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How do you pop

One thing I've noticed that many beginners do when trying to pop is getting the motion by moving their arm at the elbow joint ( you're not playing Ping Pong ).
The correct and most efficient way is to rotate your forearm and keep your elbow stationary. This will give you more control and teach you that playing good slap pop is about finesse. And when done right should not hurt your arm or fingers.
 
yeah, I definitely don't recommend the fingernail popping technique... it hurts and if your nail breaks you can't slap.

The reason I do it that way is my first custom bass had frets that covered that little space you are supposed to pop at so I had to come up with a different way to slap/pop. Apparently, Michael Manring had to go through the same thing with his Hyperbass (he came up with the finger stroke/rake thing).

For me, I've got it down so it doesn't hurt at all and I can pop with all of my fingernails so if one breaks I just go the next one. But every student I've shown it too gives up after a week.
 
Jean said:
"For me, I've got it down so it doesn't hurt at all and I can pop with all of my fingernails so if one breaks I just go the next one. But every student I've shown it too gives up after a week."

What strikes me about that is if your nails are long enough to pop with, then aren't they too long to play a regular, smooth finger-style without the nails clicking across the string?

That's something I have to be careful about - as soon as one gets just a smidge too long... I mean now that I think about it, just last band practice I stopped the guys between songs, and went to the bass case for the clippers, saying "Sorry guys, just a second here - this is driving me nuts".

Joe
 
What strikes me about that is if your nails are long enough to pop with, then aren't they too long to play a regular, smooth finger-style without the nails clicking across the string?

Actually, you don't need long nails at all to catch a string. It's a common misconception that you do, many people think classical guitarists, for example, need long nails. In reality, long nails are more a hindrance than a help. They break, they get caught when they shouldn't, ick.
 

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