Tosin Abasi:Thumb-Slapped

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This month, I'd like to demonstrate how I play the intro to "An Infinite Regression," the opening track from the latest Animals as Leaders album, Weightless. This part features a very unusual and unique "double-thumbing" technique that, I believe, was pioneered by the great jazz bassist Victor Wooten. As usual, all of the licks in this column are arranged for seven-string guitar (low to high, B E A D G B E), though I play the part on an eight-string.

For this intro, I use my pick-hand thumb to sound consecutive notes with a downstroke followed by an upstroke, after which I use the index and middle fingers for fingerpicking. Along with the fret-hand tapping that initiates each phrase, the combination of these different techniques lets you devise cool, rhythmically complex and deceptive-sounding riffs like this one.

Prog-Gnosis with Tosin Abasi: How to Play the Thumb-Slapped Intro to "An Infinite Regression"