I’m scratching my head a little learning staccato. Can I just mute the note instead of lifting my fretting finger? It sounds the same to me so I don’t see why not. Though maybe that’s because my staccato technique needs work?
Quickly lifting your finger is one way of muting the note, and the most efficient way in this instance.
I’ve been using my plucking hand. If I pluck with my index I mute with my middle finger.
That’s easier for me too but the faster you play, it becomes less of an option.
my pinky! when I put it on a fret to play a note, it becomes almost straight… it doesn’t fold with 2 joints but only with one!
what do I do? @JoshFossgreen
it goes like this: Г
Yeah that’s not uncommon! Try to keep it bent as much as you can and the lil tendons etc. should get stronger in the non-locked position over time.
“Winning is being better today, than you were yesterday”
So just starting Module 3 and now for the first time I’ve got doubt creeping in. I am struggling to mute with my fretting hand! Please tell me other people have struggled with this too! When it’s an open string it’s fine, it’s when it’s not I’m struggling to mute with my fretting hand
Muting is hard at first for many beginners. It just takes patience, time and practice. Just relax and stick with it. You got this. ![]()
Thank you for the reassurance! Glad to hear it’s not just me ![]()
Yeah, there’s lots of times throughout the course that you’ll hear Josh talking about how muting is more of a long-term thing to learn.
But then one day you’ll discover you’ve been doing it without realizing and it will feel like a big win.
It really isn’t just you Amy.
Really hope this is the case! It’s the first thing I’m struggling with and finding it hard to overcome
Glad to hear this! It really knocked my confidence but hopefully I’ll get there soon!
When it comes to improvising, I “get” the triads, the octaves, and the chromatic walk ups, but I can’t quite wrap my head around the scale walk ups.
Speed!
Speed is what I need,
I’m struggling with the speed of the full
Work -outs
Speed comes, man. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Practice slowly and cleanly.
Speed follows that. With dedicated, repeated practice.
This is the way.
Thanks for the advice it’s always welcome and appreciated
I hear you. Speed and asymmetric rhythms, especially when combined like in Zombie by The Cranberries. The mix of 1/8 and 1/16 notes is rough, I don’t know but something’s about 10 notes per bar in 4/4 with no triplets gets me. I’m also having some issues with dead notes, like in the guitar solo section of Money. Another much more experienced bass player told me that when she plays it, she play a slide rather than the ghost note.
Sliding when I’m playing with a pick. I love playing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day but I play it with my fingers which obviously is not the right sound for the song.
So, trying to play it with a pick (and to practice using a pick on other songs). The thing is this song is very dependent on slides - that’s part of why I love it, but I really rely on my right arm to apply pressure to hold the bass in place when I slide and I’m having trouble doing that while also playing with a pick. This is probably exacerbated by the fact that I only ever play standing up because I feel much less ergonomic/comfortable sitting down.