Tosin is so humble. His attitude is *very refreshing.*

Javier Reyes

@@Gavinn07 you think it's more overtly condescending to others or more that he's passively condescending by giving himself more reverence than others? Or both? I haven't noticed him being like this yet, but I only found out about him yesterday, so I want to be prepared and not assume this guy is always as nice and cool as he seems so far. We all have obvious flaws and strengths, and it's human to notice people who seem to not be so damn flawed or who are very gifted, and use these outliers as inspiration, but often we end up blind to their other imperfections and end up building them up unrealistically and then getting letting let down.

@@Gavinn07 oh man ok yeah I totally feel that! Man that's actually got to be a tough position in terms of keeping a normal, humble, down to earth mental state. People who are able to be humble and never overstate themselves or have ego over-inflations are even more inspiring. I was absolutely delighted to see Herbie Hancock and how down to Earth he was in a Jacob Collier video about harmony. I've never heard people communicate in piano like they did. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m7ibmq5lz8zNZoE.html

I call it "pride in one's abilities". You can be a humble person but take pride in your ability. Pink Floyd would straight up come out and say they were better than everyone, and that's not where he is. He knows he's good and he takes take pride in it, and that can come off as conceit sometimes.

Can one be as brilliant before losing one's ego?.. Srsly, what do you think?

@@PieceOfDuke Fascinating question, I do wonder. I suppose brilliance can manifest in many ways. People can be geniuses/brilliant in all kinds of very distinct ways, in math, music, physics, anything really. But true geniuses are born geniuses, it's not possible to achieve through study. 5 lifetimes worth of study in physics will still not make your brain work like Einstein's. Brilliant people are called "gifted" for a reason, they're just born wired for a certain thing. So if you're born either brilliant or not brilliant, then I see no reason you couldn't have an ego. Imagine a 5 year old child shows extraordinary brilliance in a certain skill, and they are told their entire life how amazing they are. There doesn't necessarily need to be any point in their life where they become humble. They can go on being arrogant and egotistical for their whole life, and brilliant the entire time as well. By asking "Can you possibly even have an ego when you're this brilliant?" you are implying that through the process of learning (and *becoming* brilliant), you inevitably become humble too. But the thing is, you can't "become" brilliant like that, you must be born with it. You have to be wired that way, like Einstein. There is a difference between someone who is really good at something and someone who is truly brilliant. Because brilliant doesn't just mean smart or well read, it means gifted. Brilliance is most often demonstrated by individuals who are experienced and well-practiced, so it's easy to mistakenly assume that brilliance is attained *through* that experience and practice. But it isn't. No matter how much you practice, you won't suddenly become brilliant. You're born brilliant. We just end up being exposed to the people who are both brilliant and have ambition and experience, so we falsely believe their experience made them that way. But how many brilliant people never had the opportunity to discover their brilliance? A child in afghanistan or africa could have brilliance far exceeding Einstein's, but no one would ever know. We don't get to see all the countless brilliant individuals who never had the chance to learn or practice. But they're still brilliant. It is the learning, the practice, the experience, all of those things that cause someone to become humble. But you can be brilliant without learning, practice, or experience. So without these things to humble you, I see no reason you could not have an ego and also be brilliant.

@@whirlwind872 Seems like you made the meaning of the world brilliant a bit more nuanced for me. (English is my learned language). Does it have to do with potentiality and ability, and not necessarily the results?..

​@@PieceOfDuke Correct. People sometimes use the word brilliant in casual conversation to just mean "smart" but it doesn't _really_ just mean smart. It's more like... exceptionally intelligent. Note the difference between intelligence and knowledge though. Intelligence (IQ) is based on your genetics, and has to do with your ability to understand concepts and solve problems. Nothing you do will make you more intelligent. You can study hard and become super knowledgeable, to the point that you have memorized every fact on wikipedia, and you will be incredibly knowledgeable - but no more intelligent than before. Consider the astronomical amount of knowledge the average person has today in 2020. Compared to cavemen from 15,000 years ago, we are WAYYYYYY more knowledgeable. And yet, the intelligence of modern humans is no greater than the caveman's. But yes, being brilliant just means you are incredibly intelligent. (intelligence of course can manifest in different ways, like math/art/martial arts etc.)

​@@whirlwind872 I get your point but disagree on our unability to become more intelligent. What we inherit is a range of possible values for every trait, and the exact value is influenced by our lifestyle and health. But that's just me being pedantic. Thanks for explaining )

In other words he studied with a bunch of virtuosos of their respective instruments

goddamn right

and the nicest musician I’ve ever met. been lucky to meet a lot of genuine lovelies, and vic was the warmest of all. and prob the best.

and it literally explains his skill level as well. victor wooten has always been my fav bassist of all time. and honestly, tosin abasi is getting right up there with victor, just playing a different style of music.

yeah bro he should join animals as leaders

Too bad I smashed my middle finger with a car door instead of my thumb.

I'm pretty sure that a magic hollow thumb with fifteen handkerchiefs stuffed in it.

Is there any advantage to having a curved thumb like that playing bass?

@@bard416 Ummm...check out Larry Graham's right thumb, sometime Unnatural bend. Works pretty damn good, I'd say.

Metal core? Link pls

Reflux?

@@crumbs72 yes.

Sophisticated professional or, dare I say, an accomplished djentleman?

Now he's Steve Jobs

like buckethead is a robot, except his human impression sucks

Lol, thanks for that .

he even thinks in "blocks of chords" and "clusters of higher pitch notes".

Best coment I've come across in a long time man... Good one :)

That's it. He's fully updated Buckethead!

Isn’t he amazing

amazing

It’s crazy how fast it happens, right? One day you just find them and it almost consumes you. When I first heard of them I think I listened to their first two albums for like a year straight 😂 and their newest one is on repeat now

@@KimchiFarts damn straight I heard tooth and claw and it was a wrap

@@KimchiFarts I always wondered why noone ever heard of them. I heard Cafo late one night on my local Radio and followed them ever since

Yeah like dude stop reminding me how much I suck

@@sohamsengupta6470 my fretting hand is above par. But to groove it’s harder with the right hand. I still do simple downstroke exercises and finger picking techniques

I was born playing with my left hand. Switching hands is the tricky part. Always lose a stroke.

Banananaz it's only because his brother dresses him lol.

Banananaz RIGHT!?

Blake Killganon oh! Is his brother in the fashion industry or just has a good taste for it?

Blake Killganon oh! Is his brother in the fashion industry or just has a good taste for it?

His brother is in the fashion industy, look for Abasi Rosborough, that’s his brother’s brand

He already has a band its animals as leader

Leaders*

kerem tatar Do you even humor bro?

He IS a band

He should join a band named Animals As Leaders.

*billion

Wow

It's completely possible he genuinely didn't know who Steve Vai was at the time. A lot of people don't know of him unfortunately.

@@anonemoose6622 a career musician as well studied as tosin would definitely know who steve vai was... I don't think that would be the case

​@@anonemoose6622 possibly he was just in disbelief and being sarcastic

That's cause its double jointed, DOUBLE DJONTED

Xuen Yung Sim DOUBLE DJENTED

He's got that Jaco thumbs

It's called hitchhiker's thumb, and it's a relatively common genetic thing. Around 30% of people have it.

I have thumbs like that

Therealmatthew 2 But he's dressed like a 60 year old lol

He dresses like a sociology teacher

Andrew Drow He dresses like Robin Williams in good will hunting

All these comments are gold. I'm laughing to death over here

He looks like Tosin Abasi, a guitar player for a band named ANIMALS AS LEADERS.

It takes hard work to get anywhere on an instrument. People who get pissed about the simple facts are too proud to realize this, they can be better if they put the work in. Likely they won't so they can stay mad. xD

Mediocre people resent competent people. They're reminded of their own inadequacies & lack of discipline.

@@SkeeterMcBeater that and they play in a lot of odd time signatures and poly rhythms

@@tylerforde87 Polyrhythms are great and can be difficult, but that doesn't actually make you a better musician. Music is about expression. Daniel Johnston is better than a lot of bands today but he's pure technical garbage with an awful voice.

@@SkeeterMcBeater Yes. And by the same token, mature people don't brag, nor need to. One can be very competent at a technical skill, and, unfortunately, incompetent emotionally and socially. That said, I don't know if this anecdote is even true of Abasi, but if so, my guess is -- merely judging by this interview -- that he's probably grown up since then. Another point: if by "discipline" you merely mean the ability to whiteknuckle, enduring drudgery and hard work, frankly that's an (often) over-rated trait. Hours and hours of pactice doesn't necessarily result in great skill; *effective* and *efficient* practice does. (Ask Govan, he says he didn't enjoy it, he never would've practiced that much.) A related point: a puritanical attitude in which one feels the constant need to delay gratification and punish oneself is mental illness, not virtue. A broader point about technical skills in general: even if one has reached a point of perfection in terms of competancy (assuming such a perfect endpoint even exists), that's only virtue in a narrow sense, as in the use of the term in antiquity, i.e. virtus or "prowess." Virtue in a larger sense concerns what you actually *do* with a skill, as skill alone is not a guide to a good choice. In other words, does it follow that because you can do an action, you should? Can you derive an ought from that is?

Sorcery. Unadulterated sorcery.

Random. Pure random notes.

AllKeys JamTracks it is not a music

Tosin Abasi is just showing his picking technique, it took him years and years to develop such ways of playing guitar like the way he does, dont ever desprestige someone's hardwork and dedication

Water pure water

No argument intended, but why do you say Guthrie? He seems more like a master of many styles, rather than an actual technical innovator. (No hate on Guthrie at all)

Yvete Young developed a pretty sick technique too

@@jasonaggarwal3450 I think that the style of Guthrie is fundamentally not taking yourself too seriously, and being a counter to the pure, amelodic shred stuff. He's a bit of a popularizer of jazz/fusion sorta thing for folks from a metal background.

Hendrix was garbage idk why people say he "revolutionized guitar"

@@wer13245 Hendrix was garbage? What the actual fuck are you saying? C'mon man, you're better than that. Clearly you haven't studied Hendrix with detail.

What a beautiful comment.. I really appreciate your perspective there.

But boring as shit. In 20 years no one will no or care about nor remember one of their songs. Sad really because he's talented as a musician. As a songwriter....wellllll. My 2 cents

@@dennismcdonald2607 Maybe prog metal inspired by classical isn’t your thing? All of Animals shit is brilliant. Post some of your stuff so we can see how it compares.

@@tc5328 lol,don't be one of 'those guys'...I like them and all, but they're not for the gen pop. That's the biggest difference between musicians of yesteryear regardless of prog or what have you, their songs were more accessible. King Crimson, Genesis etc. My 2 cents.

@@dennismcdonald2607 i dunno man, if you sit down and really try and get it into it, it's just gorgeously written music. holds a very special place in my heart, even though i admit it's not the most mainstream haha

of all time

that's true!

fortunately they're not metal.

@@blackmantram6057 They are to a extent

Jazz metal

dude iam not fan. i respect em. (btw big metal fan) Animals is heavy as fuck, so it has extreme metal influences and sound.

I would cry.

That would be mindblowing

Or a Tosin/Snarky Puppy collab

Ripbooboo that is honestly what I thought the moment I read that 😄

that wouldnt make sense lmao

Didn't realize there was a tab book. >:)

Gobi Grey 😂😂😂

Say no more

hahaha

Paul Phariss thanks man

The thumb slapping and double bass drum kick combo in ectogenesis is possibly the sickest thing I’ve ever heard

Thanks! Also I love your profile pic!

Alex Cruz the intro to Infinite Regression though

You're the man

echus IDK I'm not from the future like you

.

You meant Windows 95

I just had a look , totally sounds like it xD .

yes

el stupido Nice name stupido

Nah, is just bassists' poor taste making bass sound bad

What is bass guitar? Never heard of it

Check out this cat right here, he’s excellent in bumpin and thumpin. With 8 string guitars from Ormsby Guitars instagram.com/ando__san?igshid=szum3ude9ew6

@@code07sam kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mtWffsl0mLPadZ8.html this is a bass guitar.

@@oscarsantos2608 a bit late but i still just gotta let you know. he was joking he knows what a bass is

CRISPR

Apparently by taking the regular thumb you have now, and bending it backwards at a 90° angle.

Be black

Squid Messiah i can get a tan

Learn how to slap bass

Justin Garcia some him live in Charleston.....awesome

Justin Garcia I'm going to try some of those techniques. Charlie Hunter is cool too

Someone Toastin has cited as an influence in the past

Oblique Applications I'm going to start referring to Tosin affectionately as Toasty Tosin.

Crunchy!

Duhhh...how you think he got there???

Joshua Batch innovator***** a pioneer would be like Chuck Berry lmao

TickleTrunks Or Allan Holdsworth.

Stfu Chuck Berry

Great technical guitarist. probably the best currently. But he suck at composing. Remind me of Ronaldhino, really gifted soccer player and pretty much can do anything. but if you put him on a team he's not that sharp. he's not gonna bring your team much value. Unlike C. Ronaldo. eventhough he's not a prodigy, but he's very deadly and very useful and bring great value to the team. Eventually, people would pick Ronaldo over Ronaldhino

@@CoolAsianGuy you obviously never saw prime Ronaldinho, the guy literally won everything you could possibily win

A lot of the stuff is odd groupings rather than odd time sigs it seems like tbh

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lcdna5d0urzQiWg.html Watch this, you might be surprised. You'd be surprised on how weird you can make 4/4 sound (in a good way).

That's basically this entire video though. "Oh hey, if you don't use a pick, you can use all your fingers!" Yeah, it's called fingerstyle....it's how (classical) guitar is actually supposed to be played. I just really don't like this hipster crap.

@@levischorpioen What’s your problem?

@@cyanhallows7809 Like I said: Just don’t like hipster crap. I don’t like people overcomplicating fairly simple concepts.

Look up Jaco Pastorius' thumbs and you'll see a thumb that is about as extreme

TRIPLE jointed

mine bends like this but I guarantee I'm shit on guitar :)

I saw nothing unusual compared to my thumb. I can bend it 90° backwards.

Mine does that too. It's called hitchhikers thumb.

same lmao

haha I had to laugh out loud mate, thanks :p

😄😄😄😄😄

xd

Haha I came here to comment this. Dammit

😂 🤣 😂 gold man

I agree. A scholar, true gent. And I find some of the comments hostile and quite strange. Borderline racist. I think they are quite surprised to see a black man with this kind of guitar skill and a sober, studious attitude. It doesn't fit the stereotype they expect. Sad for them.

you can go to uni everyday, right?

I'm not a huge fan of Djent, but I'm a HUGE fan of this comment. :-D

Tosin abasi,the original Djentlemen

Djentelman indeed.

We were just simply implying that he sounds similar to djent. That's all.

@@Salomon_G home slice means that the guitar is kinda djenty looking . But off course animals as leaders arnt anywhere close to djent

modern meat

Extremely well-articulated alternative to this philosophy. Far be it for me to attempt to speak for Tosin, but I would bet that he’d agree with everything you’ve said here, too. What I think is cool regarding your point about contextual limitations is that Tosin seems, to me, to seek to create restrictions precisely by innovating (i.e how would I play if I forced myself to abandon the pick? How would I create metal if I forced myself to think in the context of funk? Etc.) I don’t know man, but I love Tosin and I love Malcolm. Blessed contributors to the craft.

Kemikalsound wat

Kemikalsound don't get it

I get it

thats great

Artykmuso well he can't idolize himself really but I see what you are saying

He is the lead guitarist/bassist.

🤣