Re: Bluegrass accompaniment -- muting?


"hcbowman" <hcbowman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:d05429eb-8421-4ffa-8076-a80d77591fb1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When the guitar in a bluegrass group is playing accompaniment, I think
I hear a low note in the chord on each beat followed by multiple
higher chord notes on the "and" or off-beat. If I try to duplicate
this, it doesn't take very long for things to sound muddy and the bass
notes to get lost because the notes from the previous beat are still
ringing. The low notes sound clearer if I mute the strings just
before each beat.

If I'm playing with a pick, it's not too hard to mute the upper
strings with the knuckles of my right hand, but I haven't figured out
how to mute a lower open string than the one I'm about to play. For
example, if I'm playing D-Major and sound the open D on beat 1, the
open A on beat 2, and then go back to the open D on beat 3, I'm having
trouble muting the A when playing at speed. If I try the same thing
fingerstyle, my fat thumb naturally hits the A and mutes it just fine.

Am I on the right track with this? I did a search for (among other
things) "boom-chick" and "guitar," and I wound up with a YouTube video
of Tommy Emmanuel (recommended!). He talks about how to play the
rhythm portion of Chet Atkins-style music, which I think is subtly
different.

Thanks!

--Cliff (US)

In addition to what Lumpy wrote, bluegrass rhythm players tend to go for
very punchy, warm-sounding guitars, eg Martin rosewood dreads. I don't
listen to much live bluegrass, but a few years ago I went to the local
bluegrass club. They played in the traditional way, acoustic with a single
big microphone, doing the waltz around it to play leads and vocals. The
guitarist in the main band was using a Martin HD-28 that really cut through
with that "chunka" sound. OTOH, one of the guest players, equally competent
it seemed to me, was playing a Martin J-40 that didn't cut through at all,
just a lot of weak-sounding mush in the background.

Tony D


.

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