Left hand muting.

[Pettson]

So, i have been playing bass for about six months now and i have realized that i can hardly mute with my left hand at all!

Do someone please have some good exercises that i can use to fix this problem?

Thanks in advance!

Btw, I use the Floating Thumbe technique to mute with my right hand. :P

[xzzy]

I don't know that there's much technique to it.. if a finger isn't fretting a note, I rest it over a string I need muted. I have some guitar experience, and tend to mimic the bar chord form and let the index finger do a lot of the muting. Depending what's going on the other fingers may do the work instead.

I seem to get a lot more harmonics when left hand muting compared to right hand, so I try to set up my playing so that I can rely on the right hand, and if that fails, both hands get in on the action.

[Turkleton]

I have the same problem, but instead of muting, i can't get a good sound when I try to play harmonics. Do you have any recommendation for playing right the harmonics?

[Stumbo]

If you play an entire song that needs muting, I suggest using a piece of foam at the bridge.

What works for me is that, since I play a bit of guitar, what I do is rest the edge of my hand/pinky across the strings at the bridge using enough pressure to create the amount of muting needed and then use a picking type motion with my thumb and index together. What happens is that my index finger nail kinda becomes the "pick".

I can play either fingerstyle or with a pick so I can adjust to whatever the tune needs and choose the appropriate technique to get the job done without stressing out over which is better(or not). Even switching between them during one song. Whatever works is my motto.

[xzzy]

Originally Posted by Turkleton

I have the same problem, but instead of muting, i can't get a good sound when I try to play harmonics. Do you have any recommendation for playing right the harmonics?

Experimentation.. the explanation is pretty simple, lightly touch the string with a finger, then pluck it. Implementation is just a question of teaching yourself how much pressure is the sweet spot to really get it to ring out.

To get a strong harmonic, you want the point you place your finger to be some fraction of the full string length. The 12th fret is half the string, for example. The 7th fret divides into thirds. 5th is quarters.. and so on. That means some harmonics are done right on the fret wire, and others will be somewhere within the fret. Only experimentation can teach you where they are.

Practice with the 12th fret early on so you can figure out how much pressure to apply. Maybe use a pick to ensure your fingers aren't dulling the harmonic.

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by xzzy

....lightly touch the string with a finger, then pluck it. ...Maybe use a pick to ensure your fingers aren't dulling the harmonic.

I also pull my left hand finger away from the string immediately after plucking/picking. The harmonic seems to ring out longer this way for me. Also, you might try turning down the bass and turning up the treble for experimentation purposes.

[Pettson]

I have tried to train my left hand muting, but there is still one problem for me.

When ive just played a note and lift the finger up from the fretboad to rest on the string to mute it, i get sort of a Harmonics kind of sound...

Does anyone know what i mean? I need to fix this :P
Does anyone know what to do?

[Lulz]

Originally Posted by Pettson

I have tried to train my left hand muting, but there is still one problem for me.

When ive just played a note and lift the finger up from the fretboad to rest on the string to mute it, i get sort of a Harmonics kind of sound...

Does anyone know what i mean? I need to fix this :P
Does anyone know what to do?

I mute the string with my pinky, I've had to adapt my muting technique because I play with Jamerson high action, and thick as **** strings.

[Pettson]

Originally Posted by Lulz

I mute the string with my pinky, I've had to adapt my muting technique because I play with Jamerson high action, and thick as **** strings.

How to you mean?

[Pettson]

Originally Posted by Pettson

I have tried to train my left hand muting, but there is still one problem for me.

When ive just played a note and lift the finger up from the fretboad to rest on the string to mute it, i get sort of a Harmonics kind of sound...

Does anyone know what i mean? I need to fix this :P
Does anyone know what to do?

Really need help with this one!

[xzzy]

To completely guarantee you mute the string, you have to touch it in two spots.

When you pluck a string, many different waves (or, harmonics) are produced and ripple up and down the string. When you mute with a single finger, only some of the waves are silenced. Every additional finger touching the string will kill off another set of waves.

Even with two finger muting, some harmonics will survive. They'll be extremely faint and it's unlikely anyone will notice them, but if you listen close you'll be able to hear the note doesn't come to a dead stop. There's a faint "fuzziness" to the tone as the waves are silenced.

[Pettson]

Is there any type of string that i can use to reduce the "harmonic noise"?

[xzzy]

That's what effects pedals are for. ;)

[Pettson]

Originally Posted by xzzy

That's what effects pedals are for.

Do you know any good cheap pedals that you would recomend?

[Sonicfrog]

This may not apply to your question, but one technique I use is to use a finger on the right hand to mute a string by the bridge. This can work really well at the end of a song when you need the note to fade rather than sustain. The farther away from the bridge and / or the more pressure you use on the string, the quicker the decay or fade on the note. I could use the volume knob on the bass, but if I have to go right into another song, the string would otherwise still be ringing, and I won't have to take the extra moment to turn the volume back up.

[Turkleton]

Originally Posted by xzzy

Experimentation.. the explanation is pretty simple, lightly touch the string with a finger, then pluck it. Implementation is just a question of teaching yourself how much pressure is the sweet spot to really get it to ring out.

To get a strong harmonic, you want the point you place your finger to be some fraction of the full string length. The 12th fret is half the string, for example. The 7th fret divides into thirds. 5th is quarters.. and so on. That means some harmonics are done right on the fret wire, and others will be somewhere within the fret. Only experimentation can teach you where they are.

Practice with the 12th fret early on so you can figure out how much pressure to apply. Maybe use a pick to ensure your fingers aren't dulling the harmonic.

Hey, xzzy, your help was great. I've started to practice with the pick and once that my left hand was ok, I moved to practice with my fingers, and guess what, theyr'e sounding great for me. Now I'm gonna go for Chromatic Fantasy at 200 BPM, LOL

Thanks a lot

[Lulz]

Originally Posted by Pettson

How to you mean?

I damp the string with my pinky when I need to mute it.

[kr0n]

Move your left hand less. The harmonics problem is a common one and most have succesfully solved it.

I wouldn't use effects to cover my mistakes, it just makes you a sloppy player.

I'm no master either but I try to keep my left hand on top of the strings all the time. When I press the string down it comes free from my resting fingers and is able to vibrate. When I depress I tend to keep my finger on the string for a short time (unless I need to move up or down a string) and keep the other fingers resting on top of the strings while my next finger goes for the note. Or rather, is already there when playing legato.

Having a 2 or more things touching the string mute it fast. Having your right hand ring/pinky finger doing some of that for you helps aswell.

Just relax your hand on the strings.

[(b)Assman]

It's just sorta something you pick up as you play I figure. Not so much if you are playing heavier songs and a lot of 16th notes but if you are playing groove oriented songs where the spaces inbetween notes need to be silent your hands should be able to figure out how to do that.

[Bofee]

There's a Rocco Prestia video (Probably DVD, too by now) where he talks about his particular style of left hand muting and ghosting. Good stuff.