# Tosin Abasi Slap Technique



## Danukenator (Dec 23, 2011)

I have been trying to figure out what Tosin is doing in the song "An Infinite Regression." He has a really smooth hand motion an appears to be popping the strings with his fingers somehow. Any idea how this technique works?


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## BlindingLight7 (Dec 23, 2011)

down, up with thumb, then index and middle fingers, takes a loooooooooot of practice

as a 4 count pattern... 

down -1
up---- 2
index--3
middle-4


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## Danukenator (Dec 23, 2011)

Holy mother. Any patterns to practice that work well or just the usual chromatic 1,2,3,4 on every string then move it up?


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## jbrin0tk (Dec 23, 2011)

Indeed, it is a technique that takes a lot of practice. There are several videos on the page I linked below that demonstrate the technique. Some of Tosin doing it, and some of Victor Wooten doing and explaining it as well. Hope that helps.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/mu...067-animals-leaders-tosin-reflux-tabs-17.html


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## brutalwizard (Dec 23, 2011)

dont get it in your mind that its a slap like in the sense of a bass.

he is basically using his thumb as a plectrum. and it doesnt need as much exerted force 

as for practicing just do it on one note and get it so sound even and consistent with every "attack"


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## Danukenator (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks jbrin0tk, that thread has this covered. I didn't quite realize that thread was dedicated to all things Animals. Very helpful.


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## Winspear (Dec 23, 2011)

Tosin has a lesson on Double Thumping I think he called it - up on Jamplay. You can get a free trial there with a bit of searching for a code.


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## Superwoodle (Dec 23, 2011)

Victor Wooten uses a similar technique I believe


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## ralphy1976 (Dec 23, 2011)

Superwoodle said:


> Victor Wooten uses a similar technique I believe




"that's about it. Good luck"!!!!


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## MartinMTL (Dec 23, 2011)

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5KH3HCOPcs

Here is a link to Tosin explaining it himself. Sorry, I can't embed.


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## drmosh (Dec 23, 2011)

Danukenator said:


> I have been trying to figure out what Tosin is doing in the song "An Infinite Regression." He has a really smooth hand motion an appears to be popping the strings with his fingers somehow. Any idea how this technique works?



yeah, a lot of hard work

Check out the Victor Wooten videos, Tosin has said he used them as influence


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## Aevolve (Dec 24, 2011)

I've been working on this for a while. Should it feel like I'm really picking the string with my thumb or should it feel like I'm lightly brushing over it?


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## Skyblue (Dec 24, 2011)

I can't seem to get the index and middle ring plucks to be consistent and sound good... On the other hand, I don't really get much practice time so that probably has something to do with that.


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## ShadyDavey (Dec 24, 2011)

MartinMTL said:


> Here is a link to Tosin explaining it himself. Sorry, I can't embed.




It's ok, I can 

(Just add [ youtubevid] (without the space) at the beginning, followed by the 11 digit ID code S5KH3HCOPcs and then [ /youtubevid] afterwards (again without the space))


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## Winspear (Dec 24, 2011)

^ Thanks for that video. I did seem to remember that it wasn't just the thumb on the bass notes. Without his bent thumb, the angle is really awkward trying to get your fingers in there haha.


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## Aevolve (Dec 28, 2011)

PeachesMcKenzie said:


> I've been working on this for a while. Should it feel like I'm really picking the string with my thumb or should it feel like I'm lightly brushing over it?



Bumping for an answer to the above question


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## Lirtle (Dec 28, 2011)

Honestly the most frustrating technique I've ever attempted to learn. I'm also confused about exactly how much work my index and middle fingers are supposed to be doing.


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## glassmoon0fo (Jan 1, 2012)

PeachesMcKenzie said:


> Bumping for an answer to the above question


 
Im starting to get the technique down pretty good, and I was digging in pretty hard at first with all my fingers just to get the muscle memory down and make sure all the notes were sounding out solidly. once you get the motion down, the speed and touch start to take care of themselves. the faster you go, the lighter the touch, pretty much like using a pick in that regard. 

Overall, the best way to get the technique down is just like anything else, play the hell out of the instrument until you get it


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## KingTriton (Jan 3, 2012)

heyy glassmoon are you by any chance working on a To Lead You To An Overwhelming Question tab ? 

That song has got some seriously interesting slapping parts!


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## JoeOsoDopke (Jan 3, 2012)

Ok so here is how I went about learning this dreaded technique. 
1) work on thumb. Intitially, make sure the hand is in a "thumbs up" position instead of being fanned out. That does no good. The way Tosin does it he uses his wrist mostly, which can really be a bitch to learn. Just make sure that you keep your technique _consistent_ and don't change it up. When striking down, make sure there is an attack being heard. You don't want it dull sounding. As you come up to do your second stroke, try to use your fingernail to give it the attack. Let the string graze it. Now practice this, all around; try using it on one string as you would a pick. Try octaves. Remember your left hand can also hammer on, creating triplets when combined with the thumb.
2) when applying the index finger, the trick is not to move it, but to let it be generally stiff. Make sure there is enough space between your thumb, and the tip of theindex finger, so that you don't choke the upstroke of your thumb with your finger. It should be a fluid up-down/back-forth motion of the wrist (almost similar to the fluidity of sweep picking). Go very slowly making sure each hit rings out for the correct amount of time, and no notes are being choked. Remember, HAMMER ONS!
3) add your middle finger to the mix, remembering to keep it in a position allowing the stroke of the index finger not to be choked. It, should be stiff just as the index finger. Remember hammer ons. Again, go slowly. 

I hope I could be of some help here.


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## Deadnightshade (Jan 3, 2012)

JoeOsoDopke said:


> Ok so here is how I went about learning this dreaded technique.
> 1) work on thumb. Intitially, make sure the hand is in a "thumbs up" position instead of being fanned out. That does no good. The way Tosin does it he uses his wrist mostly, which can really be a bitch to learn. Just make sure that you keep your technique _consistent_ and don't change it up. When striking down, make sure there is an attack being heard. You don't want it dull sounding. As you come up to do your second stroke, try to use your fingernail to give it the attack. Let the string graze it. Now practice this, all around; try using it on one string as you would a pick. Try octaves. Remember your left hand can also hammer on, creating triplets when combined with the thumb.
> 2) when applying the index finger, the trick is not to move it, but to let it be generally stiff. Make sure there is enough space between your thumb, and the tip of theindex finger, so that you don't choke the upstroke of your thumb with your finger. It should be a fluid up-down/back-forth motion of the wrist (almost similar to the fluidity of sweep picking). Go very slowly making sure each hit rings out for the correct amount of time, and no notes are being choked. Remember, HAMMER ONS!
> 3) add your middle finger to the mix, remembering to keep it in a position allowing the stroke of the index finger not to be choked. It, should be stiff just as the index finger. Remember hammer ons. Again, go slowly.
> ...




Thanks for the post!


Generally what i noticed is that the thumb doesn't need to be tense,or else you got a dead stop on the down stroke.

My problem lies more on the the angle of the index and middle fingers,as i can't seem to make them pop the string,it sounds more like regular plucking , maybe just a tad louder.

Also I noticed that even the slightest amount of nail protruding from the index and middle fingers makes their respective strokes sound like shit in a certain angle ( bigger than what wooten seems to do).If you let your two fingers grow just a bit nail,do they sound like a shit to you to? I'm asking more like to understand if the angle should be greater than wooten's lesson, as he seems to pluck the strings at a smaller angle (maybe like the underside of the string,with his fingers a bit of hook-like).

I hope my question makes sense


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## jimwratt (Jan 6, 2013)

Deadnightshade said:


> Thanks for the post!
> 
> 
> Generally what i noticed is that the thumb doesn't need to be tense,or else you got a dead stop on the down stroke.
> ...



I've been working on this technique as well, and I've come to the realization that Tosin has done it enough that he is able to dig into the strings a bit more than we can off the bat because he's built up enough strength and neural pathways* to do so. I think with time, we would be able to develop not only the speed, but also the percussiveness of it.

It's an interesting technique because its kind of half way between classical tremolo and slapping. Segovia meets Sly Stone. Fun stuff.

* In weight training, we talk a lot about the "mind-muscle" connection that allows you to fully engage all the muscles necessary to complete a lift. It helps you to prevent injuries and to have a balanced physique. "Neural pathways" refers to the chains of nerves that are strengthened to the point of becoming reflexive in performing the lift. I bring up that idea in this context because it's kind of the same concept. After a while, we won't have to think about the minutia of "thumb down, thumb up, index, middle" and can start thinking about the sound quality and timbre. Hang in there.


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## jimwratt (Jan 17, 2013)

Update: my previous theory has proven correct. I've been working that technique up in the past few weeks and I've been able to get a lot faster and a lot more powerful with it by learning to involve my wrist by adding an upward twist with the thumb upstroke and the subsequent finger plucks. When I bring the thumb back down, the greater distance it has to travel to reverse the twist translates into a more powerful downstroke.


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## TripperJ (Feb 28, 2013)

I've found that if you don't rely so much on classical plucking with your index and middle finger but use the upward slap motion of your thumb and wrist, then follow through with your two fingers in almost a rake (or sweep) motion you can get a lot faster. Also growing out your fingernails a tad can make this technique much louder.


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