How to slap on a five string

[Discount Bassy]

Practice.

 

[Element Zero]

I don’t get why buying a 5 string was a mistake but ok.

Focusing on aiming is key. When I first started playing and learning slap, I approached it like I was making drum beats. The slap is the bass drum and the pop is the snare drum. Boom bap boom bap boom etc.

 

[jazzyvee]

I also use a number of methods to dampen the lower strings. These range from using my thumb if my fretting hand to dampen the B string. In the main, if I'm slapping notes on the A E strings I let the tip of the finger that is fretting the notes, overshoot the string slightly so that it lightly touches the lower side of the E or the B string depending on which string I'm hitting at the time. This helps keep it from ringing or sounding a note if you accidentally hit it with your slapping thumb. But it's all down to practice and like some have said , record what you are doing as your ears can be selective in what you hear directly and kid yourself it's all clean. I learnt to slap more on a 5 string than a 4 string so that feels more comfortable to me than a 4 string.
I'm a thumbs up slapper or horizontally along the strings depending on what sound I'm getting.

 

[Samatza]

Takes some practice to get it going on. My Surine 5 and Tune 5 are polar opposites in terms of string spacing but I can slap on the ultra close Tune spacing no problem, it's just taken deliberate practice for a few days to get there. Now I can swap between them with no issue at all.

 

[richntiff]

Hi and welcome to Talkbass! The main thing that makes slapping on a five that much more challenging is string muting. Is that part of what you’re asking about or is it really more a matter of thumb technique that you’re unsure of?

This x100

 

[nnnnnn]

Mute higher strings with your flattened non-fretting fingers. Mute lower strings with the heel of your palm.

I can't seem to do this and still get a slap or a pop to work properly.

I also use a number of methods to dampen the lower strings. These range from using my thumb if my fretting hand to dampen the B string. In the main, if I'm slapping notes on the A E strings I let the tip of the finger that is fretting the notes, overshoot the string slightly so that it lightly touches the lower side of the E or the B string depending on which string I'm hitting at the time.

What do you recommend for muting the B string when slapping the open E string, if the neck is too wide (or my hand too small) to comfortably wrap my thumb around?

I do the thing you mentioned with the tip of my finger when fretting notes, but of course that doesn't work when playing open strings. I usually end up with an unused finger going across the open E to mute the B, but that can be tricky to manage when the open E notes come in between a bunch of fretted notes on higher strings.