THIS WEEK we’re looking at DOUBLE THUMB technique. You may have seen Victor Wooten and a hundred other Youtube virtuosos playing with this style. It’s simply a way of creating two slap hits out of one basic motion so we get two for the price of one by playing both an upstroke as well as a downstroke. This also gives us the ability to play REALLY fast slap lines.
However, it can be really, really tough to get started with. So I’ve provided a really easy riff that should help a lot with the absolute basics of the technique (single downstroke and upstroke).
Easy Double Thumb Riff
The following riff is a great exercise for practicing the basic double thumb up stroke. We have very few notes to hit and they are spaced apart. This gives us a little time to recover. We also have a few pops in there to help with our general positioning.
Before trying the double thumb technique you need to master the rest stroke. Click Here for a lesson on rest stroke and Click Here for a more thorough lesson on the basics of double thumb technique.
Here is the tab and sheet music for the riff:
Another great lesson. This is a good complement to the other intro to double thumbing lessons. Thanks!