Muting with left hand only?

[StuartV]

I've been teaching myself to play for a few months. I bought a DVD. I watched videos. I went to studybass.com.

I settled on using the floating thumb for muting with my right hand, plus, the side of my index finger on my right hand for muting the higher strings. This has been working okay for me, but I often catch myself failing to mute well on 1 string, especially if I'm trying to playing something that is on the faster side.

A couple of days ago, I had my first actual lesson. The guy I found to take from just graduated from FSU in Jazz Studies, on bass. He plays upright and electric. He has had students before. He plays regularly at the local live jazz venue and even has his own band that plays there weekly.

I told him that my primary objective with him was to make sure I have good technique and develop that. I played trombone in jazz bands for years, so I can already read music and have a good grasp of theory.

He had me play some stuff for him - stuff I've been working on from sheet music in books I had bought - so that he could assess my current level. He said my technique was good and he only tweaked my left elbow position and my left pinky fretting (having me curve it more, so it doesn't touch any of the higher strings). He didn't say anything about muting, at all. Either, in general, or about how I was doing it.

I eventually brought up muting as something I feel like I've been having more trouble with (compared to, for example, fretting and plucking). What he told me is that he doesn't do muting with his right hand at all. He said all his muting comes from his left (fretting) hand. At first, I thought What The Heck?! And then I thought about it more and realized that, if you play a note and then relax your fretting finger when the note should end, that finger mutes the string.

So, now I'm wondering. Is all this talking about muting with the right hand just a crutch for not having proper left hand technique? Or, is my new "teacher" somebody that I should run from?

Insights welcome!

 

[JackANSI]

I mute with whatever hand is going to get the job done without getting in the way of anything else that may be going on (like the current note(s) or the next few) or whatever is comfortable at the time...

To force yourself to do it one way or another is just limiting yourself IMO...

I'm probably wrong though, thats how TB is

 

[fearceol]

Why should it be "either/or" ?

Use both as you find the need. The more tools you have at your disposal the better.

 

[ccpbass]

The majority of the time I mute with the left hand. Sounds like you got a good teacher. What left hand muting allows you to do is play ghost notes or dead notes within a bass line which is absolutely essential in funk and R&B music. It adds a rythmic funk to your lines. Listen to James Jamerson. I think you its an important technique to develop early.

 

[gregmerrill]

Job for both hands I wish I had 3. Half of playing the bass is muting those damm strings.

 

[guroove]

I mute with both hands, but the right hand muting isn't something that I've ever consciously developed. When I pluck the A string, the E string gets muted by the fact that the finger lands on it after the A is plucked. When playing on the D and G strings, I sometimes rest my thumb on the E string. I don't think you need to run from this teacher. If you don't sound sloppy, there isn't a whole lot of work for you to do. If you can play cleanly without right hand muting, then you're doing fine.

 

[alexwittscheck]

Yeah, that is kind of how I am. I am mostly self taught on bass, after switching from guitar. So, if a note was ringing that wasn't supposed to, I found a way to stop it with whatever I have available. (Even my left hand thumb sometimes ) I never made a conscious effort to learn a muting technique. Not saying that it wouldn't have been helpful. I just never did.

 

[MR PC]

Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power has a very unique and distinctive left hand muting technique. I think everyone eventually develops their own style of muting notes with their hands..... right, left, both, any combination, whatever works.

 

[StuartV]

I totally understand the concept of adapting to what works for me. But, I think that normally works best if you start off with a solid foundation of doing it the "right way". I'm just trying to understand what is really considered by formal educators (i.e. "classical" teachers) as being the "proper" way to accomplish the muting. I'd like to invest some quality time into trying to learn to do it the "proper" way, before I start "adapting" to what works for me. That's where I find that bad habits usually start (and I'm not talking specifically about learning to play bass when I say that).

 

[fearceol]

I totally understand the concept of adapting to what works for me. But, I think that normally works best if you start off with a solid foundation of doing it the "right way". I'm just trying to understand what is really considered by formal educators (i.e. "classical" teachers) as being the "proper" way to accomplish the muting. I'd like to invest some quality time into trying to learn to do it the "proper" way, before I start "adapting" to what works for me. That's where I find that bad habits usually start (and I'm not talking specifically about learning to play bass when I say that).

If it works for you, is not going to cause you any physical problems, and you are happy and comfortable with it, then that is the "right/proper" way.... for you.

For example Bruce Willis and Todd Johnson, both world class pros, endorse the Floating Thumb technique. There are others of similiar standing who never use it, but rely on some other technique.

 

[Stereo Joe]

The one advantage I've found that right hand muting offers is a slightly cleaner sound than left hand muting. When a finger on the left hand lifts up slightly to stop a note ringing, there is always a tiny bit of 'buzz' as the pressure releases. 99% of the time this doesn't bother me, so I tend to do almost all of my muting with the left hand.
Gary Willis was bothered by that little 'buzz' from the left hand muting so he developed his distinct right hand technique to have more muting control with his right hand and thus develop a cleaner sound.
He's got some cool videos about his concept and it definitely is effective, though unique.

 

[Gawd]

There is still no definitive proper technique outlined for electric bass. There's some guidelines agreed on by general consensus, but they are very loose guidelines. So it's really up to what works for you. Ideally both hands should be able to handle muting I think.

 

[BassPsyche]

I mostly mute left handed, I have also tried to work in a floating thumb technique. I think it also is a bit dependent on the tempo and type of music you are playing.

 

[Craig630]

I take the William Murderface approach.

Let's leave it at that.

 

[plangentmusic]

I use both -- the LH mute is especially good for chunky metal style.

It's also good to teach you to keep your fingers close to the keyboard. A bad habit for beginners is to come too far off the fretboard in between fingerings which wastes time and energy and makes for sloppier playing.