Slap Bass Orgins Argument

[Kaden Daniels]

Hello TB So me (bassist) and my father (Drummer) where listening to Larry Graham when the discussion of the true orgins of slap bass. I told him that It was originally a way for double Bass players to be heard over the band before electric basses he proceeded to tell me I didnt know what I was talking bout saying it didnt come around till the 70s... does anyone know a song from the Swing/Jazz era that clearly shows the orgins of slap bass need talkbass help

 

[20db pad]

Here's a start:

 

[bholder]

I would say that slapping an upright is not at all the same thing as slapping an electric - different hand movements entirely, I would think. Larry Graham is believed to have invented the electric slapping technique using the thumb. Upright slap, as I understand it, or at least the rockabilly version, involves the fingers and palm in an open handed slap on the fingerboard, followed by popping pulls with the fingers and thumb - there is some similarity, but different beasts, in my understanding.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I'm sure that what Larry Graham did was independent of the acoustic slap tradition. Graham was originally a guitarist, not a doubler, and after following him my entire adult life, I have never seen where he has referenced acoustic bass.

 

[bholder]

Here's a start:

May have more in common than I thought. I'm sure others know more about both versions than I do (can't do either).

 

[Kaden Daniels]

Here's a start:

thanks man thats was pretty awesome

 

[Kaden Daniels]

I do understand that the techiques differ but Guitar Playing orginated from acoustic guitar double bass to electric etc...John Bohnam took triple beats from Big Band made them independent and different but the orgins lay with big band drummer and its what i was trying to tell my dad

 

[20db pad]

I keep promising myself to not get involved in slap threads, but here's another:

 

[bholder]

I do understand that the techiques differ but Guitar Playing orginated from acoustic guitar double bass to electric etc...John Bohnam took triple beats from Big Band made them independent and different but the orgins lay with big band drummer and its what i was trying to tell my dad

Well, it's pretty much all connected one way or another. John Bonham wasn't the only one to adapt older jazz styles to modern rock - I was just listening to some fairly awesome Cream jamming earlier - Ginger Baker had awesome jazz chops long before rock even existed.

 

[Kaden Daniels]

Well, it's pretty much all connected one way or another. John Bonham wasn't the only one to adapt older jazz styles to modern rock - I was just listening to some fairly awesome Cream jamming earlier - Ginger Baker had awesome jazz chops long before rock even existed.

Mitch Mitchell of Jimi Hendrix deffinaelty had Jazz rootsw

 

[RED J]

Larry Graham has said that he originated what he calls "thump in and pluckin" to make up for lack of a drummer in his family's band. You can hear the rudiments in Sly, and he surely developed it into a highly evolved art.Funk and disco in the 70's picked up on the style he originated.

 

[bass12]

Well, Sly's "Thank You..." was released in 1969 so either way...

 

[RED J]

Sure' there is jazz slap and rockabilly slap and electric slap, but that doesn't argue that one sprung from the other. They all arose from a need for volume or rhythym or both. In any case, there are two options, snap the string hard or beat on the board like a drum or both. Kinda like inventing the wheel. Lotsa variations, but they all arose from the same need, with just one solution.

 

[tonemachine]

Larry Graham has said that he originated what he calls "thump in and pluckin" to make up for lack of a drummer in his family's band. You can hear the rudiments in Sly, and he surely developed it into a highly evolved art.Funk and disco in the 70's picked up on the style he originated.

This. There is a documentary from 2013 or so called "Finding the Funk" in which this is mentioned from the man himself, I believe. Obviously, this is slap as we know it on electric. Its seemingly not inspired by slap upright or he probably humbly would have mentioned it.

 

[SirMjac28]

I heard Jimi Hendrix was among the first to do it while he was hanging out with the Isley Brothers but he referred to it as "tapping" I remember a kid telling me that way back in the 70's.

 

[jjmuckluckjr]

Those clips are awesome. Both of those gentlemen could easily hold their own in any era. I mean we're talking about 60 and 80 years ago. We've become so jaded by the iPhone age. It makes me wonder how many artists, showmen and flat out musical geniuses have been lost to time. I can think of literally thousands of bands I seen over the years, and dozens of those nights were absolutely magical. Everyone in the room could feel it, you just waned to start a revolution or fall madly in love or both. And not even an old Polaroid (a type of instant camera kids) taken for the record. Now every garage band has a YouTube page.

Youth is wasted on the young!

 

[20db pad]

Those clips are awesome. Both of those gentlemen could easily hold their own in any era. I mean we're talking about 60 and 80 years ago. We've become so jaded by the iPhone age. It makes me wonder how many artists, showmen and flat out musical geniuses have been lost to time. I can think of literally thousands of bands I seen over the years, and dozens of those nights were absolutely magical. Everyone in the room could feel it, you just waned to start a revolution or fall madly in love or both. And not even an old Polaroid (a type of instant camera kids) taken for the record. Now every garage band has a YouTube page.

Youth is wasted on the young!

I'm of the opinion that it's easier to research music and musicians of the past via the internet. Youtube alone is a gold mine. I'm north of 40, and when I wanted to check out Miles or Holdsworth, Bach, or even Klezmer music as a teenager, I had to go to a library, or buy it at a record store to hear it. Now, you can just click away.

All that said, the number of kids I see and observe taking advantage of the amazing musical resources available now is profoundly small.

 

[jjmuckluckjr]

I'm of the opinion that it's easier to research music and musicians of the past via the internet. Youtube alone is a gold mine. I'm north of 40, and when I wanted to check out Miles or Holdsworth, Bach, or even Klezmer music as a teenager, I had to go to a library, or buy it at a record store to hear it. Now, you can just click away.

All that said, the number of kids I see and observe taking advantage of the amazing musical resources available now is profoundly small.

You're right, there's a staggering amount of music on YouTube. While there is a lot of younger players on this site, instrument driven music has taken a downturn. The entire music industry has been upended. At the same time that it has become easier to record, and market there are less opportunities to monitize the work. These days you can load your IPad into a laptop an forgo a band. Plus, the bass attracts a different type of musician. It takes a lot of work to make it look simple and easy, while your band mates are off on tangents. I wish more kids learned instruments in school. Many programs we grew up with have been slashed by budgetary constraints. Being able to read and play music has a profoundly positive impact on young brains.

 

[7dollarbologna]

I've read slapping came about on dbl. bass (before electricity) to compensate for lack of drummer.

 

[Rocktometrist]

Well, it's pretty much all connected one way or another. John Bonham wasn't the only one to adapt older jazz styles to modern rock - I was just listening to some fairly awesome Cream jamming earlier - Ginger Baker had awesome jazz chops long before rock even existed.

Mitch Mitchell of Jimi Hendrix deffinaelty had Jazz rootsw

I agree it's all connected. If you go back far enough, it all came from the same place: the melding of African and European music in the American South. The earliest rock songs (ca. 1950) were one step away from the blues. Blues, jazz, bluegrass, and country all have roots in field songs and gospel at some level, as well as European folk music and/or brass bands (and then they all cross-fertilized each other as the decades wore on). So it's all pretty closely related.

I think it's pretty cool how quintessentially "American melting pot" all that music is. Heck, even bluegrass, which is associated with white hillbillies, wouldn't be the same without the banjo, which is straight out of Africa. Makes you realize that all the PC "celebrate diversity" stuff is pretty much on the money!