mute strings and some other stuff

My GSR 190 jumpstart set finally arrived the other day and I have started to practice ( slowly at first , 15-20 minute sessions tops ,gradually increasing practice sessions over time and doing hand excercises in between- I work in IT and have seen what RSI does in that capacity and have a natural tendency to be overcautious ) . I do have some questions though :

- how do you mute strings ? ( best practice ) . I have seen some explanations on that in the videos but can't seem to get it right . When you mute a string whilst playing that takes one finger "out of commision" for the muting bit and what if you have to play really complex lines or fast riffs ?
- how do you practice he pinky? I don't have a real issue with all other fingers but when I try to use pink it seems other fingers have tendency to move along with it .
- how do you move up and down fast with thumb of right hand ( plucking technique ) without producing any sound ?

1- Depends on what kind of muting you mean. If it's keeping strings muted, then just rest your hand over the fretboard. If it's mutign the strings you aren't playing so that they don't ring out. Use your thumb for the above strings and your fretting hand will cover the strings below. Resting your thumb on the string above the one you are playing and make sure it's leaning against the other strings above. This won't take any fingers out of commision. If I didn't help you, please be more specific and I'll give a more specific answer

2 - Well, I practice the pinky by always playing with it. Even if it's across 3 frets, I use the pinky and instead leave out one of the two middle fingers. If you want exercises: the spider exercise is good, also a chromatic scale up and down the strings and across the neck, or any other scale really. Just make sure you have proper fingering positions.

3 - Not really sure what you mean. Are plucking with your thumb or is it just resting somewhere? Give more detail, please.

1. What I mean is when you change strings and "let go" of the one you were playing before it tends to produce a sound ( even just touching any string will do that ) but my guess is using your thumb to mute it would work - although you'd have to arch your hand slightly to cover the board with thumb ) .
2. ok, will try that .
3. I'm not plucking with thumb yet,but using walking technique with index and middle finger and resting thumb on pickup and strings . What I meant was moving thumb from pickup to strings - and back - rapidly without producing sound .

Rik wrote:1. What I mean is when you change strings and "let go" of the one you were playing before it tends to produce a sound ( even just touching any string will do that ) but my guess is using your thumb to mute it would work - although you'd have to arch your hand slightly to cover the board with thumb ) .
2. ok, will try that .
3. I'm not plucking with thumb yet,but using walking technique with index and middle finger and resting thumb on pickup and strings . What I meant was moving thumb from pickup to strings - and back - rapidly without producing sound .

@1 take your finger off the string in a more relaxed fashion and it will mute it as you do so.
@3 practice

Rik wrote:1. What I mean is when you change strings and "let go" of the one you were playing before it tends to produce a sound ( even just touching any string will do that ) but my guess is using your thumb to mute it would work - although you'd have to arch your hand slightly to cover the board with thumb ) .
2. ok, will try that .
3. I'm not plucking with thumb yet,but using walking technique with index and middle finger and resting thumb on pickup and strings . What I meant was moving thumb from pickup to strings - and back - rapidly without producing sound .

1. If you go down one string, it shouldn't matter. If you pluck, your fingerpads should come to rest on the string above, effectively muting it. If you're going up one (or two), the finger you're fretting with should automatically mute the strings under it, as long as you press with the fingerpad. I'm not too sure about going down two, but I usually bring up my thumb (of my left hand) above in order to mute (you can see it in the Funk Exercise #4 vid)
3. I tend to rest my thumb on the lowest string only. Moving your thumb from pickup to E-string shouldn't give any problems, as you can just drop it on, so to speak.

DTL, you're my man

The floating thumb technique is, in my opinion, the best solution. It incorporates all of the aspects of finger picking into one whole package. It came naturally to me because of my style and I didn't even know it had a name, until now. It's a technique that automaticaly corrects every single mistake that people make with their hand position (even pros make some mistakes).

1 - Yea, when you look at it, you don't need to go below the E string with thumb resting. However, it's good to get used to moving it around, because some day you might use a 6-string bass and then you would have to learn muting all over again. It's up to you.

3 - Most likely, the problem is that you're putting too much tension on the thumb. You need to rest your thumb on the string, not brace it for extra plucking power. Tension on the thumb has to be 0. I might be mistaken, but it seems like your thumb is pressing hard on the string or is braced against it so that when you remove it the string vibrates.

I don't even use it