Hi, everyone.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out another one of my lessons.
I wanted to quickly jump in and let you know about this one, as it's a preview for my new
course for beginner double bass players.
I've created a step-by-step method that will take you from knowing nothing about the double
bass to being able to move around it comfortably, being able to use the bow, pizzicato, left
hand technique, how to choose the right fingering for what you're playing.
There's a whole range of lessons included in this course.
So if you enjoy the video that you're about to watch, afterwards you can find out more
about the full course at dscoverdoublebass.com.
Today, I'm going to be answering one of the most common questions that I'm asked in the
comments which is to do with left hand muting.
I'm often finding that bass players are having problems that they'll be playing something
and open strings will be ringing and it will be taking away from that really nice, clear,
focus sound that we're all trying to get.
I'm going to give you a few tips on how you can control that and improve your left hand
muting.
The first thing that I'd like to say to you is that with left hand muting, it's one of
those issues that is likely to be addressed over time, that your hands will naturally
start to go to the right places.
That said, I know really good bass players who don't have a handle on this.
And when you're playing amplified it really detracts from the sound if you can hear these
open strings ringing.
So perhaps you'll play something, and if you stop there is an underlying noise which is
these open strings ringing here.
So in order to control that, you should be using your left and right hand which is what
I'm going to show you to do.
But what I'd like to say to you is have patience.
This stuff will come over time, but just be aware that it's there and aware that you want
to get rid of it and want to work on it.
We can mute in two ways and the first way is one that not many people really value.
Jazz bass players are able to use mute with their right hand and by just resting and playing
onto the next string, you can see that I'm muting with the whole of my left finger really.
Sorry, this first finger here.
As I'm playing onto the next string it sort of rests on the other two strings.
It doesn't really matter what string I'm playing, it'll be resting on one apart from the E string.
So if we go up across the strings, the good news is they're already going to be muted
and that's really helpful.
And what you should be careful to avoid is not doing this and plucking away from the
bass because that will mean that you are not able to use your right hand at all.
And also making sure that you've got the correct position.
There's plenty of right hand technique lessons on discoverdoublebass.com so if you are at
all unsure go and check those out after this video.
Now, one of the exercises, and I have described this before, which will help you is to use
your left hand when you return on the strings.
So as we go across, you're naturally going to mute the string that you've just played.
But on the way back, you've got this issue of the strings ringing so we have to use our
left hand.
I hit the G and at the moment that I play the D, I mute the string that I've just played
and my hands and fingers are really relaxed and just resting on the string.
If I'm muting the A string with my fingers they're resting on the A string.
But actually, the underside of my fingers are also muting the D and the G. So you should
be able to play this pan going up and back.
And if you're learning the strings, I'd like to say the letter names of the strings as
well as you play them.
So E, A, D, G.
This really needs to become essentially part of your subconscious that you know inside
out what these string's letter names are.
Let's make this a little bit harder.
E, D, A, G and with these ones you've got to use your left hand all the time.
And I'm bringing the hands together.
So I can actually see them.
I'm doing it really slowly.
A, G and at the moment that I hit the E, I'm muting the G.
The moment that I hit the D, I'm muting the previous string.
You really have to do this slowly.
Working in front of a mirror will also give you the same effect as well.
There's a couple of really important ways of muting and I always warm up with string
crossing exercises and trying to get the left hand to mute.
Now, the other thing that you can do is to play a scale.
Say, for instance, we play a B flat major scale.
Now, when I play the B flat, I'm muting the E string and the other two strings are being
muted by my spare fingers.
You can see they're not raised up.
If they were raised up, these other strings would eventually start to ring and to make
sound.
So I'm playing back onto the E string and my spare fingers are resting on the D and
the G. I then play the C and it's the same thing actually.
Not only this finger, but also my first finger at this point.
And I've kept the hand shape.
Try not to look at your hand directly like I'm doing here.
It's because I'm describing it so I can see what I'm doing.
You can see here I leave the C, a little finger on the C and I play the D. There's no reason
for me to move that C so it's still going to be muted.
Then as I go across I play the E flat and I can still leave the little finger on the
note C and the note F. You move all the fingers across and at this point you're now muting
the E and the A by playing onto the A string and this part of your finger is muting the
E string.
Then we move across and we're onto the top G.
Now, it will help you to think about maintaining the hand shape and this first finger being
dragged up in this direction because as you move across people have a tendency to do this
where they pull their hand together.
In order to keep your hand accurately spaced, think about this first finger being dragged
in this direction.
That really helped me.
And only move the fingers across onto the next string when you need to.
Keep them really relaxed.
Let the spare fingers remain down on the string and you'll be able to mute all of those other
strings that you're not using in combination with the right hand technique I described
earlier.
Well, I hopped that short beginner's lesson has really helped you but this is an issue
that affects many bass players, not just beginners.
So by addressing it at the start, you'll soon make it second nature.
You won't have to think about this.
I never think about left hand muting on a gig and I'm able to play with a kind of clean
sound that projects clearly.
When you're playing amplified you'll find it's even harder and if you're using the bow
and especially if you're using the bow and playing amplified you'll find even more issues.
So you need to address this now and then you'll be able to play with that clarity and focus
so you can start expressing great musical ideas.