slap bass

[sham69]

Can anyone tell me how to do slapping on my bass for psychobilly and rockabilly? and how to do it fast? is it bad for your strings??

[steve chase]

Gotta go with Jason on this one,I bought the said video recently and an excellent product it is,amazing rythmic slapping bass.

Jason,what is/who is Taraf De Haidouks?

[Marty Forrer]

Another good vid is Lee Rocker's "Rockabilly Slap Bass", which is done on steel strings.

[rockabillybass]

Originally posted by Jason Sypher
. Strive for relaxation and round fluid movements. Make sure you have flexible strings, gut are the most gentle but other strings are available on the market like Picato or Obligato.

I've been playing slap for 5 years since changing over from electric. You have to keep your right hand/forearm relaxed. I used to find that songs I could play well at home became much more difficult on stage. Probably nerves or being fired-up caused the muscles to tense.

Another thing I've learned is to have the slap sound coming through the monitors quite loud. I tend to play harder (too hard) if I can't hear myself and then have stamina problems half way through the set.

[Mike Goodbar]

For a variation of the slap technique, I've heard of at least one bass player who somehow attached a snare head to the bass and held a brush in the right hand. They'd play the note on the down beat and hit the snare on the upbeat.

Anyone familiar with this technique and can explain it better than me?

[alvy ronson]

i found the most important way to proceed was having my bass set up for the job of slapping. i then watched in awe dave rorick from johnny cash's band and mark winchester from brian setzer. but i agree that lee rockers video is great and i learnt all i know from that. relaxation is crucial and practice everyday!

[RockabillyBoy]

i am also learning slap bass. the way ive learned is by going to shows and watching the bass players closely and then trying it on my own bass. what ive seen mostly is the bass player would pluck the string then slap with the palm of his hand and then with the fingers and then pluck again and so on. or just slap with the fingers and pluck and slap with fingers and pluck and so on and mix up the single and double slaps. ive also seen, during bass solos mostly, bass players using there left hand to slap and they do quadruple slaps, its crazy. and ive heard alot of bass players who have said they've learned most they know by watching lee rockers video.. and i also agree that you need to start out slow and not injure your hands, but i got used to it pretty fast.... does anyone know where i can get "Slapping, the Ungentle Art" and/or Lee rockers video?

[Bob Gollihur]

Originally posted by RockabillyBoy
does anyone know where i can get "Slapping, the Ungentle Art" and/or Lee rockers video?

That video is by Mark Rubin, who you will find on my Double Bass Links Page - http://www.bobthebassguy.com/basslink.html
Last time I emailed him he was making one-off copies to sell, but you can contact him and ask. I got my copy off eBay a couple years ago, which is when I contacted him since I thought it may have been a bootleg. The original publisher didn't have any more last time I heard, but check with Mark.

[farmerdude]

Also, be sure to practice with a metronome. When you start slapping, you become the drummer.