Hi everyone,
I was watching this video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3N35guokjU
and I noticed the way the player mutes the E string, and floats the thumb to mute the others.
Would you say that muting the E in that way is an efficient technique?
As a non-expert observer, it seems to me that one risks getting stuck in that way…
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There’s more than one way to mute a note it seems different challenging song present different approach to techniques. One of the surest way is to practice it really slow and exploit the possibility then practice til it’s second nature.
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The 'ol floating vs fixed thumb!
Try and both and go with what’s comfortable, I say.
I set my thumb, personally, and encourage students to do the same.
Here are some other forum bits that may interest ye:
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I learned Josh’s preferred alternating thumb technique first, but floating my thumb soon evolved on its own, naturally, particularly when playing lines with string jumps. I now float my thumb most of the time. 
Thank you guys, insightful as usual. One of the things the guy does in the video is to place his thumb behind the E string when plucking the other ones. What do you think of that?
That definitely works. I plant my thumb on the E sometimes. Then, when the line goes across higher strings, I just slide the side of my thumb across the E and A strings to mute them, as necessary.
I also sometimes just barely touch the bass body with the tip of my thumb instead of anchoring on the E.
I play fingerstyle guitar, which generally requires floating the entire hand over the strings as all four fingers and thumb play a pattern/melody and bass. That’s likely why I float my thumb/hand. Lol
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I use floating thumb, but I plan my thumb on top of the E, or A and rest it against the E. I don’t put the thumb behind it, but whatever works for you
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Yeah I always anchor on either the E or A. Muting is more or less automatic at this point, have no fear, this comes with time. It is never perfect but I don’t really have to think about it.
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I always try to copy this guys technique, he anchors, but can move string with ease.
time stamp is 1:06 seconds
Edit: I think anchor thumb will make playing with your thumb plucking easier in the long run if you plan to palm mute style.
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Yes, that is my preferred technique, and I have been playing that way almost from the beginning of my bass playing. It is very efficient, and to me, much more comfortable than playing with an anchor as most bass teachers instruct.
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Apologies for being off topic, just that it’s great to see a @PamPurrs post and I hope all is well out there with you!
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Yes, I am doing well. Just struggling to adapt to my new reality but managing. Thank you!
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Hang in there Pam. Glad to hear you’re well.
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The only time I float my thumb is if I am playing notes descending from the G to E string, it’s too difficult for me to focus on anchoring when moving across that many strings, especially at speed, so my thumb sort of just rests across every string I’m not actively playing.
There is no “right” technique here, and I think it’s silly to try to lock yourself into any particular technique. They’re all useful for a reason, so just practice every which way until you don’t think about it anymore!
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Do you have any recommendation for a progression (in terms of difficulty) in these techniques?
I didn’t really practice these techniques so much as I had to learn them as I tried to play different songs. I suppose you could just play ascending/descending scales, each time working on your anchoring 
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I think Pam is pretty much the only person on earth to do this 
. the pros to it is it is incredibly effective. the cons are you pretty much have to start doing it from day one it seems, it’s not as easy to learn. In one of the online vids on anchoring (pretty sure it was josh), they observed that pretty much 99% of every famous player anchors. there is a ton of top notch players who never leave the E string when muting. so it all will work and get the job done and a lot of muting is left hand anyways.
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I use what Daisy Pepper and Alejandra of The Warning uses, the floating thumb. Daisy in an interview on youtube said that’s what she uses. You can see when she plays she drops her thumbs to each string above the one she’s playing. I use that too as I find it also helps me find the strings without looking.
One of the problems I see with floating thumbs is that it’s a little difficult to pull strings across rather than out, at least for me, because there is no anchor. How could I solve the problem?