Slap - micromanaged - help!

[nfkoopmann]

So, I have a really strange question.... it's strange because I am a 18 year bass veteran, playing a somewhat narrow range of styles. Very heavily interested in slap, grew up on Primus, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I learned how to play bass listening and learning the styling of Flea, once upon a time.... so here's my dilemma.

As a veteran bass player, I have been set in my ways for a long time. When I learned to slap, I learned the flea way, with my thumb pointing toward my control knobs. Great way to play - I get amazing sound out of my slaps. BUT - as I grow older, I am interesting in learning to play slap the more mainstream way ( thumb parallel to my strings, or even slightly diagonal)... what I am getting though is a lot of dead notes, some harmonics, etc. Basically I can't get consistent clean notes. Any advice would be great, I don't need a detailed explaijnation of slap bass, but a more detailed explanation of how it works for you (thumb bounces off the string/thumb "picks" the string, etc)

Thank you.

 

[JimmyM]

My thumb bounces off the string. But if you have a way that's working for you, nothing wrong with sticking with it. I'd never tell Flea he was playing wrong.

 

[Tupac]

You know, I've found the same thing. It's impossible for me to get a decent sound with parallel, but with just that hard bone bouncing right off the string with a sideways thumb, it sounds fantastic. But for the record, Flea does keep his thumb straighter than people think.

 

[AFRO]

When I played my (now gone) Fender Precision, I used the "Flea-slap" thumb down method a lot; almost exclusively.

I have since upgraded. Now that I play 5 string, the string spacing is a bit narrower. This made me change my "Flea-slap" approach. As a result, now I have incorperated some 'Floating Thumb', 'Movable Anchor' & 'Dubble Thump' techs into the repartorie. I still "Flea-slap", but due to string spacing I had to adapt a more parallel/cleaner approach to compensate for the somewhat sloppiness of the "Flea-slap".

If a new bass is not on the horison; than in the end it takes a concious effort of SLOWLY FORCING (checking and re-checking) yourself to do the new method. If you REALLY want to do it, you can change your approach. Start SLOW with metronome...Pay specific attention to the small details. new hand position? is it comfortable? new slap spot on the string? (or edge of the Fretboard even) do you still get your 'tone' ?
work in small chunks until it is comfortable, I suggest slaping scales and such while you warm up...Then use it in a song you know to make it fun and real as far as application.
Having fun is the main idea. Also there is no 'Wrong' way to play -unless you are causing injury to your self-

And that is my eTwo-cents, Ya dig? (or do you need a shovel?)

AFRO

 

[keiththebassist]

Thumb pointing more downward is totally fine for most slap lines. The problem is when you want to double thumb, play on strings higher than the low E, or when you have narrow spacing. The tone is better with downward angle because you don't have to be quite as precise and can use more force. In order to play cleanly on the A or D strings with a parallel thumb, you need to be much more accurate, which at first results in much more pensive, hesitant slapping. Once you get very comfy with parallel, you can start exerting more force. just practice scales moving up and down the range of the bass with only thumb thumps, no popping. Get comfortable at low and slow and then start ramping it up from there...

 

[scottfeldstein]

I think reading and writing about the subject will help very little. You can read a book on how to ride a bike or drive a manual transmission, learn everything there is to know about the subject, and still be totally unable to do it. It's just like those things: practice. It'll probably come faster than you think. Get a couple of groovy songs to practice to and practice a couple of times a day for a few minutes. I bet you can crack it inside of a week. Just remember: this is hand knowledge, not thinking knowledge.

 

[JimiLL]

I always slap with thumb parallel; however, instead of bouncing the thumb off the string, I pretty much strum the string with my thumb in somewhat of a slapping motion, and let the thumb come to rest on the next highest string

 

[nfkoopmann]

Good stuff - thank you all. I think whoever said that it just comes down to doing it over and over until it becomes comfortable hit it right on the head, even a few days has shown improvement.