Thumb Anchored on PU or E String: How to mute ringing A string when plucking G string?

[NotAGardener]

Skill Level:

• I'm on last two pages of Ed's MB-1 (second pass thru book) so not much.
• I started with floating thumb bc of intrinsic muting, but I don't like having to move my entire hand at every string change, catch my nail/edge of thumb...just a lot of gyrations.
• Switched to Ed's method on page 6 of book (~ two weeks ago). It feels better to me, it' close to feeling more automatic than floating thumb (conversion taking a little while, of course), muting is taken care of and there's a little less hand movement required and I could easily live here; and I'm guessing that Ed's instructions are the distillate of a lifetime of instruction/wisdom/experience.
• But being a curious and sometimes a difficult/pig-headed student, I tend to wonder things, like in this case: I've seen videos of folks who (far as I can tell) limit anchorage to thumb on PU or E string. I like the idea (even less whole hand movement, two index points rather than three) but I don't see how to mute the A string if plucking the G.

So:

• How does one solve that problem?
• By not causing it in the first place, AKA shutting up and doing what the teacher says without question (which is what the obedient student in me constantly says)?
• Or is there a clever, reasonable way for someone at my level to deal with the problem I noted?

Send me to the guidance counselor?

 

[Lobster11]

Yup, that's the question, and of course the "floating thumb" is one answer.

An alternative technique you might want to try is the "moveable anchor," in which you simply move your thumb anchor from the E string to the A (or even D) string when playing the G:



This is an equally effective alternative that some people prefer to the floating thumb. Personally, after working on both techniques for a while, I came to prefer the floating thumb, but YMMV.

That said, don't be too quick to give up on the floating thumb. It will take some practice to get comfortable smoothly sliding your thumb across the strings, but once you get it it really works. Also, I think there are two other advantages of the floating thumb. First, having to move your whole hand is actually a feature rather than a bug, because it means that the shape of your hand, and the angle at which you are plucking the strings, remains the same no matter which string you're playing. This can be helpful to maintain a consistent volume and tone across strings. Second, I find that whenever I anchor my thumb somewhere -- whether on a string, or a pickup, or the body of the bass -- I tend to dig in harder than I need to. The floating thumb makes it harder to dig in and encourages a softer touch (which I prefer).

 

[Killing Floor]

Can you pad your palm or side of your hand behind the pickup?
Palm muting is a practical way to solve this. You can also alternate with your fretting hand.

You can use a mute too but that modifies your total sound so it may or may not meet your needs. Don’t panic. Everyone has to learn this stuff and it won’t take long to make that local muting a habit.

 

[31HZ]

If you think that you might ever switch to a 5- or 6-string, I would take the time now to learn floating thumb technique. It's a game-changer for comfort, ergos, and tone consistency IMO.

 

[mambo4]

Except for the string I pluck
I always mute everything with both hands
which ever hand makes the most sense in context

Mute is my default position: If I ain't making noise , I'm stopping noise.
Because of this I rarely have to consciously mute
it also gives me great control over space

I think my bass positioning helps my right hand angle nicely for muting.
I don't rest my forearm on the bout and bend/flop my wrist, I keep it relatively straight relative to the body face.
So the meat on the pinky side of my palm is always against the strings (unless plucking it)
I also keep my fingers more spatula than claw, that probably helps
I use moveable thumb anchor: pickup or the string below (in pitch)

My left hand is always resting on the strings too, unless plucking that string.

YMMV

 

[MonetBass]

I use one of my non-plucking fingers to mute the strings I'm not playing. It's a technique that I adopted organically and was unaware until I watched my right hand while playing.

 

[mcnach]

Yup, that's the question, and of course the "floating thumb" is one answer.

An alternative technique you might want to try is the "moveable anchor," in which you simply move your thumb anchor from the E string to the A (or even D) string when playing the G:



This is an equally effective alternative that some people prefer to the floating thumb. Personally, after working on both techniques for a while, I came to prefer the floating thumb, but YMMV.

That said, don't be too quick to give up on the floating thumb. It will take some practice to get comfortable smoothly sliding your thumb across the strings, but once you get it it really works. Also, I think there are two other advantages of the floating thumb. First, having to move your whole hand is actually a feature rather than a bug, because it means that the shape of your hand, and the angle at which you are plucking the strings, remains the same no matter which string you're playing. This can be helpful to maintain a consistent volume and tone across strings. Second, I find that whenever I anchor my thumb somewhere -- whether on a string, or a pickup, or the body of the bass -- I tend to dig in harder than I need to. The floating thumb makes it harder to dig in and encourages a softer touch (which I prefer).

It turns out that what I do is called 'movable anchor', what do you know?

I definitely anchor my thumb, but I also lean into the lower strings from the anchor, muting them.
When I have to play something fast while skipping strings, the anchor becomes mush looser, I guess becoming essentially "floating thumb".

 

[BismarckHerring]

There are a couple of options, these are the ones I can think of:

-use the free fingers of your fretting hand. E.g., When I fret the G string with my index finger, I can mute the A and D strings with my middle finger. When fretting with a different finger, I can mute all other strings with my index finger.

-rest the ring or pinky finger of your plucking hand on the A string

-not sure if I should mention this here because it’s probably at odds with the technique you’re learning, but I’ll say it anyway: I sometimes play with my thumb wrapped over the neck, and I can mute the lowest three strings with it. But playing with your fretting hand positioned this way is considered bad technique by many, so you should probably ignore this. Learn the ‘correct’ fretting hand technique first. But if you’re comfortable with both the ‘correct” and the ‘bad’ fretting hand positions (a lot of bassists, including some of the greats, use both), this becomes an option.

-not muting is an option too, just make sure you don’t actually hit the A string.

And then there are the floating thumb and movable anchor techniques that have been mentioned…

Which option I use depends on the situation: how is my fretting hand positioned? What are the previous and the next notes? How fast is the phrase I’m playing? Experiment with different techniques in different situations.

 

[jellymax]

I use floating thumb, however, Rocco used to use his left hand ring finger to fret notes allowing the first 2 fingers free to mute other strings.

 

[NotAGardener]

Wow, what a great bit of feedback! It's getting late and I've got to get some shut-eye but I very much appreciate the contributions; you all have given me a lot of useful information to consider.

 

[nonohmic]

I use one of my non-plucking fingers to mute the strings I'm not playing. It's a technique that I adopted organically and was unaware until I watched my right hand while playing.

Yep I'm the same. I tried floating thumb but realized I naturally mute the string above the one im playing with my ring finger. If I ever go to 3 finger plucking that might have to change. But i cant see that happenjng anytime soon so I'll just do what feels natural.

 

[klattman]

You can also mute lower strings with the ring and pinky fingers of your right hand. It’s an older technique and somewhat out of favor and considered less efficient but I still use it sometimes.
Lots of options.

 

[Element Zero]

You can also mute lower strings with the ring and pinky fingers of your right hand. It’s an older technique and somewhat out of favor and considered less efficient but I still use it sometimes.
Lots of options.

Precisely what I do

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

All of the above, depending on context.
Floating thumb, maybe regular palm muting, maybe a little Gary Willis style, maybe left hand muting all the time like Rocco, but maybe just moving the anchor to the A is Occam's Razor here.

 

[vindibona1]

My take on right-hand muting is just to allow the side of my thumb to contact the strings as I move toward the G or C strings (5 or 6 strings). I can understand why some folks would use a trailing thumb anchored on successive strings as on ascends each string. To me that takes more brain power and for me isn't as efficient. I guess I would say I use a floating thumb. The thing that either makes it work or not is how the strings' heights relate to one another. For example, if an A string is too low in the set it sort of "recesses" between the E and D strings and my thumb bridges over the A and does not mute it. So proper setup is essential.

 

[2cooltoolz]

Don't anchor your thumb. Just lay it's side on the string above (which ) you're playing. You don't need to pluck hard enough to "anchor". That's why we have amplifiers.
I haven't given much thought to the the higher pitched strings "below" where I'm playing. I think as a decades long guit/bass player, my left hand takes care of them for me...(I hope)

 

[NotAGardener]

but maybe just moving the anchor to the A is Occam's Razor here.

That seems to be the case for me.

I'd be interested to see videos of how to do some of the other finger gymnastics necessary to muting ringing strings when anchoring only on the pu and E string but you probably hit the nail on the head for me.

 

[Les Fret]

Sort of the same topic here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/let’s-talk-about-thumbs-and-anchors.1644310/
Floating thumb also has a sticky.

 

[Zooberwerx]

My take on right-hand muting is just to allow the side of my thumb to contact the strings as I move toward the G or C strings (5 or 6 strings). I can understand why some folks would use a trailing thumb anchored on successive strings as on ascends each string. To me that takes more brain power and for me isn't as efficient. I guess I would say I use a floating thumb. The thing that either makes it work or not is how the strings' heights relate to one another. For example, if an A string is too low in the set it sort of "recesses" between the E and D strings and my thumb bridges over the A and does not mute it. So proper setup is essential.

Agreed. Attempting to re-set the "anchor" with each hand movement is an exercise-in-futility IME. Just noticed the lateral aspect of my thumb conforms to the fingerboard / string radius...handy component of the evolutionary process?!?

Riis

 

[lermgalieu]

Except for the string I pluck
I always mute everything with both hands
which ever hand makes the most sense in context

Mute is my default position: If I ain't making noise , I'm stopping noise.
Because of this I rarely have to consciously mute
it also gives me great control over space

I think my bass positioning helps my right hand angle nicely for muting.
I don't rest my forearm on the bout and bend/flop my wrist, I keep it relatively straight relative to the body face.
So the meat on the pinky side of my palm is always against the strings (unless plucking it)
I also keep my fingers more spatula than claw, that probably helps
I use moveable thumb anchor: pickup or the string below (in pitch)

My left hand is always resting on the strings too, unless plucking that string.

YMMV

Agree, I am always muting with both hands, whichever way is available at any given moment. It's unconscious at this point (40 years in).