Hello, could you please explain how to play a ghost note on open E, A, D, G string? I see in tablatures dead notes like this, but don't know how to play on open E string?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
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Just lay your finger(s) anywhere on the string and pluck it. Don't actually fret anything though. Also beware (mainly) of muting with your fingers on the 5th and 7th frets. You don't want to accidentally play a muted harmonic.
I find my hand over the 2nd 3rd 4th fret "ish" area to be good. at the 1st or seems to ring out a bit to much on the E string
I'm not sure what you mean. Could you show us an example of tab where you've seen this?
Usually there's an "x" in place of the fret number. As others said, that just means you mute the string somehow, it doesn't matter exactly where, since a ghost note is just a percussive thump without a real pitch. Whatever's easy to reach and sounds OK to you.
In traditional notation they use a regular note but with an "x" in place of the head. But the exact location of the "x" doesn't really matter. At most it might give you some idea which string they thought you'd want to use.
I'm fairly new to bass - and I understand what you are asking. It had me bamboozled too when I was first starting out. And for a while I just played everything up the fretboard, if I could, and avoided open strings. But then I started forcing myself to play lines with open strings and try to damp them and do ghost notes on open strings and make them sound the same as when I do on fretted notes. It felt impossible at first - but just keep at it and it will come to you.
I will practice playing lines that move from a fretted note on one string to the adjacent open string and I just work on it until I can make the open string sound the same as if I'd continued up to the fifth fret on the lower string. In particular, I practice playing short notes where I damp the string by lifting the fretting finger a little - and try to make the open string damp exactly the same sound by laying a finger(s) on the open string after plucking it. And then doing ghost notes is just that same damping technique while your plucking.
Once you start doing it, it will come to you pretty quickly - you just have to keep at it even though it feels unnatural at first.
I will practice playing lines that move from a fretted note on one string to the adjacent open string and I just work on it until I can make the open string sound the same as if I'd continued up to the fifth fret on the lower string. In particular, I practice playing short notes where I damp the string by lifting the fretting finger a little - and try to make the open string damp exactly the same sound by laying a finger(s) on the open string after plucking it. And then doing ghost notes is just that same damping technique while your plucking.
Once you start doing it, it will come to you pretty quickly - you just have to keep at it even though it feels unnatural at first.
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From what I understand is the ghost notes are muted notes. Thus, I do a variety of muting with both hands and fingers to get the desired mute. It all depends on where the played notes are, and I mute any of the convenient open strings. On the big open E, I sometimes mute using the thumb. On octaves, I rake across the open string muting with the fretting hand. ETC... there are many ways to do this.
