Mastered Slap Bass and now Im bored.... - Page 3

dmusic148 · #41 12-27-2011, 11:46 AM

"The 10000 Hour Rule is usually attributed to the research done by Anders Ericsson in the early 1990s. He and his team divided students into three groups ranked by excellence at the Berlin Academy of Music and then correlated achievement with hours of practice. They discovered that the elite all had put in about 10000 hours of practice, the good 8000 and the average 4000 hours. No one had fast-tracked. This rule was then applied to other disciplines and Ericsson found that it proved valid."

This is widely held to be true, by many in the know. So if you practice 4 hours a day and do the math, it will take approximately 7 years to become a master.
To your question: just start learning tunes that you like, that don't involve slapping. You'll get up-to-speed (but won't become a master), quite quickly.......

capnsandwich · #42 12-27-2011, 11:48 AM

Tricks get the chicks but quarter notes pay the bills.

Strohsx · #43 12-27-2011, 11:53 AM

Oh wait I get it he's one of those annoying kids at guitar center who play a song off blood sugar sex magik to impress his friends.
Well son the rest of the real world will tell you, your timing, rhythm, and intonation is off and your attack is sloppy.

dmusic148 · #44 12-27-2011, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strohsx

I would really like to see what this "mastering" looks and sounds like.

I don't think the OP means that he's literally "mastered" slapping. He's just gotten good enough at it that it bores him. Understandable.

sammyp · #45 12-27-2011, 12:03 PM

i think he qualified his thread title in his explanation .....thread titles like his are bound to get lot's of attention fast but he did come back down to earth in the body of the thread topic LOL.

To the OP - i just posted a song suggestion for right hand technique ...a chili peppers tune ...try that one....it's way less difficult than a jaco thing.....What is Hip and There's Only so Much Oil in the Ground are burning tunes from Rocco that'll get ya going as well.

If you wanna play bass out and about in a band i have found you wanna reverse your focus from Slap to fingerstyle dexterity....unless you form your own band specifically geared to your talent and interest you may be dissappointed by how little you get to show your slap chops!

ThudThudThud · #46 12-27-2011, 12:14 PM

I'd suggest some Leland Sklar, or Dee Murray. Play the song. Count the bars. Feel. Learn to love whole notes. Learn to embrace the silent beauty of a rest. Hear the dynamics.
It's not what you put in, but what you leave out that makes the song.
Maybe you can match Mark King slap for slap, and pop for pop, but his fingerstyle is wonderful.

dtripoli · #47 12-27-2011, 12:52 PM

Yes, it is easy to get hung up on the OP's use of the word, "Mastered"
To a young person it has a different meaning than to an older person.
When I was young, many moons ago, I mastered rock bass, funk bass, my day job, I was able to change the plugs on my old Ford and had "Mastered" auto mechanics. I was able to ski down a difficult slope w/o falling and had "mastered" skiing.
Now that I am older and wiser(I would hope), there is little to nothing I can say that I have completely mastered.
I am still amazed and trying to emulate some of the rock and funk bass lines that are out there, my job is always throwing something new at me and, sad but true, being able to change ones own spark plugs, does not qualify me as a master mechanic. And lastly, I never even got close to qualifying for the Olympic downhill skiing.

kesslari · #48 12-27-2011, 12:55 PM

Cool story, bro.

JimmyM · #49 12-27-2011, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapfunk987

Well its been about a year and a half since I started playing bass and I went about learning bass backwards... I learned slap bass before I really got any good at finger style.. Matter of fact my finger style sucks. My slap bass however is so advanced that now Im pretty much bored..

There is almost nothing my fingers cant do in regards to slap bass. Now that doesnt mean Im a master groover or soloer (LOL) or anything like that. I still have much to learn as far as note choice and othemusic theory and stuff like that...
But my fingers can do everything Marcus Miller can do,

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it when school lets out for Christmas vacation!

Skitch it! · #50 12-27-2011, 01:18 PM

jschwalls · #51 12-27-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it when school lets out for Christmas vacation!

LMAO !!!!!!!!!!!

otherclef · #52 12-27-2011, 01:23 PM

try getting good enough to hang with a blues band.
most big enough towns have a blues open mic night somewhere within driving distance.
And of course you could dazzle them with some slapping between tunes!!

BobWestbrook · #53 12-27-2011, 01:26 PM

I mastered the use of a toilet a long time ago, but it won't make me any more useful in a band either.

VanillaThundah · #54 12-27-2011, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it when school lets out for Christmas vacation!

LOL...good one, Jimmy

capnsandwich · #55 12-27-2011, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kesslari

Cool story, bro.

bass12 · #56 12-27-2011, 01:53 PM

I think the misuse of the word "mastered" has been sufficiently addressed at this point. On to the OPs main point... Good fingerstyle players are all over the place. It sounds as if you're into funk. Find yourself some funk compilations and go through them. See what tickles you and start playing along. If you want to listen to someone who mixes up thumb and fingerstyle very effectively check out Level 42's Mark King on the "A Physical Presence" live album (it's not funk, per se, but it's definitely funky in spots). Also, there is a Funk 101 thread here on Talkbass. Look it up through the search function and go through the numerous links. If you want to take a historical/chronological approach to playing funk a good place to start is with James Brown. Check out the stuff that Bootsy Collins played on ("Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (Remake), "Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine" for example). Absorb the music and start building your repertoire. Having a good repertoire will have people wanting to play with you much more than having a bag-full of contextual-less chops will (assuming that playing with others is a goal of yours).

Kwesi · #57 12-27-2011, 01:54 PM

I can't decide whether it would be funnier for the OP to absolutely suck or to actually be some sort of slap bass monster.

As for fingerstyle funk, I can't recommend enough that you listen to Meshell Ndegeocello. Grab her albums 'Peace Beyond Passion', 'Cookie: The Anthropology', and 'Plantation Lullabies'. Folks will tell you to listen to Rocco Prestia and Pino Palladino and other guys and those guys are fantastic players but a huge portion of their material is probably out of your league and before you even think about wanting to funk like them you NEED to have the feel. If anyone could teach you that, it'd be her. Meshell has three insanely funky albums and none of them strike me as inaccessible. She not blazing across the fretboard but every note is placed in a way that it hits you like a freight train. I'm guessing you have some kind left hand dexterity because no one slaps a single note on a single string and calls themselves a master. If you really do have these skills that you've mention in the OP but lack feel, then THIS is how you catch up. And for the love of all that's good in this world, don't post a video on Youtube till you feel like you've gotten it.

JimiLL · #58 12-27-2011, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kwesi

I can't decide whether it would be funnier for the OP to absolutely suck or to actually be some sort of slap bass monster.

i know the humor would ensue either way

BobaFret · #59 12-27-2011, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kwesi

I can't decide whether it would be funnier for the OP to absolutely suck or to actually be some sort of slap bass monster.

I would certainly be surprised if 'I' thought he had mastered it after a year and a half. I've put in 25 years and have only mastered not being as good as I'd like.

bass12 · #60 12-27-2011, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kwesi

I can't decide whether it would be funnier for the OP to absolutely suck or to actually be some sort of slap bass monster.

As for fingerstyle funk, I can't recommend enough that you listen to Meshell Ndegeocello. Grab her albums 'Peace Beyond Passion', 'Cookie: The Anthropology', and 'Plantation Lullabies'. Folks will tell you to listen to Rocco Prestia and Pino Palladino and other guys and those guys are fantastic players but a huge portion of their material is probably out of your league and before you even think about wanting to funk like them you NEED to have the feel. If anyone could teach you that, it'd be her. Meshell has three insanely funky albums and none of them strike me as inaccessible. She not blazing across the fretboard but every note is placed in a way that it hits you like a freight train. I'm guessing you have some kind left hand dexterity because no one slaps a single note on a single string and calls themselves a master. If you really do have these skills that you've mention in the OP but lack feel, then THIS is how you catch up. And for the love of all that's good in this world, don't post a video on Youtube till you feel like you've gotten it.

Me'shell (despite her most recent albums) is where it's at. Those albums Kwesi just mentioned are master classes in what it means to groove.