I’ve been unable to find much info on “proper” fretting hand technique that went into detail on how to efficiently fret notes while also muting high strings efficiently and not hurting the hand in the process. Maybe I don’t NEED to worry about all that as a beginner, but I’d like to have an idea of how it’s done well.
Do any of you know a guide that REALLY goes into detail about fretting hand technique? Muting and everything? I’d really appreciate it.
Adam Neely has good stuff on hand placement.
Josh has good stuff on this in B2B.
You really just take the concepts and find simple 'exercises to practice with them slowly and perfectly and ramp up speed as you build technical skill.
Bass Fitness is a good one for this, as is slowly playing scales, arpeggios, etc.
The basic concept for muting is pretty straightforward, getting your fingers to do it without thinking about it is another story, takes time, be patient.
+1 on that. Also, there is more than one way to treat a bloated heifer (Weird, I know, but Dad was a linguistically creative guy, and I’ve never skinned a cat, but I have treated bloated heifers). Anyhoo, in my (limited) experience, there’s not one “correct” way of muting. It depends not only on personal preference, but also on the piece you’re playing, fret hand placement/shape, plucking hand position, etc. etc.
For example, I’ve had great luck lifting off of strings while maintaining contact to mute them, BUT for the most part I play quite slowly. Deliberately muting by touching strings with the other fingers of my fretting hand is difficult for me. OTOH, when I’m slapping the higher strings up close to the neck, I find it quite natural to mute the E with the underside of my forearm. I’m sure it’s a byproduct of crappy technique, but it seems to work. The moral of this overly long paragraph, @Schniemand , is that you need to find what individually works for you and helps your playing. As @John_E said, it takes time.
Do you know if it goes on discount sometimes? Not to say I have doubts regarding the quality of the course. It’s probably awesome. I just don’t think I could afford it at full price at the moment and I’m also quite willing to try and teach myself as best as possible.
Not sure, don’t remember hearing about discounts but there is a pay over time option.
You will honestly be best served by taking the course vs. trying to teach yourself.
This is the single best course for beginners you will find, most efficient to getting to playing full songs or with others, etc.
What @John_E said - not aware of discounts, but you can pay 5x $40 instead of $200 upfront.
Also as you know this is the forum of a bass course, so probably not the best place to ask about free alternatives. Even if I knew any I’d probably not share them here.
There is lots of good free content on YouTube if you search around. A lot of the muting stuff to me just comes natural over time trying to replicate what a particular song sounds like.
there are a ton of videos out there, look for left hand technique or muting technique from Adam Neely, Scotts bass lessons and talking bass. It’s not a one size fits all, you’ll have to spend some time figuring out the combination of left and right hands that works for you and even then, a song will come along where you’ll have have a passage of notes that requires something different. Playing bass requires a lot of observation and problem solving so watch videos of bassists playing and watch what they’re doing. When I started out on bass, I spent a lot of time at the beginning developing my muting.
