#muting

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2 posts

Right-Hand Form for 5-String Bass
Apr 19, 2026 Technique Intermediate 5 min read
The extra string on a 5-string bass makes string noise your biggest enemy, and clean playing depends almost entirely on your right hand. Here's how to set up your thumb, finger mechanics, and left-hand damping so the strings you aren't playing stay quiet — plus three exercises to drill the form on open strings.
Left Hand Muting When Using A Pick
Jun 5, 2013 Technique Intermediate 1 min read
Keeping the strings you aren't playing quiet is one of the biggest technical challenges on an amplified bass. Sympathetic vibration through the instrument's body means unmuted strings will ring whenever another string sounds. Left-hand muting — resting unused fingers lightly across the other strings while you pick — is one of the most reliable ways to control that noise.