How to slap..

[Rusco]

Hi,

So I went to see Level 42 live in Oxford across the weekend and Mark King one of my favourite bass players live for the first time…. they might not be everyone’s cup of tea but they put on a great show and Mr King can certainly play… to say the least !.

Its convinced me I should learn how to slap properly so what are your top tips to becoming an accomplished slapper ?

Cheers.. R

[Weststarx]

Wear lots of make up and wearing lots of clothes with leopard print always helps.

And dont forget the ripped tights...


Joking aside its something Ive always wanted to learn as well.

To practice my technique, I've started my playing Panic Station by Muse, its nice and slow but you do have to use both ends of the neck!

Undisclosed Desires by Muse as well is another one to start as there is some 'pops' in there too.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Weststarx

[FuNkShUi]

Start slow.
Really slow.
What makes someone sound good when they are playing slap is how "neat" they are.
No open strings ringing, and notes starting and finishing when they are meant to.
Start with a song that plays mostly octaves, start slow, and build up speed.
Im assuming you know the basics of slap, like where to hit the string, how to position your hand?
If not, id have a look on youtube. Im sure Scotts bass lessons will have something useful for you.
Once you think you know where your going,
I think "treasure" by Bruno Mars would probably be a good one to look at.
But like i say, start slow. Get the right notes playing , when they're meant to be, then slowly build it up to tempo

[Pukie]

You tube is a great resource for learning Slap - wish it had been around when I started.

Might as well learn from the best ....search for Budha Bill Dickens "funk bass and beyond" or look for Victor wooten's beginners lessons.
and the excellent aforementioned Scott's bass lessons will have something.

[Mark Dyer]

My tip would be to start with the man who (allegedly) started it all, Larry Graham.

There's also no harm in listening to Mark King himself, if you ignore all the flashy stuff he plays on a track, there's a wealth of basic slap techniques in the Level 42 back catalogue.

And as others have said here, start slow and build up that right hand technique.

It doesn't have to be 'neat' btw, Les Claypool and Doug Wimbish are testament to that.

[FuNkShUi]

[quote name='Mark Dyer' timestamp='1413297467' post='2576831']
It doesn't have to be 'neat' btw, Les Claypool and Doug Wimbish are testament to that.
[/quote]

I suppose thats true, it is dependant on taste and type of music you want to play

Edited October 14, 2014 by FuNkShUi

[Skol303]

I'm certainly no expert at slap bass! Quite the opposite. But a good book I'd recommend is [i]Slap It![/i] by Tony Oppenheim:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slap-Funk-Studies-Electric-Bass/dp/1598060066/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413299706&sr=1-2&keywords=slap+it

It's full of what I'd call 'old skool' slap riffs (rather than the more modern Victor Wooten variety), but it caters well for absolute beginners like me - and from reading ahead to the latter sections, it provides plenty of stuff for more advanced players too. All written in both notation and tab.

Worth a look

[edpirie]

When I was learning the most valuable tools were a metronome and headphones. (For metronome substitute drum machine or probably any number of apps nowadays). That way, when you start slow as others have said, there's no hiding. Be ruthless with yourself over the basics and you'll sound infinitely better playing a slow groove than the usual Saturday afternoon Red Bull crazed whipper-slapper down Denmark St.

[zero9]

+1 to 'slap it' by Tony Oppenheim.

Jonas Hellborg also published some great material on slap technique.

[bubinga5]

Listen a lot… Practice a lot.. keep it simple and practice slow to get a clean technique.

[SlapbassSteve]

Ahhh, slapbass... I've not had a chance to do this in ages, it's not easy on a Kala U-Bass haha!

I think it's mostly been covered already here- start slow and simple, get the basics right and slowly build it up while listening to all the good stuff(Level 42, RHCP, Primus, The Reddings, Parliament-Funkadelic... Also for something more obscure check out an album called Force of Nature by Sun, it's funk heaven!).

For me personally, this book here(http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers-A-Step-By-Step-Breakdown-of-Fleas-Bass-Style-and-Techniq-/161428901122?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item2595e98d02) and a pair of outstanding teachers(Dave Lowe and John Dover) were also a massive help... just be very patient and keep at it!

I'll leave you with this tune off the Sun album I mentioned, it's pure funky bliss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sw9mCRjhlM

[JTUK]

IMO, slap has evolved over 35 years or so... so there is a whole host of different takes on it.
Quite a few exponents are rather stuck in their groove and that may not be where the style is now
so you need quite a big reference.

These are the people you should be aware of..as they probably lead the way thru being number 1/most popular in their day.
Larry Graham ..who is supposed to have started it all, has quite a basic thumb/pull octave thing going on but
his natural funkiness comes thru..
Louis Johnson.
Mark King
Marcus Miller
Flea.
Victor Wooten.

These may not be the best exponents but you should be aware of thier stuff.
Others to check out at some point..and who are pretty upto date stylewise are
people like Freddie Washington, Anthony Wellington, Mervyn Davis etc etc

Odd balls styles, IMO.. but no less valid maybe
Abe Laboriel, Richard Bona, Alain Caron.. and so on.

The trick is to make it funky, rather than machine gun like so it depends on your
likes and where you want to take it..
Most instructional videos will tell you how to thumb and pull it tho..

[White Cloud]

Best advice is...have fun.

That's what it's all about.

[Bradwell]

A few basics:

Try to hit strings with the side of your thumb knuckle and most of the movement tends to come from the wrist, let your thumb spring back off the string rather than trying to push the string down.

A lot of the tone comes from the strings bouncing off the upper frets / fingerboard (fretless) - hitting the stings just below the end of the fingerboard works for me.

Plucking is all about pulling the strings back far enough so they bounce of the fingerboard in the same way.

For beginning stick to... Thumb - E & A strings, Index / middle fingers - D & G strings.

[stingrayPete1977]

I once stumbled in on what I thought was a slap bass for total beginners course, level 42 t shirts everywhere and coffee table basses being beaten to death, turns out it was a bass bash, and boy were they bashing them!

Edited October 16, 2014 by stingrayPete1977

[paul_5]

technique is more important than tempo; nobody wants a sloppy slapper. Concentrate on getting every note as clear as you can.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Scott Whitley's youtube vids are worth a look IMHO, he posts in the technique forum here;

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/239073-the-slap-bass-lick-library-is-here/

I'm pretty sure he also has some videos focussing on basic technique as well, but his slap licks vids put the techniques into a musical context that is more interesting than practising dry technical exercises.

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1413463529' post='2578464']nobody wants a sloppy slapper.[/quote]

Speak for yourself!

[Funky Dunky]

An oft-cited bible for those beginning slap bass is Alexis Sklarevski's The Slap Bass Program. Boring as all hell but undoubtedly helpful.

As others have said, Scott Devine and Scott Whitley's youtube videos have been extremely beneficial (to me, certainly) but I would recommend a Dvd called Slap Fundamentals by Ed Friedland (it's available online for less than the price of a bad haircut). Ed teaches how to slap from novice up to advanced, explains it all in simple terms, and the dvd covers a multitude of stuff including how best to position your bass to make slap easier and more omfortable, avoiding fatigue, which pickups and amps are best for a 'good' slap sound and tons more. Helped me a great deal, and my slap bass playing really moved up a few notches within a few weeks.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Funky Dunky

[FuNkShUi]

Nothing will help more than a good tutor though.
The feedback they will give you you will be invaluable.
And I'm not talking about a guitarist who can play bass, and as such can "slap" a rage against the machine song.
I would say make the extra effort to find a good tutor, who only teaches bass. And if he/she has been recommended,even better.

[flyfisher]

I think this is all you need to know . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBEznBdFxM

[Funky Dunky]

Funkshui speaketh the truth. Videos and dvds are very helpful, but they can't sit you down, look at your technique and help you troubleshoot and streamline it the way a teacher can

[JTUK]

I'd say that Alexis Sklarevski's The Slap Bass Program was great at the time but you'll really want to move on from that
as it is now very dated in every sense.
YMMV tho...

[Funky Dunky]

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1413478410' post='2578688']
make slap easier and more omfortable
[/quote]

Again, I really can't overstate the importance of omfort.

[Rusco]

Hi,

Thanks very much for all the replies, advice and suggestions much appreciated. Lots to go on and will check out the books, YouTube and DVD suggestions.

I take the point about teachers. I live just north of Swindon (not from Swindon..) so if anyone has a teacher they can recommend around the area then that might be something to try.

Thanks again, cheers R.
.