OK, I admit it. I can't slap

[Sanshiro]

I can do it, but my slapping isn't very consistent or controlled. Occasionally I put effort into practicing it, but I just can't get it down and I don't like slapping enough to put more serious effort into it. I think part of it has to do with me being (very) left handed, but playing right hand. My right hand definitely lacks the coordination, dexterity, and precision that my left hand has.

 

[RattleSnack]

I enjoyed slaping bass for a long time in practise, but didn't feel confident enough to do it in the gig, in front of live audience. Than shyly, I incorporated it in songs that needed it, like Something Got Me Started by Simply Red.
So when you start using new technique live, you focus on it much more and ball starts rolling.
I never thought it has much place outside of songs that were played that way, but that's not true. As with any other technique, if you are competent you can use it almost anywhere, and even in some surprising places. Playing root-octave slap is great for songs played by synth bass, it adds punch and sense of movement and dynamics.
Just go for it, start with simpler lines live and continue from there.
EDIT: My band mates ask me to slap more all the time, never had that before. What can I do but oblige.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Me slapping is like watching a 50 year old dad do a trending TikTok dance.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Just watched and played along with Vic to weigh in on this.

I love what he had to say up until the 1:45 point, and then it was game over for me. As much as I love the guy, I think HIS technique here is for people who want to learn to slap as insanely as he does, and not necessary. Doing what he talks about there, landing our thumb on the bass after the hit might be a great technique, but doing that I think would have made me throw the towel in. Its much more difficult to do that than to just hit the string and either rest there, or back off a little. At least for me. I much prefer the way Alex Sklarresvky teaches this.

I believe too that VW's method may very well have worked best for you.

What I think is important is to not take ANYONE'S word for Gospel regarding this, but to put some time and commitment into several approaches, and see which one clicks.

The most important part of my learning was to go super slowly. At the start I did the simplest gesture of just hitting and plucking to get a good sound for hours (days) before it locked in. If someone practiced any technique for an hour a day, if in 2 weeks there wasn't a significant change in ability, I'd think it a good idea to find another teacher/method.

Vic's video would have frustrated me. And it might be gold for someone else.

I'm a little confused by your analysis because he literally goes into zero advanced techniques in this video. He is showing the basics of slap and pop, and even giving you a couple options that are not the way he does it to relate to other players. Play through the string with your thumb, or not. It's not even an 8 minute video. Is this the end all be all of how to do it? Of course not, and he even says that at the beginning...don't focus too intently on the technique, but the sound/feel/groove. Personally i don't play through the string myself and instead bounce off the string.

I totally understand that some folks learn differently, but i do think a beginner could leave this video with a basic understanding of slapping with the thumb, popping with the index, and hammer ons. Those are the three basic elements to create an effective slap bass line. You are free to then seek further examples from there.

And to add on, Vic is literally renowned by musicians as being one of the best teachers out there. He is not on the Berklee payroll for nothing. I think to hear someone say he is the "worst to learn from" is incredibly ignorant of his accomplishments as a music educator, player, and all around great person.

 

[Joe Nerve]

I'm a little confused by your analysis because he literally goes into zero advanced techniques in this video. He is showing the basics of slap and pop, and even giving you a couple options that are not the way he does it to relate to other players. Play through the string with your thumb, or not. It's not even an 8 minute video.

Thumb technique in the fashion of finger technique where you follow through with the stroke is laying the groundwork for double thumping (or whatever you call that up and down thumb technique ), as well as other bass gymnastics that he does. Those are the advanced techniques I'm talking about. I can slap fairly well, and doing what he's doing there is not in my wheelhouse. It makes it impossible for me to slap, too. If my goal was to play like him, I'd guess it would be necessary. And for those reasons he might very well be one of the best teachers out there. I learned a lot from him myself, after I had already learned the basics.

Want to note also that I'm not the one who labeled him the worst to learn from. I think you know that, but for anyone else reading - that's not something I said nor think.

 

[bassGtar]

Form believer in it’s an inherent skill you’re either born with or not and it’s something that can’t be taught.
I’m also 100% positive someone will refute my post.

I started a post the other day and then trashed it. But it contained your idea in a weaker version. There are things we individually are born with the capacity to do and other thing for which we lack the capacity. No amount of training will have me riding a skateboard down stair railings, and a thousand other things. This doesn’t appear (with what we know) to be a constraint on the OP.

However, OP if your technique is wrong and you practice it a fair amount, you are just reinforcing bad habits/techniques. If you really want to slap, find someone who can show you the way.

 

[bass12]

Thumb technique in the fashion of finger technique where you follow through with the stroke is laying the groundwork for double thumping (or whatever you call that up and down thumb technique ), as well as other bass gymnastics that he does. Those are the advanced techniques I'm talking about. I can slap fairly well, and doing what he's doing there is not in my wheelhouse. It makes it impossible for me to slap, too. If my goal was to play like him, I'd guess it would be necessary. And for those reasons he might very well be one of the best teachers out there. I learned a lot from him myself, after I had already learned the basics.

Want to note also that I'm not the one who labeled him the worst to learn from. I think you know that, but for anyone else reading - that's not something I said nor think.

Regarding bouncing the thumb off the string versus playing through the string: when I first started slapping I’d bounce off the string but now I use a combination of bouncing and playing through. This has nothing to do with double thumbing (which I don’t do in any meaningful capacity) - I simply find that playing through provides a slightly different dynamic, and I feel a bit more controlled playing that way in certain circumstances.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

And have no desire to.

 

[tvbop]

Its pretty simple really, you need medium to lightish rounds and any bass will do especially a P bass for bootilicuous lush tone, think Forget me Knots etc. Having said that slap is also about technique....keep it tight with as little movement as possible and start slowly.

 

[JC BASS 91]

I can't slap, either. I have tried repeatedly over the years and just cannot get it to work for me.

Every few years I try again, only to get frustrated after hours of working on it using various instructional sources.

After 30 years, I have more or less given up trying to get it.

 

[Bass-ball]

I stink at the 'slapocalypse' wankery stuff you see on YT, but my genre (smooth jazz) has a ton of popping/slapping in it. The difference is for me it's just a pop here, maybe a slap there (there's way more popping than slapping), and rarely nothing more than accentuating the upbeat before a snare or kick. Simple smooth jazz tracks with popping and slapping in them might be good to learn because if you're going for that slapocalypse wankery stuff, the mastering the basics first is mandatory. Here's a random sample I pulled out of the air. What I'm trying to say is: it also depends on what kind of slap you're going for. Some of us can merely serve the song, but are a far cry from that Michael Bay-esque atomic explosion Marcus-meets-Wooten crap.

From there, fresh roundwound strings, scoop the mids, raise your action to maybe medium height (this is debatable; I hate fret buzz and some people use it in slaplines, but I don't), and try it on a J bass or similar, (though it was popularized on a P bass iirc).

 

[Tom Bomb]

I've been avoiding it like the plague — Urban Dictionary: slappa — which makes no sense at all. Though it may be naughty, I'll get around to it, one of these days. I'll do it, for the love of music.
​

 

[ToddB1963]

So, I'm a very seasoned bassist. Hundreds of local gigs under my belt over the past 35 years. Primarily harder rock, classic rock, some mowtown, pop, even a little country.
I'm primarily a finger style player, pick maybe 12 to 20% of the time when called for.
My problem is, for the life of me, I cannot get a decent slap tone. I think my technique is all kinds of wrong. I work on it a fair amount in my practice regimen, and even more lately as I'm really trying to work on it. It just bothers me that I suck at it.
Anyone else out there that has tried and just doesn't get it right? Watched all the online tutorials. Work on the skill set over and over and it just goes nowhere.
Or, are you maybe a player like myself that has struggled mightily for years then finally ran accross some advice, a specific tutorial, personal lessons, etc., and you're finally starting to get it. Decent technique, good tone....
I'd really like to expand my tool box and get this working for me.
What have you got hivemind?
TIA

I'm not a slapper at all, and while I really like to hear some old school slapping because I think it sounds good - I've never felt 'driven' to learn how to do it. It's just not me. I'm more of a jazz/soul/RnB/rock/pop player in the fingerstyle mould who occasionally uses a pick when it's called for. I love hearing Marcus Miller do it (what a beautiful cat), but unlike him, I feel no particular connection with the technique other than to enjoy listening to how expertly he wields it.

If you can do it and do it well, more power to you.

 

[pepj]

Slap for the sake of it is awful, and it really needs to just drive and pop the song.
Not at all a fan of most slap riffs myself but its fun for a measure.

As for the actual technique, the bass needs to be set up relatively low and you are hitting the string down onto the fret board initially. Later on, you can double thumb it but not to get confused with that here if you are initially trying to get a good sound.
Open strings, esp E and A will show you you are on the right lines. Once those notes speak well, fretting them is just adjustment.
Hammer ons and pull offs just join everything up.

The other thing here is who are you listening to because slap has massively evolved and not many still play like they did in the 80's unless they are still trading off that. Musically, its moved on.
Jerry Barnes and Alex Al are light years away now and are two premier exponents in a modern pop vibe, imv

 

[pepj]

OP, who's style do you like because it sounds to me you just want embellishments rather than riffola.

 

[IamGroot]

So, I'm a very seasoned bassist. Hundreds of local gigs under my belt over the past 35 years. Primarily harder rock, classic rock, some mowtown, pop, even a little country.
I'm primarily a finger style player, pick maybe 12 to 20% of the time when called for.
My problem is, for the life of me, I cannot get a decent slap tone. I think my technique is all kinds of wrong. I work on it a fair amount in my practice regimen, and even more lately as I'm really trying to work on it. It just bothers me that I suck at it.
Anyone else out there that has tried and just doesn't get it right? Watched all the online tutorials. Work on the skill set over and over and it just goes nowhere.
Or, are you maybe a player like myself that has struggled mightily for years then finally ran accross some advice, a specific tutorial, personal lessons, etc., and you're finally starting to get it. Decent technique, good tone....
I'd really like to expand my tool box and get this working for me.
What have you got hivemind?
TIA

Get a drum method book and learn all the rudiments COLD so they are reflexes.
Then get a slap bass book and a metronome and practice perfectly.