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"Slap is overused"

#161
slapping is cool ... IF you can still stay in the pocket ...

Wooten is a great example ... start simple , don't rush ...

I would think that sloppy slapping would drive drummers/percussionists crazy .. ! ( if they're any good at keeping a steady beat .. ! ha )

everything is cool when done well , appropriately timed and placed ..

I started slapping in the mid 70's after a trip down to the Caribbean ... so for me , it got kinda old long ago ... but it is something you should practice if you wanna use it !
 
#163
I'm a funk bass player and a brother and I slap and there's nothing wrong with it other than what's wrong with other certain aspects of lfe in America. It's not that big of a deal really. If you play with a pick, play with a pick. if you play with your thumb, play with your thumb, if you play with your fingers, play with your fingers. if you tap, tap. Conversations about slap getting old are getting old.
 
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#164
selowitch said:
The problem may really lie with the misuse of the term “funk” and not with slap technique per se.
Click to expand...

This.

My opinions:
1. Slap isn't overused. That's like saying raking is overused in flamenco, or walking is overused in blues, jazz and rock. It's part of the bass repertoire.
B. Slap is abused by bad players, therefore giving it a bad name.
pi. Slap draws attention to itself and to bassists - who are "supposed" to be in the background. I'm a firm believer in playing for the song - because we are musicians first, then bassists. But I will slap when I want to if it feels right, and therein lies the rub - everyone has a different 'when it feels right'.
List Item 4. Some people think slap crept into other genres and they resent it. 'No slap in metal' etc. I think that's where a substantial about of 'hate' for the technique comes from - ignorance.

Level 42, Infectious Grooves, Brothers Johnson, Primus, Graham Central Station, RHCP, Marcus Miller, Double D Nose - all these bands represent the different genres that use slap. Look at the 'charts' today and count how many songs or albums have bassists that employ the technique. Not that many would be my guess. Hardly overused.
 
#170
I find the hate for slap bass hilarious. Used properly it moves the groove....So So many bass players use the technique to climax their bass solos. Why???? Because the audience gets excited and gets loud when the slap starts!! I guess its because the audience HATES it so much!

Don't listen to anyone on this site who says otherwise. Keep slappin if you dig it! Like others have said...another tool in the box. I think the guys that hate are the " purists" who prefer no frets and flatwounds all the time.....Nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with any of it. To each his own. I admire those who can do what I cannot. I dont hate them for it!
 
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#172
As in any technique it's, about "Application." And that my friends is ultimately subject to "opinion."
A good bassist can and should want to have some proficiency in all styles and techniques. Those are your "tools" for developing your own style/sound.
I've known mechanics and carpenters who had invested in incredible tool sets yet...didn't seem to have much ability as to how to actually use them. They apparently took the expression, "let the tool do the work" a little to seriously!
The moral of the story: Don't be a "Tool" Be a creator, a performer, a musician.
Just be happy you've still got a position in a band...We all could be replace by a Keyboard these days, either sequenced or via a live player.
How's that for a style being overused!
Thank you Digital, Over Processed cruel world!
 
#173
Oops, I forgot to add, there's more than one technique/style of "Slap." From aggressive to subtle.
Give a listen to this guy:
Or Lubianiker
Seriously, you'll have the opportunity to hear examples of not only numerous techniques but, subgroups within techniques Slap and others, applicable to all types of different genres.
An outstanding, accomplished versatile player.
 
#174
I can't beleive some people here. Sure the classic E min pentatonic thing in octave can get old fast but slap is more than this ! You could pop one note on the off beat for some interesting effect, you could thumb slap the note on the punch instead of playing it normally. You could do a riff with a part slap, part tapping and part finger style there is a lot of stuff to do !

It sounds like so many people here don't want to have any attention to them, they want to sound dark, have an ostinato for 5 min without a spot light on them. God it is music !!! Make music stop being so stuck on the beaten path ! No Wonder music is such a boring thing
 
#175
Slapping should be in every bass players tool box. It's another way of achieving a new tonal effect, plus the physics of having something closer to a classical finger picking style is incredibly useful for outlining harmony with bigger leaps.
 
#176
Wow!! I was a kid in the post Jamerson era, and the seed that Larry Graham planted revolutionized funk and groove oriented music in general. The style is still influential and still copied around the world. In the 70's the urban areas in America exploded with many new, dynamic bassist and you were expected to play like that, or at least something to the equivalent. The bar was raised and it was no joke. oh.. the Seinfeld theme comparison is a blatant insult on a great and viable musical contribution.
 
#179
And to think it all started when Larry Grahams mum got rid of their drummer so they could make more money. They were kids and she told him to pull the strings percussively to make up for the lack of drummer. True story.

And yes it's way overdone. What I really dislike is players "demoing" their new bass on the Tube using slap...same old thwack thwack with little or no sense of musicality...
 

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