String muting

[skipclone 1]

Just looking at some clips from Berklee music online-one of the teachers is doing that thumb mute thing on the 6th string. I have never been able to get my mind around that-it`s not physical, it`s a mental barrier. I keep hearing, `DON`T do that. Use the fingers on the fretboard`.

Then there`s Guthrie Govan and his hair scrunchie, Danny Gatton and his towel.

What`s in YOUR wallet? I use either hand for muting but not that over the top thumb thing.

 

[A String]

My hands just seems to know, intuitively, where to go to mute the correct strings. I don't use my thumb on the sixth, but the string always gets muted when needed anyway. I think it's just a case of getting to know your instrument, then letting your brain do what it needs to do!

[Caevan O’Shite]

Do you mean wrapping the fretting-hand's thumb up over the top/bass-side of the neck, from behind, to the 6th/Low-E string?

 

Or... ?

[Larryz]

I don't use the thumb over the top for muting, I use it for fretting notes. Many of the greats use their thumb for fretting notes and bass runs (i.e. guys like Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel) to include many jazz players.

 

I use hybrid picking for 4 note jazz chords, only strumming/plucking the intended strings and mute the unwanted strings naturally.

 

I do use palm muting and like to rest my picking hand on the bridge when using the technique...

[Fred_C]

I don't use the thumb over the top for muting, I use it for fretting notes. Many of the greats use their thumb for fretting notes and bass runs (i.e. guys like Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel) to include many jazz players.

 

I use hybrid picking for 4 note jazz chords, only strumming/plucking the intended strings and mute the unwanted strings naturally.

 

I do use palm muting and like to rest my picking hand on the bridge when using the technique...

 

Larry,

 

It is uncanny how similarly we think/play. I use the thumb to finger notes on 6 all the time but especially when playing Travis style. It gives me a nice alternating bass and leaves my 4th fingee free to finger melody on top. It may not be technically correct, but it sure is effective.

 

I use palm muting to get a "Chet Atkins" sounding bass line but other than that, Like A String, I guess I mute intuitively and don't think about it much.

 

 

[Larryz]

+1 Fred, I'm glad we share so similar concepts! I just thought of another reason I use the thumb, and that's to give my wrist a break. When playing bar chords all night, my wrist starts to get sore from playing in the same position, I switch to thumb over the top for the bass notes which puts my wrist in a new position and it really makes a difference...

[Fred_C]

Hey Skip,

 

Check out the guitar intro on this video and watch the use of the left thumb. It's a great technique and can be used for any genre where you want to fatten up a chord or facilitate a chord that's difficult to finger.

 

[hurricane hugo]

I started out playing classical and then flamenco, so I had to put a real effort into teaching myself to use my thumb to mute once I became more of a singer-who-plays-guitar than the guitarist-who-sings-sometimes that I used to be. I don't fingerpick and sing at the same time(although I'm working on it), so I need to be able to mute those lower two strings while strumming, especially when the intensity and tempos go up.

 

Oh, and Jimi:

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iH8eDlvZkEo/UZg9m6OHBlI/AAAAAAAAAwU/KDR0lngwPCg/s1600/Hendrix+4.jpg

 

[Fred_C]

+1 Fred, I'm glad we share so similar concepts! I just thought of another reason I use the thumb, and that's to give my wrist a break. When playing bar chords all night, my wrist starts to get sore from playing in the same position, I switch to thumb over the top for the bass notes which puts my wrist in a new position and it really makes a difference...

 

+1.

[Scott Fraser]

 

That's my guitar, an Epiphone Emperor Regent. Sounds great here.

[CouchBed]

Depends on what style I'm playing and how fast/hard I'm playing. When I'm playing acoustic worship songs at church, I'll use my thumb to mute the two low strings on chords like C or D, and take it off for Chords like G and F. If I didn't, I'd be playing too many notes that aren't supposed to be there. On electric, I think it varies a lot. If the low E or A are making noise, and I don't want them to, I'll probably use my thumb, but when I'm playing power chords on the A string, I'll use my index finger to mute the low E.

Most of the time if I use my right hand to mute/dampen, it's on all of the strings. Sometimes I'll use my right hand to mute a string though.. depends on the song. Sometimes if a string is not used in a passage, I'll use it to rest my right hand on.

[skipclone 1]

Do you mean wrapping the fretting-hand's thumb up over the top/bass-side of the neck, from behind, to the 6th/Low-E string?

 

Or... ?

 

Yup-man, if someone can reach the 5th string that way they must be part lemur...

[desertbluesman]

Sometimes I do mute the fifth and sixth strings with my thumb, other times I use the palm of my picking hand. A lot of times I don't mute them at all. It just happens out of years of habit. I don't think about it as I move around the fretboard. It is all ingrained in what I do and have done over the years.

[whitefang]

Depends on what I'm playing. Sometimes, I'll use the thumb to mute, sometimes to fret the note. Usually, when playing chords up the neck, I'll use the thumb to fret the 6th string note and finger the remaining chord as I would a normal F instead of using Barre chords. When playing a D on the second fret, I'll wrap the thumb over and fret the 6th on the second fret to give it a different flavor.

 

...if y'all catch my drift...

Whitefang

[skipclone 1]

Hey Skip,

 

Check out the guitar intro on this video and watch the use of the left thumb. It's a great technique and can be used for any genre where you want to fatten up a chord or facilitate a chord that's difficult to finger.

 

 

Fred_C

I was going to check this out last evening and got tangled in a bunch of other stuff, I`ll have a look today after work. Thanks!

 

UPDATE:

 

Okay had a listen-good classic tune! I happen to have the sheet music for that one. Ya, that approach is just not in my arsenal right now. I`ll have to tinker around with it.

[skipclone 1]

Le bump