Video: Todd Johnson on Floating Thumb Technique

[Gruuve]

This is the best explanation I think I've ever seen for floating thumb technique.

 

 

Dave

[omegamike]

Now that I see it for my self, it all makes sense. I'm going to enjoy learning on this new technique and incorporating it into my arsenal. Thanks for posting it Dave!

[Gruuve]

You're very welcome. I use 3 and 4-finger picking, and I find that this right hand positioning helps me get cleaner, more consistent notes. Having your playing hand flat minimizes or even nullifies the differences in finger length when plucking with all 4-fingers.

 

The muting benefits are excellent too...especially if you use any distortion on bass, sympathetic vibrations (strings that you aren't playing starting to vibrate) can be quite troublesome. Plus, your hand is in a very good position to easily switch to slap or thumb-plucking. And, you're almost in ideal position to execute artificial harmonics...just stick your thumb out toward the neck and twist your hand just a tad.

 

This is definitely worth mastering to consistency, if for no other benefit than wrist health! I still forget and lift my wrist sometimes, but keeping this position at 100% consistency is an excellent goal IMHO.

 

Dave

[ZZ Thorn]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

[Phil W]

Hey, this is what Jerry Watts (LAMA Head of Bass Department) was showing me this summer. He's learned how to use the technique well. I was looking for a video to describe this technique when posting about it earlier this year.

 

It makes a lot of sense but feels very unnatural for me after 20+ years of not doing that.

 

My attempts to describe this in a previous thread

[logicalaxiom]

My wrists doesn't hurt, playing regularly, but I might try that. Thanks for the link to YouTube Video Mr. Sisk!

[Gruuve]

LA, you're welcome. Phil, it feels really unnatural to me to point my thumb down like Todd does in the video. However, if I keep my thumb in the pointed-45degrees-toward-the-neck position as if I were going to prop it on a string, then lay my thumb flat against the strings, it feels much more natural. I kind of like that position anyway, as it's a bit closer to the position for slap, thumb-plucking, and arificial harmonics. I honestly don't think it matters too much whether your thumb points straight down or 45 degrees toward the neck as long as the side of your thumb is muting the strings (ie. you keep your elbow up so your wrist isn't bent and thus your thumb lifted off the strings).

 

All that said, I still get lazy. This one thought helps me the most: Keep your wrist touching the body of the bass. If you do that, then the rest happens almost auto-magically.

 

Dave

[scyzoryk]

I mentioned this to my bass teacher who plays a 6 string fretless. He mentioned something about this technique not being great because of the different amount of leverage in your arm or something once you alternate strings.

 

His method (I use it to a degree) involves using every finger of your right hand to dampen one string each. On a 4 string I use my pinky and the finger beside it on rest on E and A.

 

I never liked the floating thumb technique because I don't like the feeling of resting my thumb on E while plucking A. I guess it applies better to 5 and 6 stringers though.