In order to play a funky grooves like that, it is important to mute the strings with your left hand. Of course the right hand is also important because it gives all the rhythm. When I am playing something like this you notice how relaxed the right hand is? And I try to hit only the strings I need to. I do not hit all these six strings at once. In this case, I am playing these notes. This is the note of G on the D string, on the 5th fret, note A, and I am using the third finger here to barre on the G string and the B string, down with this first finger to barre on the 5th fret. So basically, I am basically playing 5th fret and the 7th fret. The first two notes are on the D string that is G and A and then I am going on the G string and the B string, 7th fret, 8th fret and then G and A. So this sounds quite different because you need that right hand to do the rhythm. I am hitting only those three strings. Basically the B string, the G string, and the D string, those three.
In order to make it sound like that, you will have to use the left hand to mute the strings that you are not playing. It is a little tricky to get use to but we can start by playing those two notes back and forth. Notice here that I am getting all the strings but the right hand keeps going. And notice my thumb is muting the low E string so I do not get that ringing. The A string is being muted by the first finger here. It is touching just a little bit like that. We will have it like this and get that sound. Let us move it up there, it is muted. And the thumb on top takes care of those two top strings. And the rest, I am doing all the muting with this first finger. It is touching those three at the bottom. Then I will just go back and forth between those two notes and making sure that I mute the strings that I do not want to ring. Start by just one I guess. And as soon as I play one note, I lift up the finger and start muting again so I would not go. So as soon as I hit that note, I lift up the finger again and start muting. I use as many fingers I have to help me with the muting part. That serves the basics of the whole thing.
It is a very useful technique to know because the advantage is that your right hand is just going like this so you are going to have good time. It just do not matter as throwing in little notes here and there to make it sound cool. That is all. You can just throw in whatever you want. As long as you keep the right hand going and you are muting the strings, he knows that you do not want the sound. Sometimes I get all three bottom strings ringing but it sounds good so it does not really matter. The more important part is that your right hand is going in and you are keeping good timing with your right hand. I know it is hard to see what I am doing with the left hand because I need my fingers to mute. So keep that in mind that the thumb is doing all these low E muting and the index finger is doing the bottom strings but I also use the second and the third finger sometimes to help with the muting part. Right here for example.
If you prefer to use the third finger or the fourth finger on the 7th fret here, that is still up to you. I do kind of both. There I use the fourth finger but I can also use the third one. Whatever is more comfortable for you, use that. Then it is just the matter of picking up the speed if you want to play it faster. It sounds really fast because you can go pretty fast. Notice that I have a free wrist and free arm. I do not lock it. It would not work. It has to be the big movement. That is way I play it.
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