Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

I don't like slap


SteveXFR

Recommended Posts

Thumb in attack position and mouth wide open/stupid face pulled. Two of the Tier 1 "Don't click play" flags, right there. All it needed was a "Top 10..." caption to go along with it and you'd have had the holy trinity of videos-to-avoid signals 😁

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Thumb in attack position and mouth wide open/stupid face pulled. Two of the Tier 1 "Don't click play" flags, right there. All it needed was a "Top 10..." caption to go along with it and you'd have had the holy trinity of videos-to-avoid signals 😁

:D

 

 Only, it's a good 'un with Mr Vega. A decent bit of playing from him...👍

Shame the "Don't click play" put you off. Although, I must say, it nearly put me off.

:D

Edited by lowdown
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 22/03/2021 at 19:55, SteveXFR said:

Am I the only person who plays bass and generally hates slap? 

I think it can sound good when used sparingly (like Billy Gould or Tim Commerford) but I hate songs which are just slaps and pops all the way through. I really dislike songs which weren't slapped covered by a bassist who plays slap all the way through. I don't even like Primus. 

Am I on my own with this? 

No.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Telebass said:

No.

I don't want to keep kicking slap down as people are obviously free to like what they want but I've never liked it at all, and the more examples being listed on this thread to justify it are just reinforcing my dislike  😂

Maybe I'll go so far I actually start liking it. But then again... 😉

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Thumb in attack position and mouth wide open/stupid face pulled. Two of the Tier 1 "Don't click play" flags, right there. All it needed was a "Top 10..." caption to go along with it and you'd have had the holy trinity of videos-to-avoid signals 😁

Another chance to share this then:

1382008327_Thumbandface.PNG.26a102bffb80e41927e8608ab803a2d0.PNG

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

Another chance to share this then:

1382008327_Thumbandface.PNG.26a102bffb80e41927e8608ab803a2d0.PNG

Looks like these two were having a bit of a love-in  with all those furtive glances and we shouldn't have intruded! Anyway, errm seems many of the 👍 comments are from bedroom bound teens unaware of Stu Hamm's 'Country Music', done nearly 35 years ago.

Edited by Barking Spiders
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only time I slap a bass is when he wont let me take the hook out of his mouth. Sorry.

It seems most of my fb friends are on the fish ponds these days and I get blank stares when I mention the other type of bass.

That's why most of my fb friends these days are Stickists.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked it back in the day when just a handful of great players did it......Mark King, Freddie Washington,  the Wham guy and the American TV talent guy, forget his name, et al.....now it seems the goal is to play a million notes a second.......no thks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, seashell said:

I never mastered the art of slapping and I'm too old to learn now, especially as I don't really need it for most of the stuff I play.

But sometimes I wish I could do it, as I think it can sound great if used at the right moment. 

I think the age limit for learning slap has recently been scrapped so you'll be fine!

Seriously though, slap is just another technique like any other, and can be played as a basic root note or a complete technical show off routine. There's no reason slap has to be a display of fingerboard pyrotechnics. Give it a go!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Here in the U.S. the slap-happy congregate in the bass sections of Guitar Center or Sam Ash during the busy times.

It drives me mad, so I go to those places when they open in the morning to avoid that crowd.

 

I have a misanthropic nature anyway & a cacophony of slapping just irritates my condition.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Putting my tongue in my cheek here.


Yeah, slap sure is a terrible plight upon music. And now other musicians expect us to pull off well-known super hits with slap! Auuugh. Don't they realise all lines just sound worse when slapped? There's just never really a need for it.

Yup, sure wouldn't want to sound like this unmusical womble

https://youtu.be/hmkR3gmJh7w?t=220

Now, I'm no better than the worst of us all: I've been lazy, and I can't play slap properly. It's a shortcoming I have as a bassist. Time to correct it.

Edited by nobodysprefect
humours they are sloshing
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, nobodysprefect said:

Putting my tongue in my cheek here.


Yeah, slap sure is a terrible plight upon music. And now other musicians expect us to pull off well-known super hits with slap! Auuugh. Don't they realise all lines just sound worse when slapped? There's just never really a need for it.

Yup, sure wouldn't want to sound like this unmusical womble

https://youtu.be/hmkR3gmJh7w?t=220

 

Damn he's good! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I’m not sure if you’re joking or not but I think that’s a great bit of playing 🙂

Hope it is tongue in cheek! One of the best bits of bass playing I've ever seen - watched it a million times. Use of a mix of styles but always serving the song harmonically and dynamically. 

And the slap bits in context are great..and pretty understated.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Dazm66 said:

Hope it is tongue in cheek! One of the best bits of bass playing I've ever seen - watched it a million times. Use of a mix of styles but always serving the song harmonically and dynamically. 

And the slap bits in context are great..and pretty understated.

I don't know about understated, he does all kinds of runs and fills and fast clusters, but I think the reason it works so well is that he's so good, he can place those notes in the right spot, time- and dynamic-wise. I "could" 'play through' that line with some (days or weeks of) focused effort, but my notes would stick out, because they would be ever so slightly (or a LOT) off the sweet spot

Not that having worse feel than Andrew Gouche is particularly rare in bassdom...

Edited by nobodysprefect
vocab ulary
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't like slap when it's done badly or overcooked and gives no thought to the context in which it is being used. Not sure too many bass players do?

I think slap can be fantastic when it's played with skill and used appropriately, especially for funk. Most folk can enjoy that and audiences very much seem to!

Having worked on the technique for the best part of 18 months, must admit I've got a ton more respect for bass players who have nailed the skilful use of slap. It's a technique like any other and another potent tool in our kits.

Some bass players don't like 5 or 6 string basses. Some don't like slap. That's cool.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, seashell said:

I never mastered the art of slapping and I'm too old to learn now, especially as I don't really need it for most of the stuff I play.

But sometimes I wish I could do it, as I think it can sound great if used at the right moment. 

Go for it - you're never too old to learn new tricks (well that's my motto and I'm certainly no spring chicken!) 😊

I'm a huge fan of Mark at Talking Bass and the way he teaches. This is his paid online course Learn to Play Slap Bass: Including Funky Videos Lessons and Bass Tab (talkingbass.net) - works out at about £1 a lesson, which frankly is a bargain (and he does a load of other courses too e.g. walking bass lines etc)

But he's got plenty of free online material to dip into too including on the basics of slap.

Edited by Al Krow
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...