Cant feel the groove whilst slapping...

[fsf347]

Alright guys I have a problem.

I suppose I can feel the "groove" and play what feels right while playing fingerstyle.

But when it comes to slapping, its a completely different story.

Iv been playing slap for about 6 months though, and have religiously practiced exercises to practice my technique, and I have no issues playing along to songs.

The problem is jamming with other people. I find myself hopelessly just hitting the root and the octave, with mediocre rhythm. Whenever I try to make it interesting by playing other notes, it does not sound neither funky, nor rhythmic in the least. Its like I cant decide when I should be playing muted notes, the root/octave, or something else within or without the scale.

Can any of you guys gimmie a bit of insight?

[gscroggin]

Two things; slow down, and learn to play/read drum music.

I know "slow down" is probably not the answer you're looking for, it's not very technique oriented, and it sounds obvious. But it's the truth. I'll give you an example.

I'd been slapping for a while, maybe 10 years or so, with what I would consider fine style, technique and success. I started getting into Latin and world music, and specifically started to try and understand the clave. For the life of me, I could not make it sound anything other than mechanical once I started slapping. Finger style was much better.

The issue was that I was trying to move at the same pace I normally would with other styles of music. I was trying to attack it like a fiend the same way I would as if it was playing RHCP in 4/4. It wasn't until I found a great drummer that told me "dude, slow the $&@? down!" that I started really feeling where the groove was. I had thought I'd already figured it all out with finger style...I was wrong.

It's funny, these days I actually enjoy slapping more because I leave out more notes :-)

As for the drum thing, I've found in general with slapping, getting a real good understanding of the dynamic between the kick and snare is key. Once you understand that, you can start applying it to everything.