silly slappin problem

[nugget77]

hey all,

ive been slappin for a while now and do it pretty well, but i notice i have a lazy wrist. while im slapping it kinda rests right on top of the strings. i tried pulling my arm and wrist away from the bass more and found it to be much cleaner, but im not nearly as good that way. im wondering if i sholuld spend the long time it would take to relearn the technique the clean way or stick with what im used to and learn something else.

[oneoftheway]

I would learn it the clean way. Get everything right. You cant bulid a house with no base.

[Wrong Robot]

There is nothing wrong with doing it an non-conventional way, lots of famous bassists have non-conventional techniques, or approaches to techniques, and they make it work.

the only thing I would say in regards to this is, if it is causing you pain, then consider changing your technique. But if you can work with it, then go for it.

some approaches may allow for certain things to be more efficient, or useable, or whatever. but ultimately, every nuance in how you approach a technique will change the sound of it somewhat, help to give it your personal stamp in a way. Which is why I say go for whatever you want, unless it can cause you pain, and/or irreversible damage.

that's my take on it.

[jrug]

It's important to keep techniques in proper perspective. You learn different methods of playing for the purpose of making music. If you learn one technique one way and use only that way, you are limiting your musical potential. If you are planning to slap on more than one song in your career, you might want to develop more than one way to slap. You'll add more dimension to your music that way. Oh yeah, if it causes pain it needs to be changed.