DEAD/GHOST NOTE PROBLEMS

[guitardefector]

Hello bass community. I can slap and pop with relative ease now, but for the life of me can't get those "ghost" notes right, as hard and as slow as I try. Am I cupping my hand wrong or pressing too hard on the fretboard?Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Craigmartini]

Originally Posted by guitardefector

Hello bass community. I can slap and pop with relative ease now, but for the life of me can't get those "ghost" notes right, as hard and as slow as I try. Am I cupping my hand wrong or pressing too hard on the fretboard?Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Without seeing you play it is kinda hard to tell you what you are not doing.

But, if you are trying to deaden the sound while slapping..... Try just laying your left hand on the fret board without fretting any notes at all.

Once you get this concept down, you can also get another slap with your left hand by slapping your left hand down without fretting. To do this, you will deaden the strings with your index finger of your left hand and use the middle ring and pinky all together to slap the fretboard.



I hope this helps!

Craig

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by Craigmartini

Without seeing you play it is kinda hard to tell you what you are not doing.

But, if you are trying to deaden the sound while slapping..... Try just laying your left hand on the fret board without fretting any notes at all.

Once you get this concept down, you can also get another slap with your left hand by slapping your left hand down without fretting. To do this, you will deaden the strings with your index finger of your left hand and use the middle ring and pinky all together to slap the fretboard.



I hope this helps!

Craig

Thanks Craig!! I'll work on it tonight. Greatly appreciated.

[Winterpegbass]

The first time you play the note, you kill it and therefore it is a dead note. All subsequent notes are ghost notes.

Seriously though. A good exercise to practice involves alternating octaves with dead notes (the xes). This helps by teaching both slap dead notes and pop dead notes as well as getting used to playing a mix of dead notes and undead notes.

G----7---x--7--x---7---x---7---x
D-------------------------------
A--5---x--5--x---5---x---5---x--
E-------------------------------

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by Winterpegbass

The first time you play the note, you kill it and therefore it is a dead note. All subsequent notes are ghost notes.

Seriously though. A good exercise to practice involves alternating octaves with dead notes (the xes). This helps by teaching both slap dead notes and pop dead notes as well as getting used to playing a mix of dead notes and undead notes.

G----7---x--7--x---7---x---7---x
D-------------------------------
A--5---x--5--x---5---x---5---x--
E-------------------------------

Thanks a bundle, Winterpeg! I'll work on it asap. I guess it's only the "grateful" dead notes that emerge after lots of practice, huh? Ohh, bad joke, sorry.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by guitardefector

Thanks a bundle, Winterpeg! I'll work on it asap.

no, don't work on it asap...work on it slowly and gradually work up to asap.

I guess it's only the "grateful" dead notes that emerge after lots of practice, huh? Ohh, bad joke, sorry.

yeah, that was bad. only one worse was mine.

[Craigmartini]

Originally Posted by guitardefector

Thanks Craig!! I'll work on it tonight. Greatly appreciated.

You are quite welcome!

Before you know it you will be playing so many ghost notes the paranormal research people will be at you door.



Craig

[JimmyM]

thanks craig. you just took the edge off our bad jokes with one of your own!

[Craigmartini]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

thanks craig. you just took the edge off our bad jokes with one of your own!

Hahaha you're welcome!

Craig

[easyvision]

Once you get the basic concept of dead notes, which previous posters have done an excellent job explaining, you can then look at how dead you want them to be. Sometimes a purely percussive sound is needed, other times you want that little hint of an actual note, heck you can even work it so you get a slight harmonic ringing through!

Just get it nice and natural, experiment and have fun with it!

[Craigmartini]

Originally Posted by easyvision

Once you get the basic concept of dead notes, which previous posters have done an excellent job explaining, you can then look at how dead you want them to be. Sometimes a purely percussive sound is needed, other times you want that little hint of an actual note, heck you can even work it so you get a slight harmonic ringing through!

Just get it nice and natural, experiment and have fun with it!

Yes! Good addition to the explanation easyvision!

Craig