The Double thumbing technique

[TheGreek]

I've sent Scott Whitley a PM but he hasn't been on the forum since late September so I'm asking this of the BC collective - well those who have some degree of competence with the Double thumbing technique.

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I was watching Scott's Advanced Slap video 1 about double thumbing. I've been playing, on and off, for about 25 years and feel confident about my slapping technique - the door handle thing is no problem - and I'm happy with triplets using my 1st and middle fingers.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I've recently been trying to stretch myself and learn the double thumb technique but having my thumb running parallel to the strings and using the left side of my thumb nail doesn't give me the desired tone (lots of bum notes) and have found that I'm having to use my thumb at 90 degrees (pointing inwards and using the top of my thumb nail) to get a clean sound. [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]This is painful(wrist) and has no bearing on any muscle memory from years of slapping using the traditional technique.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bit of advice? Do I persevere with what I know is the wrong technique or how can I get the desired tone and getting rid of the bum notes by using my thumb parallel to the strings?[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Thanks fellas...[/font][/color]

[PawelG]

If you can get the desired sound slowly, just keep doing that. It always works for me. Slow it right dooooown. Before you know it - you’ll do it - without thinking.

Somebody told me once - if you can play something slow - you can play it fast. If you can play it fast - that doesn’t necessarily mean you can play it slow. I hope that makes sense.

Good luck!

[Dazed]

I had a dabble at double thumbing a while back.
Like you have found the muscle memory of slapping really doesn't come into it. I didn't follow an online tutorial so my technique probably isn't identical to Scott's. As with most things I found what was comfortable and worked for me. Initially I had blisters in places I'd never had before and the nail bed became painful. It didn't feel very natural. Sticking at it and starting slowly helped.
I found that spending hours getting used to the motion while watching TV helped. Not playing anything as such just building up the muscle and speed.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1509134238' post='3396981']
...[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I've recently been trying to stretch myself and learn the double thumb technique but having my thumb running parallel to the strings and using the left side of my thumb nail doesn't give me the desired tone (lots of bum notes) and have found that I'm having to use my thumb at 90 degrees (pointing inwards and using the top of my thumb nail) to get a clean sound. [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]This is painful(wrist) and has no bearing on any muscle memory from years of slapping using the traditional technique.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bit of advice? Do I persevere with what I know is the wrong technique or how can I get the desired tone and getting rid of the bum notes by using my thumb parallel to the strings?[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Thanks fellas...[/font][/color]
[/quote]

Excellent question.

I am by no means an experienced player. As for slapping, you can guess that I am not going to remind anyone of MK when I thumb and pop. Damping cleanly is the challenge for me at this time. I wondered though, do you have one of those thumbs that seems to double back on itself? I've seen players who have thumbs that almost make a [i]backwards[/i] right-angle at the last knuckle.

VW is one of those players;
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pxX6eKm4QI[/media]

My last knuckle does not allow any backward angle at all so I have to be extra precise and I have to damp the strings on either side of the one I am thumbing. I'd say practice would help if I was aiming to be in a L42 tribute band. As it is, I only use a pop now and again for accent. Every now and again I'll thumb but usually only on the B as it only has one adjacent string to bump against. For this reason, I find double thumbing really hard on the E and A.

I believe that the shape of my thumb is an impediment to sustained accurate thumbing because I have to adopt an unnatural wrist position to avoid adjacent strings on strings other than the B. It can be a convenient excuse for me to avoid the issue. Like you, I wonder if I am ever going to feel comfortable with sustained thumbing, say with a complex eight-bar groove or longer?

Is it like that with you? Is it only possible to be a good double-thumbist if you posses a double jointed last knuckle? I am locked into this topic as these questions have bothered me for a while.

[ivansc]

Sadly I suffer from the same rigid thumb joints.
I wound up giving up pedal steel because it made correct blocking impossible & it DOES hamper my bass technique, especially now my hand arthritis has gotten really bad.
You have my sympathy AND my understanding.