THUMB METHODS
COMBINE MULTIPLE THUMB STROKES
Over the past few columns, we’ve been looking at the double thumbing technique and getting ourselves tangled up with some fairly complex slap lines. In the last instalment, we focused our attention on playing triplets using a down-up-pop sequence. This enabled us to play some blisteringly fast lines, as well as being a neat way to outline chords.
In this month’s journey into the technique, we’ll introduce an additional picking element—the second finger. This will mean that we now have four ways of playing the string with the picking hand: Thumb down and upstrokes, and pops with the first and second fingers. It seems likely that we’ll be able to get into all kinds of trouble with all of these elements at our disposal.
True mastery of slap bass will mean that you will be able to use the technique to play lines that might otherwise be performed using the fingerstyle technique. Adding a second popped note into the mix will bring us a step closer to that goal. In the opening exercises of this column, down and upstrokes with the thumb will be combined with two popped notes to allow us to play sequences of four notes: Down-up-pop 1-pop 2. The benefits of being able to execute this sequence at speed will probably be obvious, but it’s important that you don’t rush through these initial exercises. It’s crucial that you master this technique at slow tempos—or free time, preferably—and then increase the tempo as you become more comfortable.