Double Thumb Sweep Arpeggios

[mutedeity]

I started working on this in the last couple of weeks. So far I have only been playing minor and major chord arpeggios, playing the root as a lead in; 4 up and down 16th notes and then playing the sweep through the first inversion to it's octave as 32nd notes. I play the lead-in in the standard double thumb position but when I play the arpeggio I turn my thumb in to get a harder tone for the sweep. When I sweep normally I use a similar technique to Adam Nitti, down with the thumb up with my index finger since it keeps the tone more consistent, but I think to get a more slap based tone the back of the thumb is needed. Another variation I might do is just to play the arpeggio up and pop the last note on the G string with the back of my thumb making the arpeggio a 32nd note quintuplet. Anyone else use this or a similar technique? I am interested to hear what variations on this theme people might use.

1


2


For both examples u= up thumbstroke, d= down thumbstroke

For example 1 the sweep is played as a quintuplet and in example 2 it is played as normal 32nd notes. Both examples are minor arpeggios

[Alun]

Hi. This looks interesting - when you say you turn your thumb in for the upward sweep, what position is it in? I can't quite work out how you'd do it.

Cheers,
Alun

[mutedeity]

When I play the down stroke my thumb is at roughly 45 degress to the string. Normally for the upstroke the angle stays the same for most double thumb playing. With the sweep, I turn the thumb and point directly into the bass at 90 degrees so only the nail plays the string. In fact I begin to turn my thumb as I play the last upstroke. The main reason for this is that it helps to keep control of the movement and separation. Mind you it is important to make sure you turn your wrist as well so that you aren't bending it.

Another thing too; I don't know if you already use any kind of double thumb techniqes but in developing it be prepared for some pain. I now have a failry tough callouse on the side of my thumb. Getting good separation with this technique is the key though and I have to admit I am still a long way from having it mastered, but the key to getting it nice and tight is as with everything start out at a slow rate and play every note.

[Alun]

Ah, I see. Thanks - I'll have a play and see what happens

Thanks,
Alun

[mutedeity]

Let me know how you go and any variations or excercises you might come up with.

[Trauts]

It's funny, I tried this method to sweep long before i discovered my current method (which is similar to Nitti's). I could sort of get the one octave arpeggio done over four strings but i found the up stroke really hard... it really hurt my thumb. The reason I haven't practised much to develop it (or the necessaru callous) is that i can't make it sound as good as if i tap and then sweep with my index finger, but also because I could never miss the g-string with my thumb on the upstroke so I would always play the highest note twice. If I took my thumb off and physically put it ready to upstroke the d-string I was alright but it didn't sound consistent (unless I was playing really slowly) and otherwise I the arpeggio would sound wrong. Now the only time I use the motion is to get a fast series of 8 dead notes in slap lines. If you've managed to solve these problems then nice one.

[mutedeity]

I found the same thing with the g string, I just use a different approach so that I can use it to an advantage. Later I might try and develop skipping the string on the upstroke. As I said earlier I don't expect that I will have this perfected for some time but I think it is definitely worth persisting with.

I use the thumb and finger approach to most of my other sweep arpeggios as well but I am specifically developing this technique to use with a "slap style" tone. Have you been practicing a double thumb slap technique? If not I would probably suggest that that is the first thing to do before you develop this particular sweep approach.

[Trauts]

Yeah, I like the way you've utilised the problem into your lines above- your slapping sounds like it's much more adventureous than mine! I'm still working on double thumbing, my main issue is a lack of excercises to develop using it musically in my playing. I keep insisting on practising basic grooves i would normally do fingerstyle to develop it technically but those rarely incorporate popping or anything typically 'slap'. I can also just about do the first 50 second to a minute of 'Classical Thump', slightly slower than the recording, but have to stop when it's played massively up the neck because my bass's cutaway doesn't allow me to play the 'down hammer up' motion fluently enough.

[AndretheBassist]

double thumb...it's still in that "in progress" stage for me lol