Is slap necessary for a working bassist?

[HotelX]

Absolutely nobody has ever asked me to slap once in ~30 years of playing bass. I’d say it is not essential, at least for my purposes.

 

[GreyBeard]

It depends on the type of music you play. You could play classic rock and country all day and never really need to slap or pop but, FUNK might be an issue.

 

[obimark]

The only song I ever played that needed slap live was Higher Ground. Cant recall any others from the dozen cover bands I played in.

 

[dangevans]

I've played tons of gigs for the past 25 years. Not once was I ever asked to slap. It's cool to do/watch, though.

 

[bassbully]

It’s cool but I’m not good at it. I goof around with it for fun but in all my years I have never been asked to slap on bass. It’s not in my musical journey so I sidestep it....no regrets

 

[CoffeeLove]

Hey you wacky hipsters

I just wanted to say that this post was inspired by the venerable Dr Cheese who inspired me to ask this question. In his thread "What aspect of your technique impresses you the least?" I noticed many players bemoaning their poor slap technique. I am 61 now and have had a very busy freelance career doing Show work, Jazz gigs, and Classical orchestral work to the point where I never learned to "slappa da bass". I recently left the Eastern US and relocated back to my home town (fairly good sized city btw) to spent my later years with family. I gotta say I was never asked to use it by anyone who hired me and only close friends I play with are asking me to play more contemporary jazz stuff that has it in the original recording. So I am considering putting the student hat on after all these years to learn.


NOW - this is not a post to either endorse or discourage slap technique but rather to ask: What do you gents and ladies think? What is your experience? Is it a necessary part of a working bassists tool kit? Please include what you do in your answer. Are you a bedroom bassist? Session player? Weekend Warrior? Teacher? etc.

I already have my answer. My experience has been that I never really needed it and I know of lots of UBER FUNKY players such as Jimmy Johnson, Paul Jackson, Rocco Prestia, Jaco Pastorious etc. who got by without it and there are numerous examples of players who use it well. It is always interesting to learn new things and so I want to hear from all or you.

Depends on style, but for most music I would say no. I suck at slap compared to many, but can thump/pluck just enough to squeak out a cover tune or two. There are only a couple genres/styles that require solid slap skills, and even that can be faked to some extent. However, I wish to be better at it. Has been a very steep learning curve for me, has not come natural AT ALL. Just can't get a fluid/consistent slap motion with my right hand, despite the hours I have spent working on it on the bass, in my car (thumping steering wheel), and other weird places.

 

[bass12]

No, slap is universally reviled at this point. File it alongside sweep picking and pull it out publicly only when you want to elicit eye rolling at Guitar Center.

Slapping is to bass (right now) what hurdy-gurdy is to public access:

Not in my experience. A lot of the people I’ve played with love it when I slap and the audiences seem to love it as well. Maybe it just depends on how it’s done (like pretty much anything else in music).

 

[Dave TB Killer]

(1) Dr Funk - Roadrunner (Live at Cube) - Bing video

 

[Humabass]

I could watch Andre Gouche switch between fingers and slap in the same song all day long. I love the sound of amazing slap bass WITHIN a song. Has to be musical. Can't stand hearing slapped random patterns and exercises as a solo. I've been a weekend warrior for 44 years. Played lots of different styles of music and lots of gigs. I got called because of many factors none which involved a particular technique. Having said that, if I was playing in a variety band and the song had a prominent slap part I would play it. My slap technique is adequate enough for most pop music that requires it. For me it's more important that my slap TONE sounds great when I do use it rather than how fast I can slap. Sounds like you have so many other skills and experiences that you'd get hired by most people because of that.

 

[Hankenstein]

depends on where you work... Micky D's - not so much

 

[utterlybored]

I can slap simple things but I’m not good At anything beyond basics. I’d like to improve but mostly for me, not anyone else.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I use to slap.
I learned two slap songs back in the day, Sly Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
and If You Want Me to Stay. Both are really not slap songs but the point, I never advanced past them and in fact, I'm worse now on them than I was 40 some years ago

 

[gregbackstrom]

I’m older than 99.9% of y’all, and I’ve learned over the years that any particular technique is only important if you want to play music that utilizes that technique. Lately, some of the music I want to play requires basic proficiency in slap. So I’m learning how to slap. Simple as that. Don’t need to learn it if you don’t need it, but nothing else will work if you do.

 

[gregbackstrom]

I’m older than 99.9% of y’all, and I’ve learned over the years that any particular technique is only important if you want to play music that utilizes that technique. Lately, some of the music I want to play requires basic proficiency in slap. So I’m learning how to slap. Simple as that. Don’t need to learn it if you don’t need it, but nothing else will work if you do.

And BTW, if you want to learn how to slap—and WHY to slap, you can’t go wrong studying Marcus Miller’s sideman slap work.

 

[jpeck02]

If you are expected to play some 70s & 80s R&B / funk, you need to be able to slap da bass in order to sound authentic. In most bands I’ve played in, my skills at slap bass were helpful on a couple of songs per gig... and there is nothing worse than listening to someone who struggles at slap. At a minimum, learn how to be in the pocket with simple slap grooves. You can of course play fingerstyle and it might sound really cool, but it won’t be authentic.

 

[El_Charro]

Hey you wacky hipsters

I just wanted to say that this post was inspired by the venerable Dr Cheese who inspired me to ask this question. In his thread "What aspect of your technique impresses you the least?" I noticed many players bemoaning their poor slap technique. I am 61 now and have had a very busy freelance career doing Show work, Jazz gigs, and Classical orchestral work to the point where I never learned to "slappa da bass". I recently left the Eastern US and relocated back to my home town (fairly good sized city btw) to spent my later years with family. I gotta say I was never asked to use it by anyone who hired me and only close friends I play with are asking me to play more contemporary jazz stuff that has it in the original recording. So I am considering putting the student hat on after all these years to learn.


NOW - this is not a post to either endorse or discourage slap technique but rather to ask: What do you gents and ladies think? What is your experience? Is it a necessary part of a working bassists tool kit? Please include what you do in your answer. Are you a bedroom bassist? Session player? Weekend Warrior? Teacher? etc.

I already have my answer. My experience has been that I never really needed it and I know of lots of UBER FUNKY players such as Jimmy Johnson, Paul Jackson, Rocco Prestia, Jaco Pastorious etc. who got by without it and there are numerous examples of players who use it well. It is always interesting to learn new things and so I want to hear from all or you.

———————-
Yes, it’s totally necessary...If some guy mouths off you slap them, end of story... ;-) (Preferably while listening to the first Track on The Fat Of The Land by The Prodigy)

Dumb 90s jokes aside...I’m not really a fan of that style of playing so I’m not really interested in learning, but unless you’re Fieldy there isn’t a lot of slap bass or slap style bass in most Metal songs, so I would argue it’s genre dependent...

If you are in a funk band, it might be a good idea to learn at some point to make your skill set more versatile, but if you are in a Thrash or Death Metal band I’m guessing your time can be better allocated on other techniques for the genre of music you primarily play...

Thanks! \m/

 

[moretolife]

Usually slap threads bring out the "I hate it, it's useless, not needed" crowd.
As some of you have eloquently stated, 'it's needed if you are playing music that needs it'. I have always tried to be a musicians before being a bass player. It's depends on what you or the band or leader wants. If you want to work with them, it's good to be able to pull out of your bag of tricks what they ask for or what the music needs. Ask Will Lee how he kept the Letterman gig from the beginning to the end.

 

[2112]

I've done the weekend warrior and session bassist and don't slap, so I reckon it's not necessary for those pursuits. However, that doesn't mean it couldn't be useful for them and might not open some doors.

 

[basslayer]

Depends on the gig/music. You aren't gonna play a Brothers Johnson doing the way people want to hear it if you can't slap.

 

[Pops OB]

No.