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Double Thumbing With Alex Lofoco: Lesson 2
Meet Alex Lofoco –
A warm welcome to all the readers of Bass Musician Magazine. In this second lesson on ‘Double Thumbing’ we will see some more simple licks to practice with.
In our first appointment we have seen the basics of the technique and the hand positioning, practicing on two simple patterns. The movements involved were three: Down (T?) – Up (T?) – Pluck (P). In pattern no. 2 (see Lesson 1) we introduced the Hammer as a device to play our notes with the only use of our left hand (or the other way around if you are a left handed player).
Using the same three motions I introduce now some new patterns based again on triplets.
1. In the first example (no.3) we will work with triplets on one string, using some combinations of Down, Up, Pluck and Hammer. As soon as you get more confident with the motions involved you can expand the pattern over other strings and playing other notes.
In this sample the note is an E at the seventh fret on the A string.
1) The first group is a Down-Up-Pluck combination.
To get a quite fluid motion is recommended to keep the tip of your plucking finger in line with your thumb, which I naturally place parallel to the strings (see image on lesson 1). Once you hit the string with the Down, your finger is ready to pluck even before you come up with the thumb (Up).
2) In the second group we use the Hammer to play the first quaver of our triplet, followed by a Thumb-Pluck sequence, in order to play the remaining two eight notes.
Here again the key is to keep thumb and finger as close as possible in order to save time and avoid an extra movement placing your finger underneath the string you are about to pluck. An extra care to the Hammer, which has to be clear and strong enough to produce a full note on beat, giving the accent of our triplet. Therefore the triplet effect depends by the strength of the hammered note.
3) In the third group we have a Down and Up stroke with a Hammer in between. The coordination is needed to have a fluent triplet using an open string and then hammering a note which will be subsequently plucked by a coming back thumb motion.
In this last combination, our first quaver is an open A. It can be played both as a full or ghost note according to the dynamic we want to have. Bear in mind that the accent is on the One in order to respect the triplet. (you may also put the accent on the second or third quaver, but do not get confused when playing). The main concept of this combination is the same of the line no.2 (see Lesson 1). We have just replaced the ‘pluck’ with a ‘thumb up’.
2. In this line no.4 we introduce the second finger (m) to pluck, and the Strum as new elements to hit the strings.
1-2 In the first two groups the Hammer plays the first quaver -in this example an E, seventh fret on the A string- and two ghost notes on the open G string. Using the last two quavers as ghosts we can build a scale or arpegio changing the hammered note resulting in a flashy chop lick when played at fast tempo.
To have a tight triplet I advice to keep the fingers next to each other and articulate the two plucks with one movement when pulling. In this case the double-pluck is not produced by the rotation of your wirst but by the articulation of the fingers. To have a more compressed triplet you can treat the double pull as a flam. You can practice with it separately, on one or two string, and put the hammered note afterwards.
3-4 In these last two groups of triplets we use the Hammer to play our notes, and two movements of the right hand: down to Strum, and up when plucking. Stumming is a quite common way of playing for guitarist, for instance. Index and middle fingers are involved in order to hit the string(s), and to have the possibility to pluck once or twice on the way up if needed. I noted the D and G strings only to be strummed, in order to have a high pich sound, almost as a snare drum that stands out in contrast with the low sounds generated by a bass drum, or in our case the bass line. You can strum any note on any string. The Strum is an useful device to enlarge our tonal range.
Once our picking hand has strummed down, it will be easy to come back and pluck (P) with an up motion.
Strumming is not a quite common device for bass players, and it is quite hard to find it in ‘traditional’ bass lines. Stanley Clarke was a pioneer of this technique, introducing strummed double stops in his slappy bass lines (‘School Days’ by Stanley could be a good example). Having the chance to hit one or more notes in this way, full notes or ghost, we can produce a percussive effect which adds groove in our bass line. Keep an eye on muting the strings you do not want to ring, in order to avoid undesired resonances.
For any questions, suggestion or comments you can contact me at lesson@alexlofoco.com. I will be happy to answer your questions as soon as possible.
Enjoy and good practice, and I look forward to see you in the next issue.
Stay tuned
Alex
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Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
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Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
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Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
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Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
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Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
