Slap bass woes

[Jam]

I realise slap is a very polarising thing and if you don't like it, you don't have to stay in this thread.

Now, I've been playing bass for about 8 years now, and figure myself to be a fairly competent player. My grasp of theory isn't so good (though I am working on it, with help from a teacher) and I can play most slap lines given enough time and notation if necessary.

I've just sat down and gone through some of the Alex Sklarevski slap bass dvd and while I can keep up with the majority of the exercises without too much trouble, when he goes into his little 80s jams with his friends on the DVD, I can't keep up. The problem I think is that he does his own thing, and I just can't.

It seems I can copy slap lines but I can't write my own. I just can't get my head around writing patterns like that, he keeps saying on the DVD "and here you can add some syncopation" and suddenly he's changed a note here or there, added some dead notes, or changed the rhythm. I can just about follow that but when it comes to jamming or playing on the fly, I just end up playing the same boring patterns/shapes over and over again.


I'm really frustrated as I feel like I'm not progressing...any suggestions?

[Fat Rich]

A lot of the early Marcus Miller stuff was fairly standard melodic basslines, but played only with the thumb with just the occasional pop thrown in as an accent. They're great melodic basslines whatever technique you use to play them.

Maybe try playing what you'd normally play with fingers or a pick, but with only your thumb? And then maybe look for places to occasionally drop in a few standard slap / pop licks, but only if they fit the song.

I think slap can still sound great if you avoid the over-percussive-slap-monster-chops-no-space-no-groove-relentless-in-yer-face-thwacka-whacka, it's been done to death in the 80s and 90s and isn't going to impress anybody any more.

Space and groove is where it's at.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Fat Rich

[ras52]

Is the title of this thread a red herring? You don't say if you have trouble making up non-slap lines, so I wonder how the [i]articulation[/i] - which differentiates slap from finger/pick - is a factor.

Typical slap will emply large intervals - octaves, tenths - so are you comfortable with those in a non-slap context? Perhaps look for exerices in 10ths and work on those non-slap and slap. Have fun!

[thodrik]

Just keep playing bass.

After you have mastered the basic technique, just jam around, mixing up your slap bass with regular fingerstyle. I found it easier to come up with with slap ideas once I stopped thinking about slap in isolation from everything else, but rather as an additional tool that I could use when writing basslines or improvising in general.

[Pete Academy]

Try listening to something like earlier Cameo stuff. It will get you into a different type of slap groove, which might help trigger ideas.

[JTUK]

I think you are spending too much time on ripping lines rather than getting to grips with makes the technique work... so just should forget the riff and just jam over drum patterns.
That video is, IIRC, very stuck in an 80's slap mode based around triplets so you want to get a few other possibly more modern references...
Ignore his riffs and compile your own.... and altho you can play the lines ..you need to jam around it to build up chops.

Try getting away from that triplet bias.. and trawl wider for 'influences'

Slap, pat, pull can be quite dated...

Check out Caron and Dickens for example... not so much for the chops, which are distinctly marmite...but the imagination they have added to the trad slap and hammer groove.
Then go back and take apart Larry G... to name just a few .. he is just so funky..
The idea is to sound ike none of them but nick from all...and then jam it all together to get your 'thing' going...

If there is a local teacher who stands out..and who is modern, then maybe they can introduce you to a few new names and directions with the technique

Have to say..that altho that video was decent enough at the time...the whole thing has moved on...
If you have a great groove you can make it work still..and it must be nigh on 30 yrs old...but if you haven't..then you will want to update the style..

[Jam]

Thanks for the feedback guys - *Edit*

Just remembered I have Stuart Clayton's "Ultimate Slap Bass" and a cursory glance through tells me this is going to be so much more beneficial than the Sklarevski dvd! Explanations as to WHY as well as HOW.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Jam

[risingson]

[quote name='Jam' timestamp='1345473558' post='1777850']
I'm really frustrated as I feel like I'm not progressing...any suggestions?
[/quote]

Yes, just go at it yourself. It's easy enough replicating something you've heard or read off a chart, but if you start from the ground up with the fundamental striking of the string with your thumb and pulling away from the string with your index/middle finger and work out some relevant patterns of your own then things become a lot easier. My favourite slap players are the ones that literally play like they're going at it as a drummer would use his kick and his snare in conjunction with each other. Don't get overly caught up with being too flashy at first, just work stuff out on your own and trust your instincts with regards to rhythm and note choice etc.