly, muting them.

Strings that are lower than the string I'm playing I mute with my thumb, check out the "floating thumb technique" sticky at the top of the Technique forum.

[middy]

Oops, just noticed that you're using a pick. Same advice for "higher" strings. Lower strings I mute with the edge of my picking hand.

[richardjones89]

yeah i am stronger with using a plectrum, and i can dampen the higher strings pretty okay while using it. but i particulary want to learn with my fingers because this to me feels like a better sound, and obviously with learning a new technique im inexperienced at this and want to know the best way of dampening strings while playing with fingers.

i have weak fingers on my left hand to begin with which i am going to try and do excersises with to strengthen them.

[Deacon_Blues]

As your left hand starts feeling more comfortable on the fretboard, the muting of the higher strings should come naturally.

I don't play with a pick anymore, so I had to try that again to give some advice on muting the lower strings when playing with a pick. I noticed I mute the lower strings by lightly touching the them with my picking hand, more exactly right next to the wrist on the hand side (= palm? Very difficult to explain this in English... hope you get it). This being possible for you to copy or not depends on how you're holding your pick. But if you can palm mute, do the same but without touching the string you're playing, just the one(s) above it.

Hope this helps.