5 String Slap Accuracy

[Outshined91]

I can slap just fine on my four string with 19mm spacing. However, when I play on my main bass, which is a 5 string with tighter spacing, my slap accuracy goes out the window! How can I improve my accuracy?

I slap with a downward thumb - I understand that this can lower accuracy, but an upward thumb feels really unnatural and awkward to me. Anyways, any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[pedulla-2007]

Buy one of these basses?watch

 

[lowphatbass]

My advice would be to put in some practice time...careful, quality practice time. Go as slow as you need to go to be accurate 90% of the time, that may be painfully slow but that’s ok.
This can get boring. If you practice with a metronome/click/drum track you’ll also be working on your time/tempo and you’ll be able to chart your improvements speed wise.
One thing that may help is learning a completely new pattern or figure to practice on the 5 string, there will be less “muscle memory” if you’re doing something less familiar.
It’s a good idea to practice with the bass at the same position/height as you normally perform.
Good Luck!

 

[Altitude]

Leave your 4 string in the case for a while. It takes a few at-bats for your hands and your mind to get comfortable with the location of the strings when it changes.

 

[dreamadream99]

My advice would be to put in some practice time.

^This.
Hands don’t naturally and instantaneously adjust to a new instrument. It must be learned and accommodated.

 

[JW56789]

Practice, and live with the five exclusively till you get it under your hands.

This is a theme I see from time to time 'can't slap on this narrow-space bass', and it just takes time in until your hands recognize this new axe and you'll be fine.

When I was in the Alembic community, of course Stanley Clarke is a famous user. Stanley is a Full Grown Man, could easily palm a basketball, BIG hands. His little personal Basses have custom shaved necks to his taste, about like playing a broomstick, noticeably smaller than a Ric or Jazz Bass neck. So believe me, it's all in the hands.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Buy one of these basses?watch

That guy has HUGE hands.

And for the OP... As already stated. Practice. SLOW practice. And a lot of it.

 

[Groove Doctor]

I slap with a downward thumb - I understand that this can lower accuracy, but an upward thumb feels really unnatural and awkward to me.

Try somewhere in between. You may need to reposition your elbow to find the best angle.

 

[pedulla-2007]

That guy has HUGE hands.

And for the OP... As already stated. Practice. SLOW practice. And a lot of it.

So, the bass has nothing to do with it? IMHO bigger hands would make the technique even harder?That would be ignoring every aspect of the bass, setup with proper action, electronics, and materials. Professional setup means the world, and Marcus Miller's Sire basses utilize those aspects to their advantage.

 

[Joe Nerve]

So, the bass has nothing to do with it? IMHO bigger hands would make the technique even harder?That would be ignoring every aspect of the bass, setup with proper action, electronics, and materials. Professional setup means the world, and Marcus Miller's Sire basses utilize those aspects to their advantage.

I didn't say any of that.

All I said was that that guy has huge hands (his fretting hand looks like it can reach from the first to the 5 fret, mine can't come close to that) - and that if we practice long and diligently enough we can get used to more narrow sting spacing.

I had the same issues as the OP. In time, with practice, I got over it. I can now slap just as well on a 5 string as a 4, and the string spacing doesn't mean a whole lot to me any more.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Really just slow, patient practicing. Just like anything else

 

[Alessandro Cruz]

Easy: Trade or modify your current bass or buy another one with string spacing that fits your taste

IMHO the instrument MUST FIT or be adapted for YOUR playing style, not the player to get adapted to the instrument.

 

[Rabidhamster]

Easy: Trade or modify your current bass or buy another one with string spacing that fits your taste

IMHO the instrument MUST FIT or be adapted for YOUR playing style, not the player to get adapted to the instrument.

My shoes didn’t fit too good when I bought them but I practiced walking in them and before you know I got used to it.

My golf clubs were too short til I learned to hunch.

My tennis racket was too big til I learned to play with two hands.

My baseball glove is too big but I learned to fold my pinky in to hold it on while catching.

My wife’s wedding ring is too small she’s still practicing to fit into it. I didn’t realize she was so lazy when I married her, it’s really taking a while. She must not be trying.

 

[funkinbottom]

I can slap just fine on my four string with 19mm spacing. However, when I play on my main bass, which is a 5 string with tighter spacing, my slap accuracy goes out the window!

I had a similar experience when I switched to 5 string last year. I don't really slap much, but right hand in general. Quite often fingering the D or G string when I actually wanted the A or D.

Easy: Trade or modify your current bass or buy another one with string spacing that fits your taste

IMHO the instrument MUST FIT or be adapted for YOUR playing style, not the player to get adapted to the instrument.

After 35+ years of 4 string, I switched to a 5 for position options (low F thru G) higher up the neck due to hand surgery. (all healed and good now) The first 5er I had was 16mm string spacing and regardless of how much practice, the right hand never really took to it, to the point I was ready to abandon the whole idea of playing a 5er. I was frustrated and would think that one more string CAN'T be this difficult to get a handle on. Then it just dawned on me one day..."hey, all my fours are 18 & 19mm spacing". Hmmm....So, new 5er with 18.5 mm spacing made a world of difference for me. The right had is no longer constantly fumbling and immediately much more accurate.

OP, it may be as simple as replacing your bridge with a wider spaced one so your right is more at home. Maybe many hours of slow patient practicing might work for you, but for me that wider spacing was the ticket.

 

[Cutter8]

Nothing to suggest but quality practice, time and muscle memory. I struggle with a mirror image of the same problem. I can slap fine on spacing as narrow as 16.5mm, but hand me a bass with 19mm spacing and you'd think that I just that moment decided to try slapping for the very first time!

 

[somebrains]

My J5 has 19mm spacing, I like it more not bc of an extra 1-2mms of string spacing, but bc of the flatter neck profile compared to a Warwick's U shape.

Hopefully W learns something when they start knocking out Sadowskys.

 

[Wasnex]

So, the bass has nothing to do with it?

I don't think anyone is saying the bass has nothing to do with it. I have played some Ibanez 5-string basses that I thought sounded great, but they had super narrow string spacing which made it hard for me to even play finger style. Hard to imagine doing double thumb as there is no room for the thumb to get below the string, but I am not saying it's impossible.

My main axe since about 1995 has been a Yamaha TRB6P. I believe the spacing is 19mm which I is the widest of any bass I have played for an extended time.

I can do some pretty technical double thumb on my Yamaha. There are some things that are easier to play cleanly on a 4-string of course. When I first picked up 6-string I had to put a lot of effort into expanding my muting technique.

IMHO the instrument is significant and so is practice.

 

[sawzalot]

I noticed I couldn’t mute as well on a 5, it was just a function of the size of the neck. So I embraced 4-bangers. Just sayin, that’s an option.

 

[pedulla-2007]

I didn't say any of that.

All I said was that that guy has huge hands (his fretting hand looks like it can reach from the first to the 5 fret, mine can't come close to that) - and that if we practice long and diligently enough we can get used to more narrow sting spacing.

I had the same issues as the OP. In time, with practice, I got over it. I can now slap just as well on a 5 string as a 4, and the string spacing doesn't mean a whole lot to me any more.

I have heard your work you are a master of the technique, and much too humble! You need to post more of your music.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I can slap just fine on my four string with 19mm spacing. However, when I play on my main bass, which is a 5 string with tighter spacing, my slap accuracy goes out the window! How can I improve my accuracy?

I slap with a downward thumb - I understand that this can lower accuracy, but an upward thumb feels really unnatural and awkward to me. Anyways, any advice greatly appreciated!

I own 5 strings and 4 strings. Practice and spending time on both is the main thing.

Some people are super picky about string spacing. For me that really only makes things complicated if it’s a really drastic change. For example from 20mm to 16mm for example. At one point my main player was a 16mm spacing 5er and for a few years I didn’t play to 4 strings at all. Once I got used to that 16mm spacing the 4 strings felt cartoonish in comparison. My main 5er now is 18mm spacing and I these days don’t have any issues switching between 4 and 5 string.