Independent Thumb Lessons

[slw]

Can anyone recommend any basic lessons on developing the thumb playing an independent bass?

Is there an existing thread on this topic.

Thanks!

[reeve21]

https://youtu.be/3Op4GfG5mDo

Here is a promo video for something by Richard Smith. I can recommend it. I cannot guarantee you will play like him when you finish, at least I didn’t

[Conomor]

Tom Feldman has a really good lesson on this:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thumbindependence/480407992

[bassfiddler]

Happy Traum has a good lesson to get you started on the steady thumb technique. I found alternating bass easier to learn than steady bass, but I'm sure it's different for everyone.

https://www.homespun.com/shop/produc...-steady-thumb/

[TBman]

I learned Travis picking from Mark Hanson's two books.

When you realize the thumb is not independent, it gets easier.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by TBman

When you realize the thumb is not independent, it gets easier.

This!

I didn't learn from Mark Hanson - I taught myself - but I agree with you (and him) the "independent thumb" is a myth. That's how it feels once you've learned the technique, but it's not how you learn it. You have to learn whole patterns, note by note, beat by beat - slow, but with thumb and finger(s) involved together.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by slw

Can anyone recommend any basic lessons on developing the thumb playing an independent bass?

Is there an existing thread on this topic.

Thanks!

As Barry & Jon have pointed out, the thumb is NOT independent.

I've always felt that the thumb is actually co-dependent, but unlike a bad marriage/relationship, it's a GOOD thing.

When I started teaching fingerstyle back in 1970-71, it took a LOT of trial & error before I figured out a good way to explain what I had figured out on my own, and at some point I realized that finger-picking is nothing more than Notes In Order.

A string of code (pun accepted) as it were, but instead of 0's & 1's, it's note or notes in order, singly or in groups, on the beat or off the beat, anticipating or delaying the beat.

More often than not I have told students: We're going to take the 'magic' away by explaining the mechanical/mathematical reality of what is happening, and THEN we have to make it musical again so that the MAGIC is back.

When you don't understand how/why/what is going on, it sounds more complicated than it is.

You can do it!

Regards,
Howard Emerson

[srick]

SLW - just know that this will take time to develop. The breakthrough for me came when I learned to really listen to the bass. Then, my brain eventually developed a feedback loop where my thumb played bass and my fingers played melody. But the bass will always carry your song. As you probably know, it’s what we call “the groove”.

Another thing that helped me get into the groove was tapping my feet and moving my whole body with the beat.

And then, there’s breathing. Concentrating on breathing while playing will help you progress because it’s an intrinsic metronome. One exercise that I learned was to play the low e string with my thumb maybe about 20 beats per minute. Listen closely and keep that rhythm. Take a deep breath and exhale between the beats. After you get this down, add your toe tap, four taps (quarter notes) in between the beat. It’s so much easier to demonstrate than describe !

Howard Emerson’s explanation of the process is a good one - you just have to get your brain out of the way and play that music. Sort of like being a player piano or music box.

Best of luck on your journey,


Rick

Ps - try not to worry about syncopation - that comes too. I also like the Happy Traum video, “Conquer the Challenge of the Steady Thumb.”

[Gcunplugged]

Originally Posted by TBman

When you realize the thumb is not independent, it gets easier.

Exactly! I thought I was the only one that disagrees with the independent thumb idea. Your thumb is not playing a different song, it is collaborating with your fingers on the same song.

In a 4/4 song, I take the tab for the song and slice each measure vertically with typically 8 vertical slices per measure. In some slices, both the thumb and fingers pluck. In others just the thumb, and in still others, just the fingers.

That works for me, where trying to think of the thumb part independently never worked.

GC

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Gcunplugged

...... Your thumb is not playing a different song......

GC

That's what always comes to my mind when talk about the "independent thumb" comes up here.

When I was first learning Travis picking, when I couldn't "get it" I would stop, slow the tune down to 1 beat per hour and just play the thumb alone.

[mc1]

Hope this helps: