double thumbing

[old_skool]

does anyone know how to do this?
ive been trying to learn, its damn tricky. the only person that i can really think that uses it is claypool and maybe wooten. if you have any tips could you post them. thanks

[Slater]

Try to keep your wrist kind of loose and flexible.
Don't wack the stings too hard. (You don't have to beat the hell out of the bass like Flea ).
Let your thumb bounce off the strings. (Kind of like a drumstick bouncing off of a snare drum).

I hope this helps. It's easier for me to do it than explain it .

[old_skool]

no no no i can slap good. i dunno if we are talking about the same thing, but thanks anyway. its like slapping the string but in the same stroke reaching under the string and snapping it with your thump, i dunno if this is right i was told this and its pretty hard. thanks again

[phillesh71]

HEy old skool, what your describing is right, Ive been actually trying to find out about it forever and found it searching the old posts of this site today, you are supposed to hit through the string with your thumb, like towards the floor, and then it should be resting on the next string and this is the part that noone seems to have a clear explanation of but I think you just flick your thumb back through the string.
As of yet i can barely get two notes out of it but the funnest thing on bass is learning

[gruffpuppy]

Originally posted by phillesh71
HEy old skool, what your describing is right, Ive been actually trying to find out about it forever and found it searching the old posts of this site today, you are supposed to hit through the string with your thumb, like towards the floor, and then it should be resting on the next string and this is the part that noone seems to have a clear explanation of but I think you just flick your thumb back through the string.
As of yet i can barely get two notes out of it but the funnest thing on bass is learning

wow! extra points for you, you searched, you explained it right and your phrase "the funnest thing on bass is learning " personally that is the only way i can slap, with a down stroke, i tried the "flea" way but couldn't get the note to sound good, after i tried this i could play a lot better. i don't double thump all the time but i do use the down stroke to hit the strings which also set me up if i want to hit the string with an upstroke.

try filling out your profile for more brownie points

[tucker]

HOW DOES FLEA SLAP?????????????????????????????????

[NJXT]

Originally posted by tucker
HOW DOES FLEA SLAP?????????????????????????????????

If I'm not mistaken ... with his fingers ?

[FretGrinder]

Hmmm ... you never know, he could use his right thumb

[neptoon]

hey, sounds like you guys have the theory of double thumping down...just practice...and i know this may be the dumbest thing you've ever heard, but slow down to speed up. that's prolly the best piece of advice you can have when it comes to trying out new techniques. it'll take a while, but you'll get it...

[old_skool]

thanks guys, youve helped alot. my bass playing friend had another bit of advise, move your thumb in kind of a rotary position. that seems to work pretty good. well thanks again

[anonymous101511]

Here's the secret!First,make sure you are not using your thumb in a 'picking' motion.You should be hitting the string,right off the end of the fingerboard,more into your body than up and down.For the upstroke,your thumb should be bent back in a 'U' shape,then with just the joint,no thumbnail,under the string,pull up and away from the bass.The sound you're looking for is as if you pulled the string and snapped it with your index finger.Experiment and fine tune for your particular anatomy,and enjoy!

[tucker]

Ok first of all What I meant by how does flea slap is the following

i tried the "flea" way but couldn't get the note to sound good

GRuffpuppy said that he tried the was flea slaps and i was wonder how does flea slap compared to the rest of us? That is what I meant.

[old_skool]

flea slaps the string toward the fretboard rather than down.

[relman]

SLAPPING DOWN??????
AM I MISSING SOMETHING?

[steamboat]

I have to say I don't understand how slapping down works, I know it works, but how??

I can't get a sound out of slapping doing anything but hitting the string towards the fretboard.

[Sheep Man]

Hmm...
back to the original intent, double thumb(thump?)ing...

I've read most of the threads people have started on double thumb(thump?)ing, but still don't quite get it, but tried it anyway earlier today.

What I did was basically slap once, normally, then flick back with an upstroke slap. Someone here mentioned getting the joint under the string and essentially popping with your thumb joint, but what I did was more of a regular slap, only bringing my hand upwards instead of down.

Think of it in terms of actually slapping someone in the face. Using your right hand (assuming you're right handed, of course. ) you'd swing your hand across and smack 'em with the palm of your hand.
If you were to double slap them, then you'd swing your hand back around, and smack the other side of 'em with the back of your hand.
That's pretty much what I did, only I used the top part of the thumb joint on the 'upstroke' rather than the underside of the joint, as is used (by me, at least) with a regular slap.

Is that...essentially right, or is it...ummm...different?

Oh yeah, and I got a blister on the thumb joint because I was trying it nonstop for about an hour, and I haven't played any slap stuff in about a month. Which sucks, because tomorrow I have rehearsal, and I was practicing that for a "manic slap line in E for the fight scene" of The Whereabouts of Wally Dudes. I think I'll just use a pick tomorrow & Tuesday, then. My last blister took 3 days to scab up, and now it's tougher than any of my callouses! So hopefully, when this heals I'll be able to slap like there's no tomorrow, and the only thing hurting will be my arm if I do it too much.

[steamboat]

Sounds like you've got it Sheep Man. Same thing happened to me with the blister when I finally got it. Really had to work on economizing my hand motions too.. it got really tiring on the wrist.

[Flea Claydirnt]

This is interesting. Old_skool said Less uses this technique, can anyone give me an example where he is doing this.

[PuNk BaSSisT]

Try the little solo in the song "Laquer Head".

I saw the family values 99 performance on muchmusic and he does it in that song a lot.

[Sheep Man]

Now I just needa wait about a week or so for this stupid blister to heal/scab, so I can try it s'more. It was fun!