Slap bass poll

[Bassbuster]

I see a lot of hating on slap bass as well as a lot of praise and I was just curious to see a generalised view. I just want to see what proportion of people do like it, and what proportion don't like it. No other options just these two, on a balance, you have to choose. If you like slap bass but only in some situations just choose 'Like it' and then explain in the comments in what context you like it etc

[byronkowalski]

all depends on context and circumstance. but on the whole, yes, i like slap.

[Liam Wald]

Slapping bass is an interesting technique that when used correctly and occasionally is effective and cool.
What I hate are the players who stand there and slap song after song through an entire set. I find it as boring as I do irritating.
It gets old pretty quickly.

To me slapping bass like using an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence.
Little girls in the 4th grade use an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence and pretty soon they are meaningless.

[cnltb]

Originally Posted by Bassbuster

I see a lot of hating on slap bass as well as a lot of praise and I was just curious to see a generalised view. I just want to see what proportion of people do like it, and what proportion don't like it. No other options just these two, on a balance, you have to choose. If you like slap bass but only in some situations just choose 'Like it' and then explain in the comments in what context you like it etc

On the whole I am not into slap bass, and the music the context of which it tends to work.
There are exceptions though.

[eq777]

Well, check out Marcus miller, Larry graham, Louis Johnson these are the cats who are the masters of it. I agree however, its not for every song and should be applied appropriately. Check out this link:

YouTube - ‪Marcus Miller " What Is Hip? " Lugano 2008‬‏

[Skitch it!]

There is a context for the technique, depends on what your playing and how you play it, there is a big difference between the guy's who use it musically and the guy's who trip on it.

[allexcosta]

It depends...

Marcus Miller's slap - Love it
Les Claypool's slap - Hate it

[VSR]

Originally Posted by byronkowalski

all depends on context and circumstance. but on the whole, yes, i like slap.

+1

[enricogaletta]

It just depend how you use it and how it sound like it, because every technique used good can be a nice, used bad can be bad as others. It's just a technique as many others to express yourself with particular dynamics and sound.
Please just stop to talk like that because is pretty obvious that it depend from the musician and the way how it's been played that make the difference.
Cheers. Enrico
YouTube
WebSite

[JetBlackJazz]

Love hate relationship....hate seeing people ONLY slap. Id love to see a slapper doing a triplet middle, index, thumb in metal... then again its so dang fun

[El Beardo]

I like the sound of slap but I rarely write it into my own songs. I don't really like fast and flashy style lines very much. A good groove and a slap bass line that still leaves some sonic space can sound great IMO. Slap pet peeve? When I play a little slap at a gig and I get the Seinfeld reference from some bar fly.

[bassplyr60]

Appropriate in the right places as long as it isn't overdone.

[RBrownBass]

Like fingerstyle, it has its applications. What those applications are depends on the music... which depends on the player. Only they can make that decision, and our job is to not buy the CD if it doesn't suit our tastes. BTW, our tastes say nothing about the music being played. They're just our tastes.

I don't get why people feel the need to choose one and bash (or otherwise marginalize as "overplaying", "wanking", "not serving the music", "unnecessary", "showy") the other.
I can't imagine anyone getting worked up because someone used fingerstyle instead of slap in a certain passage, but the reverse seems to happen with some frequency.

I don't slap on many tunes because I don't do it well. That means I don't get to play a lot of music that, IMO, calls for slapping. I'll always be able to say I didn't do the sour grapes thing over slap, tho, even if I don't get any better at it. Speaks to my character.

[Matthew_84]

I like it maybe 40% of the time, you didn't have any sort of middle of the road option, which would be the clear winner had you had it.

[capnsandwich]

Love slap a lot!!!

[TimWilson]

If it wasn't for slap, I wouldn't wanna play. At least not as much. I knew about the bass, but didn't wanna play it until I heard Stanley Clarke's "Lopsy Lu" for the first time.

[PBnJBassist]

I like slapping basses. I love finger-slapping it better rather than the traditional thumb-slap. It's just... um... more violently fun?

[VanillaThundah]

there should be a "love it!" option

[SLaPiNFuNK]

I think my name says it all...

But, there is a time and a place for everything...

[zachoff]

I think it's silly almost all of the time. There are, however, times when it's pretty awesome.