New player-question about slap!

[lostintime]

Hello i started playing bass some months ago and i have a question.if someone can t "slap" in a song is there something else he/she can do instead?For example i want to play Unchain my heart-Jo cocker but in the intro has a part with slap that i can t play,what can i do in cases like this?And also do you have any good suggestion for starting learning the slap technique?Thank you very much(sorry for possible mistakes my english is not good! )

 

[fearceol]

And also do you have any good suggestion for starting learning the slap technique?Thank you very much(sorry for possible mistakes my english is not good! )

I dont see any problems with your English.

As for learning slap, their are lots of books/CD's and DVD's on the subject.

I found the link below to be one of the best slap tutorials on You Tube. The picture quality is not the best, but the content is very good IMO.

 

[gr8bassplayer]

I dont see any problems with your English.

As for learning slap, their are lots of books/CD's and DVD's on the subject.

I found the link below to be one of the best slap tutorials on You Tube. The picture quality is not the best, but the content is very good IMO.

I agree. And practice.... Lots of practice.

 

[Schmorgy]

I construct my slap licks by plucking them out first. Then I try slapping. You could try the same thing in reverse until you can actually slap them out.

 

[bassteban]

From my own experience I'd suggest spending a LOT of time, COMPLETELY ALONE(or w/a very patient drummer), learning the technique- to the point you are VERY comfortable w/it- and then use it very sparingly. It has its place but is perhaps the most overdone thing in all of bass.

 

[lostintime]

Thank you very much for your answers!

 

[Joe Nerve]

2 things.

1. You can get a slap effect plucking the string hard, where it kinda snaps back. I'm not familiar with the song you're talking about, so I don't know if it'll work for it.

2. If you decide you want to learn to slap and do it properly, the best way to learn is at a super slow tempo. Over and over, ridiculously slow, where every note you slap and pluck comes out cleanly. Doing it like that you're muscles after a while memorize what you're doing, and the speed comes on it's own. Almost like magic. I think a lot of people get frustrated because they try to slap like the songs they're trying to learn from the start, and it doesn't happen. With patience, and going slowly, it comes a lot faster.

The song in my vid below is the only slapping thing I ever recorded. Or played with any band for that matter. When I wrote it, I couldn't play it. Not at the tempo the song in in, anyhow.

 

[kevteop]

I'd suggest spending a LOT of time, COMPLETELY ALONE

This is indeed good practise for being a slap bassist.

 

[peledog]

Practice, practice, practice.

Slap is just another technique, like fingerstyle or pick or thumb style.

 

[two fingers]

From my own experience I'd suggest spending a LOT of time, COMPLETELY ALONE(or w/a very patient drummer), learning the technique- to the point you are VERY comfortable w/it- and then use it very sparingly. It has its place but is perhaps the most overdone thing in all of bass.

Thank you. Couldn't agree more.