I want to learn to do this!

TheBassBoy · #1 04-11-2010, 07:17 PM

I can't find tabs or anything on stuff like this!:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYe0v57A6c0

it looks hard but i think if i just found some tabs i could do it!

...and also i want a bongo bass..

Thunder Pulse · #2 04-11-2010, 07:28 PM

Please post in the correct forum, i.e. Technique.

Please title your threads properly. Instead of something completely ambiguous like "I want to learn to do 'this'," how about "Please teach me to slap."

**pacojas** · #3 04-11-2010, 07:29 PM

if you just find some octaves, fifths, and some hammer-ons you'll be half way there! gl.

sixway · #4 04-11-2010, 07:34 PM

Your local music store will most likely have instructional DVD's on slapping, or you can go online to Amazon.com for example and find used DVD's. If you Google the subject, you will find a lot of instructional aids out there. go for it!

TheBassBoy · #5 04-11-2010, 09:00 PM

does anyone know a song that has a slap bass line like this? i wanna learn, and kinda need to, bcuz my mom says she'll buy me the bongo bass selling on here if i can play something like it!

cap'n crunk · #6 04-11-2010, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBassBoy

does anyone know a song that has a slap bass line like this? i wanna learn, and kinda need to, bcuz my mom says she'll buy me the bongo bass selling on here if i can play something like it!

Start by fretting a note -- any note -- on your E or A string with the index finger of your fretting hand. Then, while holding that fretted note, fret its octave (two frets down the board and two strings away from where you've fretted the first note) with your little finger. Now, while holding both of those notes, slap the E or A string lightly with your thumb on the downstroke, and pluck the D or G string lightly with the index finger on your plucking/strumming hand on the upstroke. Experiment with moving up and down the fretboard with that hand position and moving from the E string to the A string with it, slapping and popping the whole time; no need to go super fast, just go slow and get a feel for it. Then you can experiment with left-hand muting (covering a string with your fretting hand while not actually holding it down to a fret) while slapping and popping strings to get those "ticky-ticky-ticky" sounding percussive notes. There you go -- you're slapping! Mess around a little bit, make up a few cool bars, show your mom. One Bongo, comin' right up.

stflbn · #7 04-11-2010, 09:17 PM

The bongo is not the secret. Learning the technique adequately is.

And IMHO, I've heard MUCH better slap players than that dude. He plays fast, but it lacks stylistic merit.

Thunder Pulse · #8 04-11-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stflbn

I've heard MUCH better slap players than that dude. He plays fast, but it lacks stylistic merit.

As will a 13 year old who tries to quickly learn a 'style' so his mommy will buy him a bass.

Jazzdogg · #9 04-11-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunder Pulse

Please post in the correct forum, i.e. Technique.

Please title your threads properly. Instead of something completely ambiguous like "I want to learn to do 'this'," how about "Please teach me to slap."

+1,000! I can't stand threads that make me jump through hoops to find out what the darned topic is, and make it unnecessarily difficult to use the search function.

ugly_bassplayer · #10 04-11-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBassBoy

bcuz my mom says she'll buy me

Nothing good can come of this.

TheBassBoy · #11 04-12-2010, 04:38 AM

OK...just forget what i said. i just want to learn to improvise a solo for myself.

YL_Bass · #12 04-12-2010, 04:51 AM

I never really bothered to learn how to play slap crazy fast because I've never seen myself in a setting where it would be necessary.

Slap seems somewhat limited to me, some may disagree. But really compared to other playing techniques its really not used that often.

I also don't think it would be as popular if it wasn't the playable answer to 'why don't you play guitar, is it because bass is easier'?

**pacojas** · #13 04-12-2010, 05:19 AM

yo bassboy,.. PM me if you ever wanna sell your new Bongo!

j/k

sixway · #14 04-12-2010, 05:27 AM

Actually what you can do is go to youtube and type in something like "slap lessons", and you'll find enough lessons there to get you started, and will find something close enough to the video posted above. Or, subscribe to the video posters post page, as he said he was going to put up a learning version of it.

Do you have a bass? You can start slapping and popping on your own, slowly of course, and come up with your own slap licks. The key is to learn any thing slowly at first, and speed it up gradually as you get comfortable with the lick you're learning. Also, as I learned from a recent workshop given by Victor Wooten, get a metronome, or better yet, an inexpensive drum machine, and use it to learn your licks to, gradually increasing the tempo as you get better.

As far as a drum machine goes, Craigslist is a good place to pick up a used, battery powered keyboard for about $50, and they have all kinds of rhythm tracks in them. I have an old one from Radio Shack, and it works great for this.

There is a lot of advice and videos out there for free. You'll just have to work a bit to find what interests your sense of slap. Good luck Bruthuh!

dutchwife · #15 04-12-2010, 05:40 AM

Ease up on TBB Guys! Okay, so you might not approve of his targets or his mom getting a bass in for him but I have to say (as the parent 13 & 14 year old boys) that I think it's laudable that he wants to learn anything at all on bass....
Go for it Kid; take the advice about hitting the right threads etc but other than that, make up your own mind & just keep on improving.
On a different note, as a forty-something I was remembering Jurassic times when I was that age and thinking that the 'nette and (especially) Youtube is a double-edged sword; not being able to see how someone was doing something-apart from going to gigs of course- was IMHO a big stepping stone in building one's own voice. Your thoughts? Apologies if this question should be in another thread.............

ian_s · #16 04-12-2010, 10:31 AM

Starting out by learning a song that you really want to learn? There's nothing wrong with that.

I really wanted to learn Classical Thump when I started. In working on it, I learned slap and double-thumb, thought a lot about the intervals in that song, worked on tone and consistency. The triples in the first part are just fun to play, so it's a nice reinforcer when I'm playing something different and just can't get it right.

I think the point isn't, "Don't start to learn a song", but don't get stuck on that song once it gets easy. You can get in a rut.

And nothing wrong with mom buying the bass. Mom bought me my first guitar and amp, and that was that. Now my 5-year-old plays it.