Blues: alternative techniques to dampen the bass

[Ernesto]

Hi there,
I've been diving deep into the blues lately, with several online classes with Tom Feldmann and Stefan Grossmann (both absolutely fantastic). I love the blues, but one thing that bothers me a bit - maybe because I come from the classical guitar - is that the players always seem to put their right hand above or very close to the bridge to dampen the bass. Of course, this gives a typical sound, but it is very restrictive for the melody playing because it doesn't allow you to position your fingers above the soundhole or even farer away from the bridge. So tone variation is rather limited.
My question is if some of you blues players feel the same way, and maybe have gotten away from always dampening the bass (in some cases it seems more necessary than in others)? Moreover, are there alternative techniques to dampen the bass without having to stick the right hand to the bridge?
Cheers

[Quebec Picker]

I, too, learned to pick the blues from those Tom Feldman and Stefan Grossman videos.

I hear you about not being able to reach those sweet-sounding melody notes closer to the soundhole while dampening the bass. You could try dampening the bass strings closer to the soundhole. I'm sure with practice it could be done. You could also dampen the strings with your fretting hand. Or let the bass drop out while you play the melody. Dunno. Watch videos of Lightin' Hopkins, his picking hand was all over the place, which is one of the things that helped produce his iconic sound.

It took me years to figure out how Stefan Grossman was actually dampening his strings with his palm. The day I figured it out was a game changer.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Ernesto

Hi there,
I've been diving deep into the blues lately, with several online classes with Tom Feldmann and Stefan Grossmann (both absolutely fantastic). I love the blues, but one thing that bothers me a bit - maybe because I come from the classical guitar - is that the players always seem to put their right hand above or very close to the bridge to dampen the bass. Of course, this gives a typical sound, but it is very restrictive for the melody playing because it doesn't allow you to position your fingers above the soundhole or even farer away from the bridge. So tone variation is rather limited.
My question is if some of you blues players feel the same way, and maybe have gotten away from always dampening the bass (in some cases it seems more necessary than in others)? Moreover, are there alternative techniques to dampen the bass without having to stick the right hand to the bridge?
Cheers

Ernesto,
Listen to some early Chet Atkins playing electric when his signature sound came to be: Heavily muted bass notes with Crystal clear melody notes.

How’d he do that?

Regards,
Howard Emerson

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Ernesto

Hi there,
I've been diving deep into the blues lately, with several online classes with Tom Feldmann and Stefan Grossmann (both absolutely fantastic). I love the blues, but one thing that bothers me a bit - maybe because I come from the classical guitar - is that the players always seem to put their right hand above or very close to the bridge to dampen the bass. Of course, this gives a typical sound, but it is very restrictive for the melody playing because it doesn't allow you to position your fingers above the soundhole or even farer away from the bridge. So tone variation is rather limited.

Yes. The answer is not to care!

You're right that it sacrifices the timbral variety you can achieve with a free hand - by picking different places on the strings - but for this style of blues playing it's more important to get that damped bass sound. What you are sacrificing is something way too subtle for players in that style to care much about, if at all. IOW, what you gain is way more than what you lose.

You do still have a small range of variability - maybe an inch or two - and, that close to the bridge, an inch makes a lot of difference.

Originally Posted by Ernesto

My question is if some of you blues players feel the same way, and maybe have gotten away from always dampening the bass (in some cases it seems more necessary than in others)?

Sure. The damped bass is just one style in blues fingerpicking. If you play with a free hand, you get what I'd call a more "folksy" sound, like Mississippi John Hurt. (He rested his hand on the bridge, but not always to damp the strings.)

Originally Posted by Ernesto

Moreover, are there alternative techniques to dampen the bass without having to stick the right hand to the bridge?
Cheers

Gretsch used to make guitars with string mutes, which they called "mufflers" - https://www.gretsch-talk.com/threads...es-fix.216938/. This would be a pretty easy thing to make for yourself, just to damp the bass strings.

[Ernesto]

Thanks for all the answers so far, very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Quebec Picker

I, too, learned to pick the blues from those Tom Feldman and Stefan Grossman videos.

I hear you about not being able to reach those sweet-sounding melody notes closer to the soundhole while dampening the bass. You could try dampening the bass strings closer to the soundhole. I'm sure with practice it could be done. You could also dampen the strings with your fretting hand. Or let the bass drop out while you play the melody. Dunno. Watch videos of Lightin' Hopkins, his picking hand was all over the place, which is one of the things that helped produce his iconic sound.

It took me years to figure out how Stefan Grossman was actually dampening his strings with his palm. The day I figured it out was a game changer.

Dampening the bass strings closer to the soundhole, or above the soundhole, is something I've been trying out lately. I discovered that just moving the palm up and down ever so slightly works pretty well (if you rest your palm on the bass strings in that area, it dampens too much)... Lightnin' Hopkins is a good place to start, of course I've been practicing "Shining Moon" a lot, what a beautiful piece ... Yeah, Stefan Grossmann has many subtleties to his playing for sure. I can't figure out how he hits one single bass note and makes it almost sound as if he was strumming a chord.

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

Ernesto,
Listen to some early Chet Atkins playing electric when his signature sound came to be: Heavily muted bass notes with Crystal clear melody notes.

How’d he do that?

Regards,
Howard Emerson

Chat Atkins is also a good place to start I will check out his style with more detail.

Originally Posted by JonPR

Yes. The answer is not to care!

You're right that it sacrifices the timbral variety you can achieve with a free hand - by picking different places on the strings - but for this style of blues playing it's more important to get that damped bass sound. What you are sacrificing is something way too subtle for players in that style to care much about, if at all. IOW, what you gain is way more than what you lose.

You do still have a small range of variability - maybe an inch or two - and, that close to the bridge, an inch makes a lot of difference.
Sure. The damped bass is just one style in blues fingerpicking. If you play with a free hand, you get what I'd call a more "folksy" sound, like Mississippi John Hurt. (He rested his hand on the bridge, but not always to damp the strings.)
Gretsch used to make guitars with string mutes, which they called "mufflers" - https://www.gretsch-talk.com/threads...es-fix.216938/. This would be a pretty easy thing to make for yourself, just to damp the bass strings.

You are right, it is a great style and maybe you always have to sacrifice something. On the other hand, these old blues guys all played so differently that making up your own style seems, in a way, in a line of tradition with the blues. ... Interesting these "mufflers", maybe there's a solution here.

[Andyrondack]

I've never been able to play with my palm at the bridge, just feels awkward to me.
When I want to dampen bass strings I keep holding my hand just behind the soundhole as normal and allow the meat behind the thumb to just lightly contact the string.
Works fine, at least as far as I can hear.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Ernesto

Chat Atkins

Chet. Beware auto-correction!

Originally Posted by Ernesto

On the other hand, these old blues guys all played so differently that making up your own style seems, in a way, in a line of tradition with the blues. ...

Precisely! Basically, you copy everyone you like, and the resulting combination (complete with mistakes) is your style!

[Brent Hahn]

A guy I play with in a band uses flats for his E and A strings, seems to help. He goes quite a while between string changes, too, which isn't great for intonation but matters less in the bass register.

The Chet bass thing seems to me to be more of a fretting hand technique. I'm mainly a bass player, and when I want to play "short" it's mainly the fretting hand that does it.

[Ernesto]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

I've never been able to play with my palm at the bridge, just feels awkward to me.
When I want to dampen bass strings I keep holding my hand just behind the soundhole as normal and allow the meat behind the thumb to just lightly contact the string.
Works fine, at least as far as I can hear.

Interesting. This is something I'm exploring as well, and I think it's maybe the way to to for me as well. But the dampening still is quite irregular.

Originally Posted by JonPR

Chet. Beware auto-correction!
Precisely! Basically, you copy everyone you like, and the resulting combination (complete with mistakes) is your style!

Absolutely And sorry, dear Chet!

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

A guy I play with in a band uses flats for his E and A strings, seems to help. He goes quite a while between string changes, too, which isn't great for intonation but matters less in the bass register.

The Chet bass thing seems to me to be more of a fretting hand technique. I'm mainly a bass player, and when I want to play "short" it's mainly the fretting hand that does it.

Interesting too. There seem to be options here. Dampening with the fretting hand turns out quite difficult to me, especially with a fast alternating bass.