I've been playing guitar for a couple of years now. I've got some buddies who are better guitar players than me so I decided to give bass a shot when I play with them. (classic rock band).

Anyways, I practiced some bass and it's a pretty easy transition.

One question:

I tried palm muting when playing and it doesn't seem to 'work'.

Does anybody palm mute bass?

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Welcome to the bass side of things!

And palm muting on bass, it can be done, with a pick and without a pick, with a pick its logical what you do, pretty much the same as guitar, but without a pick you cup your hand around the strings (or whatever you do that feels comfortable to mute the strings..), or rest your hand in a fist on the strings and pluck the strings with your thumb.. that way ..you get a palm muting sound..

Hope that helped.. its pretty weird to explain it..

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So, it's common to play palm muted then, right?

Say, if a guitar is chugging along some p.m. chords, the bassline would also be palm muted, correct?

I don't have a bass amp yet so i'm plugging into my solidstate for now (at low volume). I just don't hear anything (not even a good thud) when I p.m.

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It's definitely okay to palm mute. But with your question about "when the guitarist palm mutes, should the bassist palm mute?"...well, no, the bassist doesn't have to do that. Most bassists rarely palm mute (the ones I've seen and heard anyway). Usually, it sounds best when the bassist is playing the note without palm muting even if the guitarist is palm muting -- which is what is usually done. And your bass won't sound too good being palm muted if you don't have distortion. I'm assuming you play it clean. In most clean bass parts, palm muting is not needed. Shit. Am I the only one getting tired of reading the term "palm mute" and all of its tenses?
Long explanation short: you can do it, but as you've probably already discovered its not a great idea (unless you use distortion). Bass is a little different than guitar, and palm muting is one of the few things you'll probably leave behind.

Its not at all common.

Shimbolla pretty much said everything i wanted to say.

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Shimbolla, I love your avatar

And as for palm muting, say the guitar is palm muting an E5 chord, the bass would usually just be playing open E notes.

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The only reason id expect someone to palm mute on a bass, is with the guitar at say.. a build up, and then release the palm mute to the end of the buildup, but i'd never really expect a bassist to palm mute, because you would lose all volume..

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As it has been said a lot of most bassist dont palm mute.......if u want to and if you are using a pick then obviously u do it the way all guitarist do......finger picking style you can mute by placing your thumb above on the string or by using ur lil finger in the same way.Another style of muting is the way Gary Willis does it by placing his palm over all the strings and the uses the finger per string approach.

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Ok, that's some good info.

I'll have to get a better amp anyways.

thanks guys.

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Palm muting on bass is more common than you people might think. David Ellefson does it often. The most obvious example is in Symphony of Destruction. Also Rex from PanterA does it often.
It's the kind of thing that depends on what kind of riff you're playing, and when in the song it is played. It often sounds really good to have the guitar pm but not the bass.
And you don't need distortion for it to sound good, you just have to know how to do it properly. If it is too muted (you're not loud enough) then you have to pm closer to the bridge.
I don't play with a pick, so I don't really pm.
But I did figure out a different way to get a sound similar to palm muting. Instead of muting with the picking hand do it with the freting hand. It takes some practise but if you like it you might find that it is worth it (though I didn't bother learn it well). All you do is lightly place your finger on the string very close to where it is fretted. What? Here's what I mean. Lets say you want to 'pm' a third fret G on your E string. Well you fret it like usual at the third fret with your ring finger, but you also place your pinky on the string very close to your ring finger. This mutes it in a way similar to palm muting. Obviously for the open string you just lightly touch the string with your index right close to the nut.
Try this on Symphony of Destruction for ex:

String: E---1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-1-3-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
fret finger i x x x x x x x i x x x x i r i i x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
mute finger x x i x i i i i x x i x i x x x x x i x i i i i i i i i i i i i
Whenever you want to get the palm mute sound out of an open E, you use your index on the string right by the nut to mute it. Obviously what I mean by fret finger is what finger is fretting and by mute finger what finger is muting. if there is an x that means you're not using any finger for that particular use (though you might be using it for the other use). i=index r=ring
I give this riff as an example because it is very simple and you don't even have to listen to the song to remember which notes are palm muted and which are not. I can do it pretty well but this technique gets confusing if you want to pm fretted notes.

Well hope I didn't bore you ... I thought some finger style players might want to try this out too.
I find (the odd time that I do try play with a pick) that it is alot more difficult to pm the higher strings because you have to place your picking hand at an uncomfortable angle to do it properly. It is also different to move up or down more than one string at a time.

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Nice lesson

But Ellefson doesn't palm mute Symphony of Destruction.

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Then ... how does he get those notes I said to mute to sound the way they do? They sound muted to me ...
Maybe I'll give the song another listen when I get home ...

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He doesn't mute them on the Rude Awakening DVD

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I understand what you're saying with the pm with fretting hand. I can try it my next bass practice session and see how it sounds. I'm always looking for new stuff to try out. I somewhat mute notes but I haven't added a percussive strike yet, like your saying. I usually mute to give a silence, or rest with the technique that your saying. I do most of the songs that I practice with a pick, some however, that are easier, I use finger style to build up my technique.

I still find myself plucking right up near the fretboard/body joint. My arm is used to that position from guitar. I have to consciously move my strumming hand near the bridge to get used to it.

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You played your guitar where the neck meets the body?!? I wouldn't expect that of a classic rock guitarist.

Symphony sounds muted on the album ... I didn't think of listening the live album, but if you say he doesn't, you must be right. Maybe he does on the album but doesn't when he plays live because he's even lower in the live mix than he is in the album mix (if that is possible).
Also since you have that DVD watch Ellefson closely in 'Reckoning Day'. The verses are just the sixteenth notes on the root played over and over again (He plays nothing for the first while in the song so you have to wait to see it). How boring, no wonder they never show more than a few seconds of him playing on that DVD.

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I've gotten a little more adjusted on the bass now. I pick right on top of
the neck pickup now (i have a p-bass). I've seen plenty of bassists pick almost right in front of the bridge. I've tried it and the sound is pretty thin and tingy. The pickup location is a heavier sound for me.

I finally bought a bass amp. Ampeg head and cab. I'll get the specs a little later.

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theres two ways of muting a bass. one ways with ur palm and another way is by pushing down with ur index and then with the remainder of the fingers put the over all the strings/mute. yea u might get some harmonics but with some practice it will sound like sienfield.
just go to berklee.edu they have some bass lessons

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The reason for playing that close to the bridge is for speed. The closer you get to the bridge, the "tighter" the string. By this, I mean that the string won't have as much physical movement (which is why it sounds tinny) and you can be much more consistant with your plucking at much faster speeds.

Cheers.

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That makes sense!

The string is definately a lot tighter at the bridge and it would add some consistency. Perhaps for some of the speedy parts of some songs, I will move to the bridge and try it out.

Do you guys use your pinkie (fret hand) when you play bass???

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i use my pinky all the time but i play weird lines where i have to continually stretch 4-5 frets, and basically play a bassline with most of my fingers and a little melody with just my pinky moving around on the G....(stuff i make up i mean)

I always use my pinkie finger for fretting. I tend to position my fretting hand with all 4 fingers covering 4 frets, and move my hand up and down the neck as needed.

Cheers.

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Actually some people play that close to the brigde because they like the attack it gives. Of course, it depends alot on whether you're playing with a pick or with fingers. I think it sounds stupid with a pick. If you're using a pick, you have enough of that tinny and trebley sound as it is, moving close to the bridge just slaughters it, you end up with no bass coming from a bass guitar!
As for fingerstyle I think it is probably better to move a bit toward the bridge, the give the notes more attack and clarity (well, that is, if you're playing something that involves fast playing of low notes). The Cryptopsy bassist told me that he plays so close to the bridge because it gives him the attack he wants. I play between the bridge and neck pickups, playing right over the bridge has a bit too much tension for my liking. But I set my bass at about 70% bridge pickup and 30 neck for most regular playing. It is often hard to balance clarity for low fast stuff and tone for all other stuff. I should learn to move my hand close to the neck when not playing fast, but it is too hard for me to switch at this moment ... I need to practise it.

As for my fretting hand, I figured 'why go through the trouble of learning to play 4 fingers when I can just practise one to get really good so I don't need the other ones'. Then I cut off all of them except for my pinky. And I can solo faster than anyone else.

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