I have been playing bass, on and off, for over 55 years. Mastering slap bass was the hardest thing I ever attempted. I struggled with the technique for years without success.
Back in January, 2022 I restrung by bass with a set of light D'Addario EPS170 ProSteel roundwounds. The strings were so bright and punchy I decided to have another go at learning slap. These are my notes.
The first is about the thumb position of your plucking hand. The easiest technique getting started, was "thumb down". The best example of this is Flea of the Red Hot Chile Peppers. Flea slings his bass very low. His arm hangs down and his thumb is almost perpendicular to the strings. I think the reason this was easiest early on was that I didn't need to be that accurate about how I struck the string with my thumb. I could hit the string with any portion of the side of my thumb and it would ring.
The next hardest hardest was raising the bass higher. This moves the position of the thumb parallel to the strings or even up at about 30 degrees. The best example is Mark King of Level 42. This required more accuracy. I had to strike the string using only the boney portion on the side of the first joint of my thumb.
The hardest was the "double thumb" technique. You strike down through the string, come to rest on the next lower string, and bring the thumb back up to pluck a second note with the side of your finger nail. The best example of this is Victor Wooten.
Double thumbing was the most time consuming because it required the most accuracy. However, there was a big payoff. First, I got two notes from a single flick of my wrist. Second, it has a deeper, fuller, fundamental tone. Third, it takes the least amount of physical effort and energy. I was moving my wrist and thumb a shorter distance.
You can spend a few minutes looking for videos of Flea, Mark King, and Victor Wooten to see what I am talking about. In particular, find Victor Wooten performing his composition "Classical Thump".
I started by doing an Internet search on "How to play slap bass". There were hundreds of hits. I spent around three months with a rather disorganized self study. I bookmarked about 40 videos.
I found about a dozen YouTube videos by Mark J. Smith of TalkingBass.Net. When he ran a 25% off discount promotion for everything on TalkingBass.Net, I enrolled in his Simple Steps To Slap Bass Parts 1 & 2. I kept a spiral notebook and logged the date, lesson, and how long I spent. I practiced almost every day for a few hours. It took me NINE months to complete the course!
Another name that came up during my Internet search was Scott Devine of Scott's Bass Lessons. He opened up enrollment for his slap bass class at a discount and I signed up. I also kept a spiral notebook and kept track of my progress. It took me another NINE months to complete!
Bottom line: It was almost like starting over as a teenager in the early 1970's.
A few other random comments:
The most frustrating challenge was coming up to speed. Slap bass riffs require a minimum speed to sound zippy. Prioritize accuracy over speed. Put in the time and speed will follow.
My progress was uneven. There were weeks that felt like I was making no progress. Then there were days where something that was really difficult just started feeling comfortable.
Learning slap improved my overall technique. Slapping required me to improve the coordination between my fretting hand and my plucking hand. This particularly pertains to the ability to play ghost notes and mute using both the fretting and plucking hands.
I hope this helps. We are living in the golden age of the electric bass and just keeps getting better.
Back in January, 2022 I restrung by bass with a set of light D'Addario EPS170 ProSteel roundwounds. The strings were so bright and punchy I decided to have another go at learning slap. These are my notes.
The first is about the thumb position of your plucking hand. The easiest technique getting started, was "thumb down". The best example of this is Flea of the Red Hot Chile Peppers. Flea slings his bass very low. His arm hangs down and his thumb is almost perpendicular to the strings. I think the reason this was easiest early on was that I didn't need to be that accurate about how I struck the string with my thumb. I could hit the string with any portion of the side of my thumb and it would ring.
The next hardest hardest was raising the bass higher. This moves the position of the thumb parallel to the strings or even up at about 30 degrees. The best example is Mark King of Level 42. This required more accuracy. I had to strike the string using only the boney portion on the side of the first joint of my thumb.
The hardest was the "double thumb" technique. You strike down through the string, come to rest on the next lower string, and bring the thumb back up to pluck a second note with the side of your finger nail. The best example of this is Victor Wooten.
Double thumbing was the most time consuming because it required the most accuracy. However, there was a big payoff. First, I got two notes from a single flick of my wrist. Second, it has a deeper, fuller, fundamental tone. Third, it takes the least amount of physical effort and energy. I was moving my wrist and thumb a shorter distance.
You can spend a few minutes looking for videos of Flea, Mark King, and Victor Wooten to see what I am talking about. In particular, find Victor Wooten performing his composition "Classical Thump".
I started by doing an Internet search on "How to play slap bass". There were hundreds of hits. I spent around three months with a rather disorganized self study. I bookmarked about 40 videos.
I found about a dozen YouTube videos by Mark J. Smith of TalkingBass.Net. When he ran a 25% off discount promotion for everything on TalkingBass.Net, I enrolled in his Simple Steps To Slap Bass Parts 1 & 2. I kept a spiral notebook and logged the date, lesson, and how long I spent. I practiced almost every day for a few hours. It took me NINE months to complete the course!
Another name that came up during my Internet search was Scott Devine of Scott's Bass Lessons. He opened up enrollment for his slap bass class at a discount and I signed up. I also kept a spiral notebook and kept track of my progress. It took me another NINE months to complete!
Bottom line: It was almost like starting over as a teenager in the early 1970's.
A few other random comments:
The most frustrating challenge was coming up to speed. Slap bass riffs require a minimum speed to sound zippy. Prioritize accuracy over speed. Put in the time and speed will follow.
My progress was uneven. There were weeks that felt like I was making no progress. Then there were days where something that was really difficult just started feeling comfortable.
Learning slap improved my overall technique. Slapping required me to improve the coordination between my fretting hand and my plucking hand. This particularly pertains to the ability to play ghost notes and mute using both the fretting and plucking hands.
I hope this helps. We are living in the golden age of the electric bass and just keeps getting better.
