Question about muting strings with pinky fingertip

Michael Luxem · From: Northfield, Minnesota, USA

I would appreciate any observations, insights, or advice on using the pinky fingertip to mute strings plucked by the index finger. As a novice player, I am finding that palm-blocking (with the pinky straight out and the ring finger tucked under) works reasonably well--I am pretty slow--for muting three-note grips, but pick-blocking works better for muting individual strings. Lately I have been experimenting with using the ring-finger fingertip to mute strings plucked by the middle finger, as many players do. I am also trying to use the pinky fingertip to mute strings plucked by the index finger, but this approach does not seem to be widely used. To my ear, fingertip muting sounds cleaner than (my) pick-blocking, and the physical contact of the fingertip with the string being muted seems to lend a better sense of timing and control. Any thoughts on muting index-finger plucks with the pinky?

Larry Carlson · From: My Computer

.
I have been slowly and doggedly learning the fine art of blocking.
My goodness what a rat's nest of techniques.
My theory is; whatever works for you, do it.
I have my own methods (for me) but what it boils down to
is that I'd use my face if I thought it would work.
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Fred Treece · From: California, USA

I do pick- and fingertip-block, but I like to keep ring and pinky out of the way of the pick fingers and only use them for â€œfollowingâ€. I make enough mistakes hitting the wrong strings as it is, without getting pinky crossed up in the middle of things.

Here is another thread on the subject. Dave Magram explains it pretty well and Paul Franklin offers his sage advice.
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=241309&highlight=

Michael Luxem · From: Northfield, Minnesota, USA

Larry--Yes, whatever works, works. But it will take me some time to find it.

Fred--Thanks for the link to the thread. The vid is no longer available, but the information from Dave M and Paul F is helpful.

Eugene Cole · From: near Washington Grove, MD, USA

Learning to mute strings from the beginning of our learning is a very good idea. This should be obvious now; and it will become even clearer in hindsight.

There is a trade-off between being a versarile picker and ease of muting.

Making the effort to obtain good and comfortable fit with all of your fingerpicks (assuming you use them) when you are first learning provides a solid foundation to build your skills upon.

Matching the size of our picks to the size of our fingertips is more difficult on our smaller fingers. I find that my pinky is the most difficult finger to do this with. Finding picks that will accommodate a short radius curve and be comfortable; while also be firm enough to hold their shape is a challenge.

Some players appear to give up and go without having a fourth fingerpick which makes the muting of strings with this finger easier; albeit at the minor expense of a more being more limited in the options we have with regard to how we may pick things.

Particularly if you are a new player I urge you to make the effort to practice with 4 fingerpicks and make the time to figure out how to get a good fit. The reason I say this is that when we are developing our muscle-memory using all of our fingers early in the process we do not need to re-learn our picking technique later when our bad habits have become ingrained and are then limiting our versatility.

If you learn to mute strings with picks on all of your fingers; your muscle memory will already be developed for effective muting when you move on to trying more complex picking techniques or when you switch to an instrument with more strings and an extended tuning.

Kudos to you for this question; when a new player asks such questions it is a sign that they have great potential.
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George Biner · From: Los Angeles, CA

I've been playing for three years, so I'm sort of coming out of the novice phase. Let me tell you, muting is something that is aggravating to learn because:

1. in videos it's hard to visually see how the pros are muting and they don't much talk about it

2. there are many different ways of muting that might be best at different times (pick blocking, palm blocking, pinky/ring finger, moving the steel down off the high strings, blocking with the left hand thumb (not recommended), etc.)

3. everybody has a different way of doing it

When you learn a phrase, you have to learn the muting along with it. You have to plan the muting just as much as the actual notes. Sometimes the muting happens naturally in picking the next note, but sometimes not and you have to make a special effort to mute.

As you play more, eventually the muting will just kind of fall in line through practice and attention.
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Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

For some time now I have stopped thinking of "blocking" as something that happens at the end of a note or chord, but rather as the starting position for the next one.

I may have got this from a combination of Right Hand Alpha and considering the dampers in a piano, which fall back on to the strings automatically.

I know it's only in the mind, but I feel as though it helps me to play more smoothly.
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Michael Luxem · From: Northfield, Minnesota, USA

I can summarize the previous three replies this way: Think in terms of picking-muting as a singular event (Ian) that is planned as much as played (George and Ian), and do not disregard the benefits of learning to pick-mute with fingers 4 and 5. Thanks.

Justin Emmert · From: Greensboro, NC

In short, it doesn’t work. Pick blocking uses the same fingers for picking as blocking; thumb, index, middle. It depends on which next string you are plucking as to which finger blocks the string just plucked. Trying to use the ring or pinky tip to block will cause all sorts of weird harmonics, buzzes and inconsistently blocked strings. In pick blocking, the ring and pinky fingers should be adjacent to the middle finger. They may inadvertently block some string noise, but are not specifically used to block strings.

Michael Luxem · From: Northfield, Minnesota, USA

Justin-- after a week of experimentation, I am discovering that what you are saying is correct: muting strings with (bare) fingertips 4 and 5 does not work. I am also reading that Paul Franklin occasionally uses the ring fingertip to mute a string, but only to silence the still-ringing string after blocking it with the pick in the usual fashion. Case closed.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I found this blog post from Paul useful - https://www.paulfranklinmethod.com/post/tackling-blocking

He specifically states there that he blocks with the actual pick itself on about 1/3 of what he plays, and blocking with the front of the 3 webbed middle/ring/pinky on descending lines across the strings, and the backside of the thumb on ascending line across the strings. This and many of his other writings all make sense to me, and I try to follow the overall structure and discipline he suggests. And if you search pick blocking with user name Franklin, you'll find a host of very useful advice from Paul and others.

However, with my personal hand anatomy and training, which includes using a hybrid flat pick and middle/ring finger picks (or sometimes just fingers) for standard guitar for decades at this point, I struggle to do the middle/ring/pinky webbing like this because I've spent years training my ring and middle finger to be separated so they can pick guitar strings independently. I also use 3 fingerpicks (index, middle, ring) for steel and I find it tough to mesh the 3-finger webbing concept with that ring finger pick on anyway. And I cannot imagine how one could do that with 4 finger picks - index, middle, ring, and pinky.

So I guess I have taken a somewhat different approach to what Paul calls the 3 elements, and an extended pinky is part of that - not necessarily the tip but the entire pinky down to the palm. I don't dispute a thing Paul is saying, but I can't seem to mesh all of it unadulterated. I'm not about to give up guitar playing, which I've been doing far longer than steel.

Dale Foreman · From: Crowley Louisiana, USA

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