Left-hand muting is a performance technique for stringed instruments, where string vibration is
damped by the fingering hand.
(Left-handed players use the right hand.)
First variant
A string is played with the right hand, while the left hand presses the string against the neck. Lifting the left hand stops or suppresses the resonating string.
Strumming
barre chord
In music, a barre chord (also spelled bar chord) is a type of chord on a guitar or other stringed instrument played by using one finger to press down multiple strings across a single fret of the fingerboard (like a bar pressing down the strings ...
s or other chords in which there are no open strings, left-hand muting may punctuate the rhythm, so that instead of the continuous ringing sound of the strumming, short silences are introduced. Left-hand muting is used to produce chops (chords that are released the instant after picking). Chops are sharp and percussive.
Second variant
A non-vibrating string is pressed partly with the left hand — not to the neck — then struck, plucked or bowed with the other hand.
A struck string sound includes a muffled click; a bowed string, a scratchy noise. The string may be touched with the tip of one or more fingers, or with one or more fingers laid flat across the neck. If muted strings are played with a single stroke, hitting a non-muted strings loud and clear, the result is a rake, where muted notes act as a
percussive
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
lead to the main note.
See also
*
Palm mute
The palm mute is a playing technique for guitar and bass guitar, executed by placing the side of the picking hand below the little finger across the strings to be plucked, very close to the bridge, and then plucking the strings while the damp ...
References
[{{Cite web
, url = https://smartbassguitar.com/muting-bass-guitar/
, title = Muting on Bass Guitar Explained
, date = April 1, 2014
]
Guitar performance techniques