Double thumping/Slap confusion angle of attack..

cire113 · #1 01-22-2009, 01:11 PM

I understand when double thumping you strike through the string ..

My question is when i slap normally is it necessary to do this or i can just bounce off the string?

Im getting confused with the different angles of attack used in double thumping and regular slap...

Should i start slapping regulary and go through the string?

I see people like marcus miller and les claypool and it seems they bounce off the string instead of strike through....

dannster · #2 01-22-2009, 01:19 PM

Well basically bouncing off the string for regular slapping is how it is "usually done" but everybody has their own way of doing it.
If I were you I'd start practicing both ways. Experiment with it. See what works for YOU.
Check MarloweDK on Youtube. He has quite a few tutorials on both.

cire113 · #3 01-22-2009, 01:27 PM

i should prob keep the same angle whether i bounce off or strike through?

It just feels like i slap 2 different ways when i bounce off my thumb is like flea how i originally learned slap with the thumb down..

thanks for the advice

tZer · #4 01-22-2009, 01:42 PM

You can use your thumb for more than the two techniques you described. You can use your thumb the way you'd use a pick - which would add a third 'angle of attack'. You can use your thumb like Sting so now you have a fourth...

I think each attack requires it's own set of angles and approaches. So I wouldn't bog down on one in relation to another.

For me, doing the more 'traditional' thumb, thump (from the Thump and Pluck school), I use a much more delicate, whipping type attack so the thumb strikes the string from directly perpendicular to the body and bounces off instantly. It's mostly, if not all in the wrist.

For the thumbing 'thru the string' thing - like as if you were doing Victor Wooten's double-thumb, I come down at the string more like I would if I were strumming an acoustic guitar - so from north of the E (or B) string down. Even though I still use some wrist, my wrist is more stiff and I add more arm swing to the whole action.

If I want to lay out a blazing string of 32nd notes (like you might in a Metallica or other speed metal tune), I'll hold my thumb sort of like it's a pick and use a fast back and forth wrist twist. The thumb tip strikes the string on it's tip/edge, back and forth as if it were a pick.

So again I'd say not to concern yourself about angle of attack carryover from one technique to the next. Each technique probably will demand variations in many areas.

kdiggity · #5 01-22-2009, 03:20 PM

Good outline, tZer.

I've recently began trying to step-up my slap/pop game, and have been wondering about some of the, what seems like millions, of ways to do it.

I mean, I can do it, but I want to be able to do it like the bad-asses do it.

SIGH... practice, practice, practice. blisters, blisters, blisters...

- kdiggity -

tZer · #6 01-22-2009, 04:03 PM

yep - practice, practice, practice and (initially) blisters - but if you keep up the practice, callouses, callouses, callouses!

And I know how to talk the talk - but as for walking the walk... my slap & pop is rusty, my Victor Wooten style double-thumb, quadruple pop is all but non-existent. I get the physics of the technique - but as for being able to deliver the goods - your better off with Fed Ex.

I got a little obsessed with Victor a few years back and was determined to get his style of fireworks into my playing - but to be completely honest, I just wasn't willing to put in that amount of time for something that (for me) would rarely get used. I'd sure like to have that kind of mastery over my instrument and technique - but I have to be practical about what I have time to learn.

BUT - I did look into Vic's style enough to know that you do need to think quite differently about your thumb and fingers when approaching his technique than you would if you were approaching Stanley Clarke's, for example. Vic takes using his thumb to a whole other place.

The one thing I did come away with was a healthy new respect for how much MORE your thumb can do for you other than bounding off the strings like Stanley and anchoring your right hand. So even though I don't have Vic's chops, I do know how to use my thumb in many more ways than I ever would have if I didn't explore his thing.

kdiggity · #7 01-23-2009, 10:10 PM

That's very true - the thumb can be a powerful ally and friend (especially on a cold winter night after a fifth of whiskey - I speak from experience).

Anyhoo, I see more and more of the, let's call them "progressive" players, doing all sorts of crazy stuff with their thumbs. I am working on my double thump but right now it's more like a double thud.

Speaking of callouses, I have finally got what I would call a reasonable set going. The wife has noticed, but she respects what I am doing and that in the long run it will only mean great things for the planet.

Thumb on, good sirs.

- kdiggity -