Soukous Thumb Technique | Learn African Bass Guitar | Edd Bateman 

Glad it could help

Exactly

Great post it in this group and I'll check it out facebook.com/groups/worldmusicmethod

Cheers John

Cheers Rick

Thank you Jacek

Hi Jessie try this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qYFZRdXiVRc.html

Hey Moritz. I think it doesn't matter which technique you use as long as you get a sound that you're happy with. For me using the middle finger and the index wouldn't feel natural because I didn't learn in that way and I'd feel like I was carrying unnecessary tension in the unused index finger but whether you play with the index or middle finger you're probably going to get a very similar tone. Sometimes I don't use the thumb at all and play fingerstyle if that's more comfortable for a certain line. I do use the left hand thumb a bit but it means your hand is locked in to stretching across 3 frets only and I was always taught that the left hand should span 4 frets, 1 finger per fret rule. The true old school Congolese way of using the left thumb involves muting the low E string to make it sound like a kick drum without a real pitch to it. Sounds good but goes every fundamental musical rule of the bass player's role in the band which is to underpin the harmony. If the guitarist plays a G major chord we can play a low E and that chord then becomes E minor 7 but if we are playing a low muted note then there is a serious gap in the harmony. Also a kick drum is doing it's job and when you're mixing a recording in any genre the whole principle is to separate the frequencies of bass guitar and bass drum so both can be independently heard. Some of the old school guys crank up the bass on their amp and have no middle so a line like I played in this lesson that uses all 4 strings will sound so unbalanced with loud E and A string and quiet D and G string. There is a lot that I don't know about Congolese music but I see trends being repeated and not updated. Lot's of the male singers use head voice like Papa Wemba so you can't actually tell the voices apart. Chest voice is where all of the character and distinction that you can recognise as someone's voice comes from. It worked for Papa Wemba but it doesn't work for everyone. Many guitarists today and drowning in delay. The sound worked 40 years ago but when people today copy the old sound they just focus on the delay and perhaps not the other frequencies which made it work. I'll make an updated video on Thumb Technique next month.

@@WorldMusicMethod this is all very interesting. I agree 100% on the delay matter, but I fear I do not have enough authority in the band where I play yet to suggest less delay drowning of the guitar :d I find that using the left hand thumb facilitates muting A LOT, but its true that less notes are reached...I like to play the unmuted root note on beat one and "kick drum" the rest of the bar. But again, this theory of doubling the kickdrum being obsolete makes total sense, but for now I will stick to what the guitarist tells me to do. Last but not least I want to add this link of Mwana in defense of congolesian music , defenetely no head voice in this one :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZBF1iDl_uvI.html

Nice clip. Even when you don't speak the language I can feel the emotion more from a song when the singer is using chest voice like that. When your guitarist leaves the room or stage turn the delay settings down on the pedal then after the gig or rehearsal in front of everyone say "wow your guitar sounded so clear and strong today, have you changed the settings". Hopefully everyone will agree then they will notice the settings were lower and understand. Does your guitarist play bass?

@@WorldMusicMethod hahaha good idea, I ll try that. He plays bass but he is more focussed on drums and guitar

Hey Fred. The instrument doesn't matter at all. The only thing that matters is you. You are the sound. I've played the same bass I bought when I was 13 and never owned another. At times I thought I should buy a more expensive one to sound better but that would have been wrong. You sound better by practicing. 4 string or 5 string is fine. Personally I see no need for the 5th string. What I often do is tune all the strings down by 2 semitones then I have 2 extra low notes Eb and D to use. Just get a bass that feels right in your hands. You should play every single fret when you test it out to check every fret sounds good with no buzzing

@@WorldMusicMethod Thank you so much for this was exactly the advice i needed 🙏

If the physical technique is already strong, be sure you're getting a sound that you like. Practice it at 40bpm so it becomes really solid. If you are already comfortable with that then you could use your practice time to work on something else.

Hi Felix it takes time to build up the strength. Practice playing scales and exercises using your thumb and you will build up strength very quickly

By reststroke do you mean an upstroke with the thumb?

@@WorldMusicMethod Thank you for the reply! No I mean a downstroke with my thumb, which ends with my thumb resting on the string below. When playing fingerstyle, when playing a note, the finger ends resting on the string above. I call that a 'reststroke'. When I play, a thumb reststroke sounds better, but then my hand is in an angle which makes it near impossible to pluck with the index finger.

I did a live masterclass a couple weeks ago which you can find as the fourth post here facebook.com/worldmusicmethod You may enjoy the whole thing but specifically around 50 minutes in, perhaps before also I talk a lot about this thumb technique. Do you find that while you're playing like this your hand gets more tired quicker or aches? If the sound is too loud it's either because you're striking too hard and if that's true you'd eventually notice tension where your thumb meets your wrist or you've got too much low end on your sound and if you had less bass it would lower the volume of the lowest string and could balance out all round. Think about James Jamerson always only ever using one finger "the hook" so he had even tone on every note. Use the thumb on all four strings practising scales being conscious about getting an even tone and volume on every note.

Hi Samuel. You can buy the online course at www.africanbasslesson.com If you prefer a physical copy email me through the website and we can arrange that.

@@WorldMusicMethod the website email doesn't work YOG

I mute the strings with my left hand. You should be aiming to have one note stop as you start to play the next note so there are no strings ringing into each other. Practice playing repeatedly on a note and mute it by releasing the pressure of the finger on your left hand that you are using to fret the note. Notice how if you release the pressure too quickly it will create a sound we call 'hammer off' (an undesirable sound for muting). If you do it too slowly the string may rattle or give some fret noise. Experiment until you find the correct level of pressure and speed of release that works for your bass. You can mute with the right hand also. Practice playing the open A string using only the first finger on your right hand and mute the string after playing with the same finger. Repeat this with the middle finger then try alternating with the first and second finger always muting in between the notes to give a staccato sound. Practice this with the thumb on your right hand also.

right. laying your finger on that string softly as almost you not playing the string

Hi Julio. No they are just cheap roundwound standard gauge strings with the treble rolled off. I try and make an effort to change them every five years but don't always get round to it

@@WorldMusicMethod LOL, yeah that's the secret to my bass tone too!

Yes definitely. I will do that this Winter

You can enable auto-translations of the automatic subtitles into French if that helps.. support.google.com/youtube/answer/100078?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en-GB

Probably. What do you mean by recording tricks?

@@WorldMusicMethod Well there are some typical sounds in soukous guitar most people use (little amount of Chorus or some 70's type of distortion I guess). I never heard of any typical bass sounds for you can use. Are there any you know of?

I understand now. The overuse of delay that most Congolese guitarists go to as their standard sound comes from Dr Nico. He created that sound but kept his pedal settings hidden so most guitarists thought that to copy that they just need lots of delay and hadn't grown up surrounded by lots of options for pedals and settings like a rock musician usually would of so in my opinion it ends up just swamping the sound with everything bouncing and no clarity, really noticeable on a unison or harmony guitar phrase. A little chorus is a much safer starting point. The classic Congolese bass sound is no good for recording if you capturing the same kind of sound the amp gets. There is the go to idea that for a bass instrument you need to just add lots of bass which is incorrect. Sebene basslines almost always use all 4 strings and if you want them to have a reasonably balanced level of volume on each string then turning up only the bass will give a disproportionately louder sound to the E string which will flood the bottom end of the mix and mean you can't really hear the top strings. This is exactly what you'll hear live. My recording settings are identical to my amp settings. Treble between 0 and 1, hi mid between 5 and 8, low mid between 5 and 8, bass between 2 and 4.5, gonna vary on different amps and speakers but I keep the mid there to have the clarity over the full instrument. This works for me, it's not classic Congolese but I've never heard any complaints.

@@WorldMusicMethod Thank you for your answer! I exactly had this problem with the e string being way too loud. So thats very helpful for me.

A Major, E Major, D Major, E Major

Don’t be like that, you should be flattered that of all the African cultures ours stood out the most to him as Congolese culture should . be proud.