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How to muffle bass strings?
I notated this exercise in the style of Christy-Lyn’s Sailing on a Lake. It is the chord progression from Pachelbel’s Canon, transposed to F major. Since it sounds really muddy in the bass, I need to learn how to muffle those ringing strings. I haven’t done muffling before. Can anyone explain how to go about it?
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10 Replies
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This video explains some muffling techniques, but I don’t know how to apply them to my specific exercise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeuTd9nGhq0
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My teacher taught me to almost blush the hand gently to muffle the bass strings before playing the next sets of notes to reduce the muddy sound. It is a very subtle motion but makes a big difference. Not sure if he made a Harp Tuesday video about it… I will look around.
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@victoria.johnson Thanks for the reply. Are you using a flat left hand to muffle the strings? One of Josh’s Slow Motion Mondays shows muffling arpeggios, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tm8vMyGiOU . Is that a similar technique?
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@judiann.maddigan yes!! I was doing exactly that when playing the music you posted in your question!
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@victoria.johnson Oh, good. That gives me a clear idea of what to aim for. Thanks so much! 😃
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@judiann.maddigan I was going to record a video but I didn’t want to do it until I have gone through Josh’s videos since I knew he would do a much better job in explaining and filming it. Glad you found this Slow Motion Monday clip!
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@victoria.johnson His Slow Motion Monday videos are mesmerizing. One thing I’m noticing from this one is that Josh combines the muffle and the grab into a single motion. I’m muffling first, grabbing second. That creates a pause after the muffle. I’ll try to smooth that out.
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Just going to add that the motion is quite gentle, and that’s why I use the word “blush” because you don’t really want to place the hand on the strings too firmly and create an abrupt stop. Give it a try and let me know if you have more questions!
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@victoria.johnson Okay, in addition to gentle, it must also need to be quick. My first attempts are too slow and abrupt, and they sound choppy. On the plus side, there’s not much buzzing, and the bass is already less muddled. I’ll work on refining the motion and try for more finesse. The speed can come later. At least you have me on the right track now.
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@judiann.maddigan Once you figured out what you need to do, the refining is just a matter of practice, so yeah this is awesome!!
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