Using Your Thumb

One of the main reasons to play slide with your fingers is so you can provide backup for yourself. After you have figured out an interesting progresson, adding your thumb to the riff will greatly enhance your song, as it adds the bass notes that you will need if playing solo.In the lesson below, we are going to show you how to thump out a steady quarter-note groove on the low string while continuing to produce cool riffs on the top strng. The first step is finding the bass notes with the thumb. Once you do that, next comes using the thumb to keep a steady bass note going. Once you can do that, it’s a matter of learning to play licks without losing track of the bass part your thumb is playing. Don't worry because it will take time for this, but not only will it help you musically, it can also help you if you are a vocalist. Why? Since you are having to think about two or more notes at a given time, using your thumb for the bass notes trains you to distance yourself from the guitar and allow more of a patternesque logic.

In the example below, try playing the notes that you are supposed to play with your thumb as backing notes. What we mean by this is that you will need to focus mainly on ALL the other notes except your thumb notes and then just add them in to provide a bit of rhythm. Some call this "call and response." This is when you seperate time and space with emphasized notes that perform a function. In the first measure below, all notes up until you play on the "low E" string are your "calls," and the notes on the "low E" string will be your "response."

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