{"id":4,"date":"2010-12-07T18:07:13","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T18:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.classicalguitarcorner.com\/?p=4"},"modified":"2024-07-19T08:31:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T12:31:24","slug":"bass-stopping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarcorner.com\/bass-stopping\/","title":{"rendered":"Bass Stopping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bass stopping on the classical guitar allows you to control the resonance of the bass strings. By controlling the resonance you can remove muddy harmonies and create clear bass lines.<\/p>\n

With multiple voices swimming around in a piece of guitar music it is all too easy to leave strings ringing. The campanella quality of the instrument, which is one of the guitar’s defining characteristics, provides a beautiful sonority, however, in order to create distinct musical lines and capture the listeners ear with articulated melodies a guitarist needs to be aware, and in control of stopping strings from sounding when they are not supposed to. You will need to control resonance on all six strings as you play the guitar, although, the most common offenders are the bass strings which will be dealt with in this article.<\/p>\n

Why do we need bass stopping?<\/h2>\n

To outline the issue clearly, have a look at figure A and B. Figure A is a common bass line movement on the guitar from E on the 6th string to A on the 5th string. With your thumb playing the E and then moving across to the 5th string to play the A there is nothing to stop the 6th string from ringing on and creating, in actuality, what is written in figure B.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bass<\/p>\n

Figure A<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bass<\/p>\n

Figure B<\/strong><\/p>\n

The result of strings ringing over one another is a blurring of the harmony and the melody. Adding bass stopping as part of your right-hand technique will help clarify harmonies and bass lines. The resonance of bass strings overlapping does not always create a harsh sound and it can be an easy aspect to overlook. However, once you start stopping strings and begin to take care, the difference in articulation and sound clarity is so much better that you will wonder why you hadn’t started stopping earlier! Next time you get to see a master guitarist perform, take note of how they are stopping basses.<\/p>\n

Technique<\/h2>\n

Bass stopping often involves using the RH thumb to silence strings as needed and there are several ways to do this, they are all quite straight forward but require some dedicated practice to get results.<\/p>\n