palm muting playing finger style?

[FormerGuitarist]

hey all,
As the name alludes to, I'm a long time guitarist that is absolutely loving playing bass. (so much so I hope to someday identify as a bassist foremost)

Anyway, as a guitar player I have always used a pick, but I decided from the get go I would play finger style only. So far its working great. Having no trouble playing multiple fingers, and letting my thumb float to mute/stop the sound of previous notes, etc...

Blah blah blah I know, So my question is what do you suggest as a finger style player to do if I occasionally want a palm mute sound? Seems too awkward to actually mute with my palm and continue to pluck with fingers, and I'm not sure if I should be trying to train my thumb to both mute/silence a string OR lightly mute for a palm mute sound...

Thanks for any input.

[Ampeg SVT]

What I would do is stick some foam under the strings by the bridge, you can remove it when you dont want that sound.

Also you can put your palm on the bridge and pluck using your thumb, index, and middle fingers. A alternative to that would be using your left hand to mute but doing something that is similar to Rocco Prestia of Tower of Power, I am actually using a technique like that and it sounds really good for pumping out solid 8th and 16th notes.

[Erick Lam]

For a a very muffled sound, you need to practice... muting with the palm. The palm is resting on the strings so the fingers will attack much less perpendiculary but with practice, it's possible.

What I developped myself is pinky muting. I lay the pinky accross the strings and pluck normally. I remember it was painful when I started because you need to apply enough pressure to mute. Now I do it's part of my "staple" tone. No need and more control than foams.

[bassasm33]

Finger muting in the left hand seems much more practical for your right hand technique.

[iamthebassplayr]

There was a video on here a while ago of a guy who was using their fretting hand to mute. He would fret with his index and have his middle or ring lightly touching teh string very close to the fretted note. I've also seen what Eric was talking about, with using another finger on your plucking hand. Experiment!!

If it is something you want to do always, I would suggest foam under the strings near the bridge.

If it is something you plan on doing every now and then I would try out using other fingers and mess around a bit.

[Erick Lam]

Originally Posted by bassasm33

Finger muting in the left hand seems much more practical for your right hand technique.

1- It's less practical.
2- It doesn't sound the same at all.

[bassasm33]

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

1- It's less practical.
2- It doesn't sound the same at all.

1- It can be quite practical if you have trouble palm muting
2- Maybe not exactly but again if palm muting is giving him trouble then it could be a decent substitute.
but to each his own.

[RDW]

This guy mutes using left-hand technique. Very smooth and effective.

To give credit where credit is due, Snerek posted this on 12/22 in a thread titled "Great Youtube Technique."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Dkup_-ekw

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

For a a very muffled sound, you need to practice... muting with the palm. The palm is resting on the strings so the fingers will attack much less perpendiculary but with practice, it's possible.

What I developped myself is pinky muting. I lay the pinky accross the strings and pluck normally. I remember it was painful when I started because you need to apply enough pressure to mute. Now I do it's part of my "staple" tone. No need and more control than foams.

+1, I mute with my pinky. It's like floating thumb, but with your pinky, and across all strings. I don't remember it being painful at all when I first started doing it. I don't do it all the time, but I learned it from D-Mo @ Berklee; that's his staple tone, too.

[Kyon`]

In the past I've muted with my pinky as mentioned above but for fast 8ths, 16ths, 32nds, etc... I've come to employ Rocco Prestia, of Tower of Power, technique where you mute with the left hand, I tend to use my pinky as well on the left side. I do sometimes go flat fingered but I enjoy the sound the most.

[Erick Lam]

Originally Posted by RDW

This guy mutes using left-hand technique. Very smooth and effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Dkup_-ekw

It does sound extremely well, but muting with the pinky, you can play anything from a ballad to a shred-like solo. The left hand is completely free to execute.

It can be quite practical if you have trouble palm muting

There's a cure for that.. more practice!

[FormerGuitarist]

Thanks for all the input! My instinct is to do what Ampeg SVT mentioned; to quick switch my hand position to a pick style (without a pick of course) and palm mute like I do while playing guitar (actually using my right hand palm). However I've found that it's a stark difference in tone as soon as I do so, which I may not always want.

The technique in the video clip sounds great. But what Im specifically trying to palm mute for is a 4 note decending pattern which I use all 4 fingers on my left hand for.

I like the idea of using my pinky. I've tried it and found that I start to curl my first and middle finger more, which has been especially difficult while trying to do 16th notes as well. My right hand is basically perpendicular to the strings so to mute with my pinky I have to angle my wrist or get used to plucking with curled fingers. BUT I suppose I will just get accustomed to it or overcome it with practice. I'm trying to build the best foundation possible (relative to the music I play). Thanks all.

[Brian D]

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

For a a very muffled sound, you need to practice... muting with the palm. The palm is resting on the strings so the fingers will attack much less perpendiculary but with practice, it's possible.

What I developped myself is pinky muting. I lay the pinky accross the strings and pluck normally. I remember it was painful when I started because you need to apply enough pressure to mute. Now I do it's part of my "staple" tone. No need and more control than foams.

I do this also. It kinda came natural as my pinky finger just sticks out straight and doesn't want to do anything.

[bassasm33]

Originally Posted by Erick Lam

There's a cure for that.. more practice!

can't argue with that

[Gawd]

The two techniques I find usefull are right hand muting with the side of the palm, plucking with the thumb, index, and middle. Or the left hand muting like rocco prestia.