Muting notes

[deejayen]

I’m working my way through a beginner’s bass exercise which is in the style of James Jamerson. On the tab there are some notes which are shown with an ‘x’ on the E or A string. I presume it means a ‘mute’, but how do you play them? I’ve been deadening the string with my fretting fingers, but I wondered if that style would use a picking hand palm mute or some other technique. I’m not sure how ‘dead’ the note is supposed to be. As an example, one note is a triplet where the first note is picked, and the other two are muted.

Thanks.

[gjones]

I think they're called ghost notes. I play them by just lifting my left hand off the fretboard slightly and and pick the string as you normally would with your right plucking finger. This produces a 'dunk' noise but you can't hear the note. It gives a rhythmic feel to the bassline. It's used a lot in funk and motown stuff.

If you're playing Jamerson stuff with ghost notes it doesn't sound like beginners basslines to me?

Edited March 13, 2013 by gjones

[deejayen]

Thanks for clarifying that. It sounds like I've been doing the right thing. I'm just practicing on my guitar until my first bass arrives, but wasn't sure if there was a different technique for bass (with the wider string spacing etc).

I think the book is called 'Rock Bass' by Dominic Palmer. I bought it because it gives some real life examples of different styles with a 'simple' and more complex exercise for each. I thought it might give me an idea of what to play, including some runs, and then I can go off and do my own thing. It's a new thing for me, so it's taking me a bit of time to get comfortable reading the timing and feeling the groove. I'm not sure what level the book is pitched at - you're probably right that it's not for a total beginner, as some of the exercises seem to be pretty impressive!

[gjones]

This looks handy

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

[deejayen]

That's great. Thanks very much.