Can people like John Myung and Cliff Burton slap?

BrandonBass · #1 07-01-2006, 03:39 PM

My friend said hes seen billy sheehan slap before and hes apparently better than flea at it

Jazz Ad · #2 07-01-2006, 03:44 PM

John Myung slaps a bit from time to time.
As for being better at it than anyone else, I don't even know what it means.
It sounds good or it doesn't.

Baryonyx · #3 07-01-2006, 03:45 PM

John Myung probably has some l33t slapping skills up his sleeve, but he's most likely far too reserved to use them

Matt Till · #4 07-01-2006, 03:56 PM

Why does it matter? The music they play doesn't call for slap. Slap does not determin how talented a bassist is. The more I learn slap, the more I can see through it. It takes so much more talent to be a GOOD fingerstyle bassist than a good slap bassist.

Chili · #5 07-01-2006, 03:56 PM

i've saw billsheehan slap a very little bit, but thats it, i've never seen him pop, hes deffinitly not at the standards of Flea

Baryonyx · #6 07-01-2006, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chili

hes deffinitly not at the standards of Flea

Maybe not at the slap game, but even then, Flea is crawling at the base of a very tall mountain. As far as bassists go, and as far as actually playing in a band goes, Billy Sheehan is far more competant imo.

Don W · #7 07-01-2006, 08:28 PM

I would be pretty surprised if both of those guys weren't at least decent slappers. I just think that they don't play it because it doesn't really fit in their music anywhere.

I remember a couple years ago watching a Cannibal Corpse dvd (the one that came with The Wretched Spawn) and when they were talking to Alex Webster about his setup he was playing some pretty cool slap and two hand tapping lines. But again it doesn't fit in their music anywhere so it never shows up on a recording.

AuG · #8 07-01-2006, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Why does it matter? The music they play doesn't call for slap. Slap does not determin how talented a bassist is. The more I learn slap, the more I can see through it. It takes so much more talent to be a GOOD fingerstyle bassist than a good slap bassist.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

superbassman2000 · #9 07-01-2006, 09:34 PM

i can tell you that one of them doesn't slap for sure, but in order not to anger the burton fans, i won't tell you which one

Pantsman · #10 07-01-2006, 10:17 PM

Cliff's dead, he's not going to be doing much slapping. However if you wish to referr to Burtons l33t skillz, please use past tense. Thank you for shopping at Pants Inc.

Grueber · #11 07-02-2006, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Why does it matter?

because he asked

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

The music they play doesn't call for slap

hmmm... Why not? I've heard slap in metal and prog before

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Slap does not determin how talented a bassist is. The more I learn slap, the more I can see through it. It takes so much more talent to be a GOOD fingerstyle bassist than a good slap bassist.

i think it takes as much talent as you put into either technique

sorry to single out your post, but i call it like i see it.

yeah i've seen Sheehan slap before, but with the distortion and everything he could almost get the same sound from hard fingerstyle. IMO(i haven't seen him do it much)

Spencer! · #12 07-02-2006, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grueber

hmmm... Why not? I've heard slap in metal and prog before

He's not saying slap doesn't fit well with (insert metal/prog band here), he's saying it doesn't fit well with the music that John Myung plays. The last time I checked, Dream Theatre wrote original music, which means that they don't have to play like other prog and metal bands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

The more I learn slap, the more I can see through it. It takes so much more talent to be a GOOD fingerstyle bassist than a good slap bassist.

+1, exactly how I feel.

Suckbird · #13 07-02-2006, 02:38 AM

Myung slapped one note(dont remember if it was a dead one) on the live scenes from new york dvd, he can probably slap if he wants too.. but he dont because he realized that it sounds like crap..

iplay4-5 · #14 07-02-2006, 02:57 AM

lol i say that slap/pop is only another way for a diffrent sound like an amp is used as mst would agree the tone 1st starts in the fingers and style of the bassist as anyone being "better" you can never really say unless you have an unstranded ear or insight and just look for flashy show stoppers but i've seen billy slap like no tommra in a you tube video i just looked under bass and it a lil funny on how they have him play it out but flea is flea and billy n cliff are well... themselves each is good/better/less than one another at some areas of some technique then others slap is only a way to get a "funky" sound from the bass when it's needed and its more then likly that your metal (sub metal qenre) will more then likyl not need it but some do it well...while most are flashy wannabes and endup looking like complete idiots
(((( I.M.O.P ))))))

Chili · #15 07-02-2006, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iplay4-5

lol i say that slap/pop is only another way for a diffrent sound like an amp is used as mst would agree the tone 1st starts in the fingers and style of the bassist as anyone being "better" you can never really say unless you have an unstranded ear or insight and just look for flashy show stoppers but i've seen billy slap like no tommra in a you tube video i just looked under bass and it a lil funny on how they have him play it out but flea is flea and billy n cliff are well... themselves each is good/better/less than one another at some areas of some technique then others slap is only a way to get a "funky" sound from the bass when it's needed and its more then likly that your metal (sub metal qenre) will more then likyl not need it but some do it well...while most are flashy wannabes and endup looking like complete idiots
(((( I.M.O.P ))))))

Very true, but i dont get how people can come on here and actually say a whole technique that has went through so many changes etc can just simply be caled a 'crap' technique, i dont like how it was used in some 80s rock, and i cant stand it when someone is trying to impress me, and they try and play really fast and sloppy on E with random mutes throwing in, Basicly people TRYING to be like flea, but in funk, for me its a nice sounding, Slick, fun technique

Audiophage · #16 07-02-2006, 08:42 AM

This is what I want, a thread asking whether or not I can slap.

Is slapping the be all and end all of bass playing or something?

phxlbrmpf · #17 07-02-2006, 08:47 AM

I also couldn't disagree more with Matt Till, in my opinion, it's equally difficult to master both techniques, there's a lot more to being a good slapper than you may think, many people seem to go overboard with pops so there isn't much "bassiness" in their slap sound at all, not good!

I also happen to think that Flea isn't really an amazing slapper, he seems to only have a couple of different patterns which he uses all the time (think of the "Aeroplane" slap-dead note-pop dead note pop" pattern). He also doesn't slap particularly often these days.

Many people seem to think slapping is some kind of way to show off on bass. I don't think so, it's simlpy a percussive playing style and equally hard to master as fingerstyle, picking, tapping, what have you.

**Eric Perry** · #18 07-02-2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Slap does not determin how talented a bassist is. The more I learn slap, the more I can see through it.

I totally agree.

Grueber · #19 07-02-2006, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spencer!

He's not saying slap doesn't fit well with (insert metal/prog band here), he's saying it doesn't fit well with the music that John Myung plays. The last time I checked, Dream Theatre wrote original music, which means that they don't have to play like other prog and metal bands.

John Myung is the only one who can determine if slap fits the original music he plays.

BrandonBass · #20 07-02-2006, 09:05 AM

well, imo slapping is one of the factors seperating guitarists from bassists. If you give slash or paul gilbert a pick and a bass they can prolly play as well as most pickstyle-bassist.

while i agree its not very suitable for most metal stuff, i just say its how you improvise it. ryan martinie of mudvayne slaps and he makes it sounds good. Not to mention rhcp wont be rhcp anymore without the 'funk' which derives from slap/pop

btw, when i made this topic i never claim that slap is the end-of to all things. I was merely just asking if myung and burton can slap, then i get flooded with responds from some insecure ppl who needs to make a pointless point.

even tapping is applicable in a band setting if you can do it right, so why all the anger? chill guys. i was just asking a question, not claiming anything