Slap

[xgsjx]

I kinda learned by accident. I tried it a couple of times when I was a kid & couldn't really do it too well (Higher Ground played slowly) so kinda concentrated more on tapping & other finger styles.
I was messing about doing a groove finger style & then the thumb got twitchy & that was it. I'm not great at it, but I'm comfy playing slap in a song to an audience. It's the dead notes that get me too often.

[faceman]

When I've seen Pete live, I've always loved his tasteful and elegant slap additions or requisites to the Dan songs. It's to me how slap should be done.

However, I've been playing bass for three years and I can not slap at all. Every time I try, I just can't master the slap bit. Popping seems easy but I can't slap the strings to get enough volume from the strings. My right hand technique just isn't right or up to scratch...

My current bass isn't great for slapping but when my (sexy) Jazz comes next week, I have no excuse and really want to learn to do this!

Does anyone have any suggestions where to begin, what to read, watch! Also any beginner slap tunes that could be worth trying?

[deathpanda]

my hands must be made for slap bass, after hearing 'glide' by Pleasure (one of the reasons I picked up the bass in the first place..) I thought I'd give it a go and it worked. my technique hasn't really evolved much since then, it feels like my hands just do it naturally. I haven't learned double thumbing or any of the more advanced stuff because... it sounds like cack.

[Mog]

Early RHCP stuff got me into slap. Didn't use it all that much for years though. Still working on technique, its a tricky one to master.

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='825937' date='May 2 2010, 09:42 PM']I seem to remember something on here a while ago about an audition not going too well when they slapped all the way through House of the Rising Sun [/quote]

Yep, that's absolutely true. Back in the days of Mark King madness.

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='OldGit' post='825886' date='May 2 2010, 09:09 PM']I can do a little bit and I pop pops in when apropriate. I'll get a lesson or two sometime. (

However, I depped for a band a couple of times a few months ago. They sent me the set list - all Free, Bad co, Santana, 2 sets full of dad rock. No problem.
Then they sent me a CD of the band playing it. The bass player was slapping on everything; Yup, everything.
Samba pa ti with slap, Cocaine with slap, Sex on fire with slap, All Right Now with slap ...
I had to listen through again to check but, yup, he slapped something of every single track.

The lad who runs the band (18) thought he was the best bass player in the whole wide world and didn't understand why I didn't also slap all the way through everything as well ....
Says a lot I think.[/quote]

That lad should have been put in the stocks and pelted with Mark King's old strings. Unforgiveable!

[OldGit]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='826167' date='May 3 2010, 08:11 AM']That lad should have been put in the stocks and pelted with Mark King's old strings. Unforgiveable![/quote]

Yep. The [b]lad[/b] is the keyboard man.
The bass player is a stunningly brilliant and inspiring nylon-string acoustic guitarist meddling in bass to pay the rent
He's 45...

Edited May 3, 2010 by OldGit

[Faithless]

I've tried to to learn this thing properly, but, there were too many more important things (In my opinion..) to do over that short time I'm playing..


Though, you have to have a few main techniques by an 'OK level' in your bag to get the thing going..

[Conan]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='826167' date='May 3 2010, 08:11 AM']That lad should have been put in the stocks and pelted with Mark King's old strings.[/quote]

Not that he'd feel anything! I used to use those old "Funkmaster" 30-90 strings. Far too light for someone like me with big, strong hands. No tone whatsoever...

I kinda jumped in at the deep end - learning slap via my (then) obsession with Mark King. It's probably why I ended up with a Status....

Hours and hours of hard practice over months and months. Oddly, I can't remember being crap at it! Not that I [b][i]wasn't[/i][/b] crap of course, I just don't recall that particular period!

Then I went down to something called the "Bass Weekend" in autumn 1987. Every trade stand (and especially the Goodfellow one) sounded like a typing pool!!! Rapid "machine-gun" triplets from half a dozen bassists at the same time.... It kinda put me off the style for a long time. Now, when I use it, I try to be much more tasteful in my approach. A bit like a good ribeye steak, when its overdone, it's horrible!

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='Conan' post='826230' date='May 3 2010, 09:56 AM']Not that he'd feel anything! I used to use those old "Funkmaster" 30-90 strings. Far too light for someone like me with big, strong hands. No tone whatsoever...

I kinda jumped in at the deep end - learning slap via my (then) obsession with Mark King. It's probably why I ended up with a Status....

Hours and hours of hard practice over months and months. Oddly, I can't remember being crap at it! Not that I [b][i]wasn't[/i][/b] crap of course, I just don't recall that particular period!

Then I went down to something called the "Bass Weekend" in autumn 1987. Every trade stand (and especially the Goodfellow one) sounded like a typing pool!!! Rapid "machine-gun" triplets from half a dozen bassists at the same time.... It kinda put me off the style for a long time. Now, when I use it, I try to be much more tasteful in my approach. A bit like a good ribeye steak, when its overdone, it's horrible![/quote]

Funkmasters. Anyone still use them?

[crez5150]

Didn't know they still made them?

Used to use them.... but Roto's are generally crap compared to most other brands IME.

[Conan]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='826238' date='May 3 2010, 10:11 AM']Funkmasters. Anyone still use them?[/quote]

I believe they are no longer made. But I could be wrong!

They were called "superwounds" weren't they? The windings stopped an inch or so before the ball ending so that only the string's core rested on the bridge saddle. Fine if they were the only strings you used, but meant that you had to do a major set-up every time you switched to other strings...

[RhysP]

[quote name='Conan' post='826272' date='May 3 2010, 10:50 AM']I believe they are no longer made. But I could be wrong!

They were called "superwounds" weren't they? The windings stopped an inch or so before the ball ending so that only the string's core rested on the bridge saddle. Fine if they were the only strings you used, but meant that you had to do a major set-up every time you switched to other strings...[/quote]

You can't get them anymore, though LaBella "Supersteps" strings are the same design with the exposed core at the bridge.

I was another Mark King obsessive, to the extent I ordered a custom JD, used Trace Elliot amps & learned to play pretty much all the Level 42 stuff.

Up until I heard Level 42 I was purely a Rock/Metal/Prog player. After hearing them I did nothing but slap for years & got pretty good at it, then I just grew sick of the sound of it & decided never to do it again.

Or so I thought...........

Last October I joined a prog type band & the drummer turned out to be a closet Level 42 fan, which I'm afraid has let the old thumb genie out of the bottle again.
I'm nowhere near as good at it as I used to be but I'm enjoying doing it again, though in moderation this time.

[TommyK]

[quote name='faceman' post='826108' date='May 3 2010, 01:06 AM']Does anyone have any suggestions where to begin, what to read, watch! Also any beginner slap tunes that could be worth trying?[/quote]

Like some of you other guys got the pop thing fairly quickly. It took me ages and ages to get the slap thumb thing right, mainly it just didn't sound right, then i watched some old aussie guy on youtube explaining in real simple terms and suddenly just got it! Then it only takes years and years of practice to get faster and remain accurate!!!

My tip for a good beginners/first slap track is "jungleman" by RHCP. It is nice and slow and groovey. And pretty simple too.

Have fun!

[Pete Academy]

Here's MK slapping furiously on a rock n roll classic with Paul McCartney at the Prince's Trust concert in 1986. Wonder why he's been taken out of the mix?

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nIcLxuk8A4&NR=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nIcLxuk8A4&NR=1[/url]

Edited May 3, 2010 by Pete Academy

[Ghost_Bass]

After many years practising (+/- 8) with try/fail tecnique i'm on that level were i can finally go from fingerstyle to a slap/pop part without turning down the volume or switching a compressor on. I don't use too often but i realy like a good slap line in the middle of a song filled with groove . I'm still learning the technique and i recon i'll be doing that forever. Next stages will be double-thumping and popping using the index and the middle finger (untill now i unly use the middle finger for popping).

I agree that more slap is too much slap! The simple little things in live are the most beautiful!

Cheers

[crez5150]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='826319' date='May 3 2010, 11:39 AM']Here's MK slapping furiously on a rock n roll classic with Paul McCartney at the Prince's Trust concert in 1986. Wonder why he's been taken out of the mix?

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nIcLxuk8A4&NR=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nIcLxuk8A4&NR=1[/url][/quote]

I hear Level 42 may be the house band again this year....

[originalfunkbrother]

I was hit and miss till I watched Louis Johnson's Star Licks on VHS. That opened my mind to the beautiful world of slap heaven.......

[Doddy]

I started out with slapping by being shown some basic octave exercises,using a 'thumb down'
position. This was cool for a bit,but I found the hand position very limiting. After seeing Marcus
Miller play,I moved to a more 'thumb up position and everything opened up. I could play faster,
more accurately,and didn't feel limited to just alternating thumps and plucks.
I also made an effort to not just play in the key of E minor like many people do.

[fryer]

My Wife's getting worried about me learning slap. She thinks she has a hard time anyway.

[bubinga5]

Slap bass is a technique like any other...im not a big believer that it should overtake someones playing...its an aggressive style that can be used to accentuate a line or passage, depending on your touch... but IMHO although i love MM, it is a technique that should be used wisely..Marcus Miller happens to do it very musically, unlike other pointless ego maniacs who do it for there own gain and showboating....thats the worst kind of bass player

Edited May 3, 2010 by bubinga5

[thisnameistaken]

Wow that's a signature and a half.

If not more.

[YouMa]

[quote name='Higgie' post='825813' date='May 2 2010, 07:33 PM']I know it sounds strange, but I could instantly do it from day 1. My dad is a bass player and I grew up watching him practice. He's not a slap player at all though, he just used to try and do the odd bit, but as soon as I picked up the bass I had the right motion, and was pretty accurate. The only thing I've had to work on was speed and groove. The actual technique just always came naturally! It took me longer to learn pick and fingers than it did slapping![/quote]



Same for me,i got put on the spot when i was a guitarist,someone handed me a bass and i could just do it in a basic way,never looked back from then on,i love slap bass,to me its always felt a little bit like playing the drums rather than guitar.

[Lylodile]

Red Hot Chili Peppers Influenced... Started off with the thumb and then learnt the song "Higher Ground", then just practiced on my own from there.

[Russ]

[quote name='urb' post='825834' date='May 2 2010, 06:51 PM']The first two things I learnt slap-wise was a half arsed attempt at some Mark King stuff from the Physical Presence live album but also I remembered this cool clip from an early Luc Besson film called Subway which had a bit of slap played by the films soundtrack guy Eric something, he's in the band in the film and it was one of the first bits of slap I learnt.[/quote]

Eric Serra (or RXRA). He's soundtracked quite a few of Besson's films, including The Fifth Element - some lovely, tasty slap stuff in that. He seems to go for a very Tony Levin-esque tone - Stingray with lots of compression. Great player and composer.