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Does Slap equal Funk?
- Thread starter Helix
- Start date
I really like slap bass when played properly. Anything less is annoying as hell, especially when a player going at high speed totally ignoring the drummer. Slap is the only style I really never got into, probably because I dont play funk all that much. So I guess, to me slap = funk/disco/primus
Slap does not necessarily equal funk. So many slappers today aren't funky. That's not to say their skills aren't impressive, they're just not funky. For example:
Not my cup of tea, and I don't think this is what Larry Graham intended for the style, but it still takes a lot of practice and talent to pull it off.
Not my cup of tea, and I don't think this is what Larry Graham intended for the style, but it still takes a lot of practice and talent to pull it off.
Slap doesn't annoy me, and I can do it.
To me, this, however... is funk...
Bass player seems happy with it...
To me, this, however... is funk...
Bass player seems happy with it...
More funky songs have been recorded with non-slap than slap bass.
Not in my opinion. Its all about the groove. Slap has become some sort of bizarre fixation in the bass community, but to me slap screams fusion/gospel/newer jazz stuff.
If you find yourself involuntarily tapping your foot and in a really good mood you've found the funk. Doesn't matter if you slap it, pick it or pluck it. It's all about groove.
So true. When I was first starting out, I really wanted to master this technique...in my mind at that time being able to play flashy, obscenely busy slap lines were a must in order to obtain your "accomplished bass player" credentials, but not so much anymore. With the exception of a few masters who can slap tastefully and to whom I could listen all day (Marcus Miller comes to mind), I don't care much for this sound (when it's overdone).
What's funny is when some guy demos a pedal in a youtube video and just slaps the sh** out of his bass - what you end up geting is a ton of string noise and very little idea what the pedal actually does.
Yaooooo!
Now THAT is funk! Funk is a FULL band element. The horns, rhythm guitar, bass, drums, keys, etc.. This is a perfect example of funk. Just like Tower of Power, James Brown, The J.B.'s and so many others, what made them funky was all of the members working together to make an infectious groove.
Thanks for the clip
FF
Most 70's funk tunes have no slapping on them whatsoever. At that time period you had Larry Graham and Stanley Clarke doing their snapping and popping but not of that ubiquitous helicopter crash hitting the ground sideways sounds that appeared two and three decades later.
Except when he does:
Does NOT mean that slap=funk by any stretch, and George sure does a lot of very funky fingerstyle playing.
Tower of Power was an early funk inspiration for me, and this album really got under my skin when it came out...
No slap to it...
No slap to it...
Exactly! There is also a big difference between funky and FUNK. Every song listed here on this thread is funky but not funk. Slap does not = FUNK. FUNK is a state of mind first and foremost. Until that is accomplished everything else is just funky.
This is FUNK
