Is "Slap" relevant?

martyman5000 · #1 08-03-2007, 05:43 PM

Why do younger bass players think that slap and pop is the way to learn? The drummer plays the beat and you have the chance to be melodic and add to the song. I've seen some brilliant players that just add some slap to fill in a spot but not the whole song...I'm really tired of seeing that.

TeeMartin · #2 08-03-2007, 05:50 PM

I don't know too many players who slap through a whole song.

capnsandwich · #3 08-03-2007, 05:50 PM

Alot of it has to do with their influences. They're young and they want to sound really tight and funky right away so they can show off and get praise from the ladyfolk. The young guys today are inflenced by Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, and Andrew Gouche who are slap monsters. What they don't know is that in order to get a full time gig with a band or in a studio you've got to learn and become solid at the basics. In time, they'll understand but for now it's all about chicks!

Blavelle · #4 08-03-2007, 05:58 PM

to me, a general young player, slap plays absolutely no part in my live band settings. I just don't see a need for it, allbeit that im not playing in a funk setting which would be more suseptable to the sweet slaps I'd much rather focus on supporting the bands overall sound and expressing myself melodiclly. I'm not gonna lie to you though when I'm alone in my room and no one else is home I slap the dickins out of my Jazz bass

nastyn8c · #5 08-03-2007, 06:01 PM

I never got into slap. Ever since I started on bass I've been purely fingerstyle.

SteveC · #6 08-03-2007, 06:16 PM

All I know is you better have some slap licks if you are going to guitar center to try a bass. I think I'm the only person that plays finger style and half note rhythms while trying a bass at GC.

Infernal Affair · #7 08-03-2007, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

The young guys today are inflenced by Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, and Andrew Gouche who are slap monsters.

I would actually think they'd be influenced by Flea, Les Claypool, and the dude from Mudvayne before any of the guys you listed. But I'm sure once they know more about Wooten and the others they become an influence as well. Not to discredit them, but Miller and Wooten are more niche in the realm of popular music so most kids wouldn't be familiar with them right off the bat.

Either way slap is a way to look really impressive in front of people who don't play bass. Kids love getting that kind of attention. There was a kid, maybe 13 or so, slapping up a storm in Guitar Center. Looks very impressive. However, just because he can slap tons better than me doesn't mean he knows more or can do more with a bass. Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. Not my problem.

capnsandwich · #8 08-03-2007, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infernal Affair

I would actually think they'd be influenced by Flea, Les Claypool, and the dude from Mudvayne before any of the guys you listed.

Oh yeah, them too. I was just going by who I listened to when I first started. I was just blessed to be friends with some good musicians with good taste with a library of awesome music to lend me.

born2play55 · #9 08-03-2007, 06:53 PM

Semi true...
I am 15 playing bass in a band and slap is a huge part of what i like to do, because my biggest influence is Flea.
Howeveeer, in my band I hardly play any slap, and instead use grooving/ some complex fingerstyle playing for my songs which fits better than slapping, only using slaping for one song and only in the chorus where it fits best.

basically i keep the slapping for showing off for the ladies, as stated before, but when it comes to business I keeps it real.

alexei · #10 08-03-2007, 07:05 PM

i agree with all posteds until now, but still i would like to add that there are those who we may call something like "mature slappers" that do a lot of slapping and still sound like serious music, and nice to hear too. I can think of Alain Caron right now, and im sure there are a lot more. That guy makes some songs slapping from start to end and still sound awesome.

jady · #11 08-03-2007, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

Alot of it has to do with their influences. They're young and they want to sound really tight and funky right away so they can show off and get praise from the ladyfolk. The young guys today are inflenced by Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, and Andrew Gouche who are slap monsters. What they don't know is that in order to get a full time gig with a band or in a studio you've got to learn and become solid at the basics. In time, they'll understand but for now it's all about chicks!

+1 slapping gets you laid............

xEriatarka · #12 08-03-2007, 11:34 PM

I'm typically all about finger style, but I also love slapping to throw in a larger variety of style for myself. I'm one who would rather be in a band with a very broad genre focus rather than a specific focus. That's why I love experimental music. I love to fuse all styles of music.

Chili · #13 08-04-2007, 04:58 AM

i for one love slapping, i love listening to it, the likes of louis johnson, marcus miller, Flea, Victor wooten etc, but i dont go over board with it, i've almost got a full album werth of songs me a mate and my cuz have wrote, i dunno if were gunna try and find a singer and start a serious band...again, but so far i slap on 2 of those songs, and both i dont slap all the way through, although i have a slap solo in one, but slapping and popping is a technique, wheather people like to use it to be flash and impress or becouse people like to use it musicly and becouse they like it.

slap pop is a weird techniqe, some people seem to really hate it, and some people love it to much, i dont think theres another techniqe on bass that gets attention in two comletely opposite ways like slap does......i honestly dont get how someone could hate a technique tho

user101 · #14 08-04-2007, 05:37 AM

slap impresses ladies? I better start practicing then.

simion stranger · #15 08-04-2007, 06:17 AM

Doesn't it all depend on how we feel - what fits - what we like the "sound" of!

There’s no right or wrong it depends on what your trying get out of it for yourself on a personal level.

It’s not to do with age, chicks or skills.

I slap & pick depends how I feel & what I feel goes good with the particular song I’m playing at the time. if I have to, I learn new skills and practice practice practice - none of it is rocket science eh!

If it feels good play it

In the land of do as you please, [do what thou wilt] shall be the whole of the law. V

martyman5000 · #16 08-04-2007, 10:08 AM

Well, thanks for the replies...I can see that it's a divided style. I'm still not going to waste my time trying to do it, but I do enjoy tapping and playing hard with my fingers to get different tones.

Higgie · #17 08-04-2007, 10:58 AM

I'm a big fan of slapping, and I love to do it, but in my band I slap in one song - the chorus, and the slap solo. That's the only slapping that goes on in my set, unless I'm trying to emphasize a beat and slap or pop just that note to accent it.

Visirale · #18 08-04-2007, 11:13 AM

I'm 18 and have been playing for almost 5 years. I started out with all fingerstyle for 4 years. I never had the desire to play slap. I just worked on my finger style through a lot of different genres--swing, bossa, samba, salsa, son montuno. I focused more on getting the genres feels down through fingerstyle. In the past year, I've started to experiment a lot more with funk and slap. I don't think slap should be the first thing anybody learns. If you don't know the basics, then what exactly are you going to play? The true challenge is establishing a hybrid style, fingering when you need it with the occasional series of slaps and pops to bring the line to life. Now that I have my fingerstyle down pretty well, I am a little more comfortable switching between the two than some people I know who are just slap-fiends.

As a young bass player, my influences for MY style have been mainly funk players. Of course jaco... but then all the various Jamiroquai players. I also draw on a lot of R&B for my the melodic elements of my sound.

cash87 · #19 08-04-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyman5000

Well, thanks for the replies...I can see that it's a divided style. I'm still not going to waste my time trying to do it, but I do enjoy tapping and playing hard with my fingers to get different tones.

woah i wouldnt go as far so say its a waste of time learning it. Id say its more useful in a band situation than tapping. I try to learn every technique i can. It opens you up to more playing styles. I mainly do fingerstyle but there are times when slap comings in handy.

I actually got tipped for doing it at a gig one night, some guy just wanted to hear it. I like tapping too but the only time i ever play it is in a solo setting, kind of hard to fit it in with a band. Same goes with double thumbing. I spend lots and lots of time learning how to do it and when i finally do i havent found much use for it.

So i would say go ahead and learn slap its fun. The main reason way people are split is that some go way overboard with it. Its great when with moderation as is everything else.

**DougD** · #20 08-04-2007, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyman5000

Well, thanks for the replies...I can see that it's a divided style. I'm still not going to waste my time trying to do it, but I do enjoy tapping and playing hard with my fingers to get different tones.

AHEM! (steps up on soapbox)
It's that kind of close mindedness that holds musicians back. Slap is just a tool to use. (REPEAT) Slap is just a tool to use. Sometimes it's the right tool and sometimes it's not. It does a mechanic no good to have a toolbox that is full of hammers and screwdrivers and nothing else. Why is music any different? It's sort of like a piano player only playing in the key of C, because "I don't like those other ones"... Huh? Or. Other cars are a waste because "I only like the Fords", or jelly's a waste because "I only like peanut butter and pickels"... Or here a good one... It's a complete waste of time making money cause "EVERYTHING SHOULD BE FREE" or why bother to make something of my life cause “The world will end soon”.... You know what? Maybe you are right. Slapping is a complete waste of time and not realevant. NOBODY should do it (Especially if they happen to be better at it than you) and while were at it nobody should play more than four strings, and nobody should have more than 2.5 kids, have more than one TV or radio in there homes, Heck It’s a waste just to have a home. And while we are at it, no one should wear those god awful Hawaiian shirts or partake of those fruity girly drinks. You know, the ones with the umbrellas in em? And on and on and on and on and on and on……………………….And so forth..