Muting Bad Habit

[AScheck9]

Having gone through a BassBuzz beginner/ intermediate standard lesson, most of which was nothing new to me, I've come across what I believe to be a glaringly obvious bad habit that I've picked up and I wonder if anyone else is, unknowingly, doing the same? 

 

I follow my fingers up and down the  different strings with my thumb trailing, in order to mute the strings above. If I'm plucking the E string, my thumb is on the pick up. The A string, my thumb is on the E string. The D string, thumb is on the A string and muting the E string simultaneously. 

 

Here's where I reckon I've been going wrong. When I pluck the G string, my thumb is on the D string. Which, as far as I can tell, is entirely unnecessary and also a bad habit. For two reasons:

1) my plucking fingers naturally mute the string above. 

2) by moving my thumb onto the D string, the E string occasionally becomes unmuted and begins to hum sympathetically. 

 

So, 9 days of isolating with covid to go, and I'll be trying to break this habit... unless anyone can see a reason why I shouldn't?

 

Cheers

[Heathy]

Numerous easy solutions to this I expect. Here’s one: adjust the angle of your hand so the lower part of your thumb is also muting the A and E strings. I have recently adopted this type of approach after moving to a 5 string. Thumb isn’t floating, but neither is it anchored onto the string.

[Cato]

I noticed many years ago that I was muting the e string without consciously thinking about it with the thumb of my left hand wrapped around the neck.

 

I used to think that having the thumb round the top edge of the fretboard instead of on the back of the neck was just lazy, poor technique on my part until years later I saw a Stu Hamm instructional video where he demonstrated the exact same muting technique.

 

So if it's good enough for Stu Hamm...

Edited December 16, 2021 by Cato

[Bridgehouse]

You made me go pick up a bass and check my own technique as your description sounded so similar to my default playing style. 

 

Assuming you use index and middle finger on your RH, then it is really similar to me - and having just had a quick play I've noticed I do something quite similar to what @Heathy is suggesting by angling my hand a bit more on the D so that my thumb covers the E and A for muting. Didn't even realise I was doing that. Then again, I only recently discovered I was using some of my fingers on my left hand to mute some of the strings from time to time as well... 

[AScheck9]

Thanks for the above. I think it'll be an easy rectify, but I've just got to break the habit of moving my thumb up to the D string. 

 

I do a lot of muting with both hands almost naturally, and I've not necessarily heard any issues whilst I'm playing as I'm sure my left hand covers the muting issues which my right hand might fail to do, however I conducted a test:

 

If play an E note on the G string, with my thumb sitting on the D string at I used to, and immediately following this, I mute the A,D and G strings, there's still a low E rumble from E string. I THOUGHT my trailing thumb angle was enough to be covering this string too, but apparently not. 

 

Further to this, when I'm completing "quick fills" with maybe 16th notes etc, the act of moving my thumb quickly off the A string to the D string actually plucks it quietly. That'd be negated now that I know I don't have to move it at all! 

 

An interesting one to look out for- and I have to hand it to BassBuzz on YouTube. I normally skip over the easier lessons but I'm glad I caught this one. 

[Elfrasho]

My thumb never goes above the a string (I think) so the e and a are muted by the thumb more or less all the time.  Sounds like it's an issue worth fixing in my opinion!

[Saul Panzer]

I just had a play around, my normal way seems to be muting the E/A with my thumb and the D with my ring finger if I'm playing G.

When I slip to fully thumb muting I have my thumb tucked under my hand parallel to my index finger so the fat pad above my thumb bulges enough to mute the E. I tried stretching my thumb out like it's pointing between the neck and floor, that caused me have bad muting on the E sometimes because the pad is stretched flatter.

[chris_b]

10 minutes ago, AScheck9 said:

. . . . I've just got to break the habit of moving my thumb up to the D string.

 

 

My thumb hardly ever goes above the E string. You must be hitting the strings pretty hard to make the bottom string vibrate when you're playing the top string.

[AScheck9]

25 minutes ago, chris_b said:

 

My thumb hardly ever goes above the E string. You must be hitting the strings pretty hard to make the bottom string vibrate when you're playing the top string.

Not at all. Sympathetic resonance, I think it is called. If you were to play an E on the D string, without muting the low E string, it'll start to resonate even without plucking it. 

 

Try it out. Mute the rest of the strings, and there will still be a hum on the E string.

 

 

[Bassfinger]

Is it a 'bad' habit if it works? The bass 'guitar' is a relatively new instrument, and techniques for its use relatively young themselves and will be devloping for decades and centuries to come - who's to say what's  bad?

 

Look at Mark Knopfler on the geetar - his right hand technique is, by his own admission, an absolute abomination but boy does his playing sound good. 

 

My goodself, I cant feel 2 fingers on my right hand so I've  had to develop my own technique that wouldn't be found in any guidebook, and Im confident I sound as good as half the tutors out there.

 

If it works, helps you sound how you want to, and isn't impeding any other aspect of your playing then you carry on dping exactly as you are and stop worrying about the self apointed arbites of correctness.

[fleabag]

I had to just go and check what i do, as i seem to be unaware of how i mute unwanted ringing.

 

It appears that i'm not muting much with my plucking hand.  Most of the muting i do is actually with my fretting hand, and particulary how i fret and how i lift my fingers off the string after that note is done with

[Downunderwonder]

It's call Floating Thumb when your thumb sits aside the strings. Nothing wrong about it except yours isn't going too well.

 

My own muting involves a lot of subconscious third finger action.

[Grimalkin]

I use a movable anchor relocating the thumb on the pickup, E and A, I don't usually anchor on an adjacent string, I find that too close for most things. I leave the thumb on the E predominantly for playing over the E, A and D strings, then move the thumb up to the A string for the A, D and G strings, using the top surface of the thumb to mute the E while the bottom mutes the A.

 

Muting adjacently is something I use on flamenco technique, but I find in too curled and close for standard stuff.

 

If I locate on the E, I stay there for whatever I'm playing on the E, A, D until it's time to relocate, which in the middle of quick runs, has to be quick. I've always found the attack of floating thumb a little bit light for my tastes, I prefer a movable anchor.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Grimalkin

[toneknob]

Check out the three finger method that Gary Willis uses. You'll have it sussed by about day seven or eight.

 

[Grimalkin]

7 or 8 days for Willis's assigned right hand technique...  I don't think so.

[Sparky Mark]

Talking of bad habits; I sometimes "pat" the strings with my plucking hand in time with the rhythm which can result in a percussive click. Never a problem live but upset the drummer on a recent recording session where he wondered where the extra taps were coming from.

[toneknob]

48 minutes ago, Grimalkin said:

7 or 8 days for Willis's assigned right hand technique...  I don't think so.

When I adopted it I had to say to my band "I'm going to sound terrible for a few weeks"

 

(to replies of "no change there tone" etc etc)

 

[Grimalkin]

3 minutes ago, toneknob said:

When I adopted it I had to say to my band "I'm going to sound terrible for a few weeks"

 

(to replies of "no change there tone" etc etc)

 

I tried working through it in about 1998 but I found it incredibly involved, just like the Fingerboard Harmony book he released later, which he has said himself, is a very difficult book. I prefer to anchor the thumb for the attack and playing on the pads/tips. Willis's strike angle is a little to the side, which gives him his brighter tone.

[TheLowDown]

My plucking hand thumb 'floats' up and down, and will rest lightly on the string immediately below(in pitch) but never on the pickup. I try to position my thumb as a sort of "free wandering agent" because it's tempting to anchor the thumb, so this mindset avoids that.

My thumb is always muting all of the strings below on 4 and 5/6 string. If I'm plucking the C string then the base of my thumb is muting the B and E string. From the base of my thumb to the tip of my thumb is always pressed lightly against all the lower strings at all times.

 

On 16/12/2021 at 14:01, AScheck9 said:

2) by moving my thumb onto the D string, the E string occasionally becomes unmuted and begins to hum sympathetically. 

I'm not sure how that would be achieved. Perhaps you're holding  your elbow out too far. The problem may stem from your posture(best not to sit low or slouch while playing).

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by TheLowDown

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

Talking of bad habits; I sometimes "pat" the strings with my plucking hand in time with the rhythm which can result in a percussive click. Never a problem live but upset the drummer on a recent recording session where he wondered where the extra taps were coming from.

Lots of bass players do this. It can work but more often than not it’s one of the reasons a groove doesn’t feel as tight/good. Space is king. 
Sympathetic ringing is definitely a problem if you don’t damp open strings. The lower the string the worse it sounds. Way back when I wasn’t doing it properly (and on a paid session not long after I got my first 5 string) the engineer stopped the session because he couldn’t work out where the annoying off-key low rumble was coming from. I think I ended up shoving some foam under the B string. I had to learn to damp the strings properly pretty quickly after that…