Bass Tapping

[Digo]

i asked my bass tutor to teach me how to tap, all she done was tap herself and i didnt get any info on how to do it, can anyone help me cos i know u cant just tap the strings

[Diego]

well...in essence is just that, you tap on a string. It works like if you were playing a piano, and the concept is the same. In the piano, a hammer hits the string when you depress a key, when tapping, your fingers "hammer" down on a string (over a partciular fret of course) to produce a percutive-generated string sound. That's about it.

[kenlacam]

if you google "bass tapping" there are several useful articles

[Garry Goodman]

I think you might mean "touch",not "tap".
Tapping ,like you would on someone's shoulder, has it's moments.Try pressing down on the note you want on the fretboard and keep pressing and let the note ring.Then try the fret next to it with the next finger.Go back to the first note without any break in sound between the two notes.It is about sustain,not attack.
Do this kind of thing for an hour everyday.

[Grueber]

Wow

Tell your teacher that you got a tapping lesson from Garry Goodman, and see if she gets jealous.

[MikeyFingers]

It's kind of hard to explain in writing. It would be easier with pictures or a video. That's how I learned, just by watching and studying Claypool and Wooten songs. My first tapping song was "DMV" by Primus. Pretty simple (at least the main riff is), the pattern of the notes fits under my fingers perfectly so it's just like rolling them on a table top, ring finger to index.
...are there any good tapping instructional videos out there for him?

[chaosMK]

Your bass teacher sounds like she needs to take some lessons.

Just touch a nice high note (say 15th fret/C on A string) with your right middle finger with enough force that it produces the right tone, and hold it down so it rings out. The rest just builds on that idea.