Right hand - muting top string

[DrVenkman]

Very new beginner here, with a question on how to do right hand muting on the top string. I'm playing fingerstyle, not picking.

Looking at the studybass.com site, he recommends putting your thumb alonside the neck pickup and sliding it down just a bit to mute the top string. I'm working on that but find it pretty awkward when I'm repeatedly plucking the top string, and it seems to involve a lot more movement with my right hand than it should (although that could very well be poor technique on my part - I feel like I'm moving my whole hand instead of just my thumb).

What feels much more natural to me is to vary how I mute depending on what the next note is. If I'm just going to pluck the top string again, I mute by placing whichever finger I'm going to pluck with on the top string. If the next note is on a lower string, THEN I slide my hand down and mute the top string with my thumb.

Now I don't want to create a bad habit here by doing what seems easier now. I'd much rather learn to do it in whatever manner is best in the long term. So what do you think?

[blackshift]

Slightly advanced beginner here - and I had some trouble with that for a time before I got the hang of consistently using my thumb to mute the E string.


Instead of putting my thumb on my pickup, I place it at the very end of the fretboard. The gap that you have to jump becomes much smaller and it helped me a lot.

My inspiration for it came from watching a Led Zeppelin DVD I bought quite some time ago. I just took noticed when JP Jones came on and his finger placement.

A clip can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbA_jQ28HmI



What feels much more natural to me is to vary how I mute depending on what the next note is. If I'm just going to pluck the top string again, I mute by placing whichever finger I'm going to pluck with on the top string. If the next note is on a lower string, THEN I slide my hand down and mute the top string with my thumb.

What you're describing here, I think, shows that you've kind of confused yourself.
If you are repeatedly plucking E string, then yes, you do not use your thumb to mute. You use your other finger in the 2 finger technique. That's why you use at east 2 fingers.
If you are plucking a "lower" (actually higher) string, yes, you use your thumb.

If this is what you mean, you are doing it correctly. You do not use your thumb every time to create quiet space.
Visualizing that is kind of funny.

[DrVenkman]

OK, thanks.

And you got it, what I was describing is repeatedly plucking the E string and whether or not I should mute with my thumb in that case.

The nomenclature screws me up - the string is the highest physically, but lowest musically, so I wasn't sure how to describe it. Guess I could have said the E string on a 4-string bass in standard tuning but that seemed wordy (kind of like this response).

[S. Katz]

Directions on the fretboard/strings are always described in terms of PITCH regrdless of physical orientation. "Up" is always "higher in pitch" (towards the ground/towards the bridge). "Down" is always "lower in pitch" (towards your head/towards the headstock).

Thus, if I slide up THE string, I'm moving my hand toward the bridge. If I go up A sring, I'm moving hand towards the ground.

Of course, I assume we are talking about a conventional right-handed bass. If you are lefty, get used to it.

[Atoz]

When I was learning, I was advised not to anchor my thumb at all, and just let it hang down more or less parallel to my plucking fingers. That way, the side of my thumb automatically mutes all the strings lower than the one I'm plucking at the time. In other words, if I'm plucking the "D" string, my thumb is automatically resting against the "E" and "A" strings; effectively muting them.

It took a couple of days to get used to, but now it's very natural.

[tobie]

+1 to Atoz' description.

Search this site for 'floating thumb technique'.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by tobie

Search this site for 'floating thumb technique'.

Here is a clip of it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU

[ysand]

My advice:
Anchor your thumb on the p'up when u play the top string, or on the top string when u play the other ones.
The string directly above the one you play should be muted by your plucking fingers when they stop there.

[kr0n]

Forget about strict technique when playing, only employ it when practicing the relevant technique. When playing E string only I tend to anchor on pickup. When I need more strings (often) I keep my thumb tip ON the PU and slide it back and forth to mute when needed. I'm not resting my whole hand on the thumb, ever. Playing E constantly, I mute with LH or with rest stroke.

Of course this all falls apart when playing somewhere else than on PU (different bass, playing near the neck/on the neck). Check out Floating Thumb technique for different approach, good for 4-string, especially good for n-string basses.

It's all about practice, practice skipping E to A, E to D, E to G and always mute E with your RH thumb. You keep the "mechanism" intact by moving the whole apparatus that is your right hand.

Heck, I've seen a lot of technique related questions but I haven't seen a good list of basic technique exercises that have good descriptions and/or good video/stills for bass. Someone wiser should make on 'cus technique is easy to fix when it's only in your hands and training them is simpler than training your mind. Guess a good teacher can help you out here with predetermined and proven list.

[Buslady7803]

Alot of times I just lay my thumb on the E if I'm hitting any of the others. Keeps it quiet but I'm still developing my style and working on technique right now...already started bad habits lol, time to break em.
I know where yer comin from, when I discovered sympathetics I thought my bass was haunted haha! I had no idea guitars do that!