No such thing as too much emphasis on rythm as far as bass playing goes.
I gotta agree with ya there, that doesn't seem possible lol
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Slap technique: Overused?
- Thread starter Chatdawg
- Start date
I gotta agree with ya there, that doesn't seem possible lol
- Jan 12, 2011
- 4,578
- 2,460
- Disclosures
- Artist, Trickfish Amplification Bartolini Emerging Artist, MTD Kingston Emerging Artist. Artist, Tsunami Cables
Aaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhh! Yet, another slap thread!!
Make it go away...................please!! Good thing I'm not a mod else this thread would disappear like Jimmy Hoffa!
Make it go away...................please!! Good thing I'm not a mod else this thread would disappear like Jimmy Hoffa!
I still can appreciate GOOD slap bass. I incorporate it in my practice routine. I also agree that if you want to hear the tone of any given bass quick, slap it. But I don't do it often because I need more practice and because it has fallen out of flavor. I can also agree that going to GC only to be bombarded with some awfull hack bass, leaves a lot to be desired.
But it's all relative, I guess. I also play piano and my ears cringe when I hear folks banging away trying to play what ever is en vogue. When ever Alicia Keys is on the charts, I try to get in an out of there quick. On the other side of the coin, when ever I would stop by Jimmy Coppolo's repair shop when it was here in NYC, I would be inspired by the other players I would hear there. Hell, even one of the tech's he had there had nice slap chops.
But it's all relative, I guess. I also play piano and my ears cringe when I hear folks banging away trying to play what ever is en vogue. When ever Alicia Keys is on the charts, I try to get in an out of there quick. On the other side of the coin, when ever I would stop by Jimmy Coppolo's repair shop when it was here in NYC, I would be inspired by the other players I would hear there. Hell, even one of the tech's he had there had nice slap chops.
Yes it is called Talkbass, but we as bassists should support each other regrdless of style preference and enjoy the art of being cooler than those "6 string noise makers".....
Bassists RULE!!!!
I am a pretty decent slapper and can play some Marcus tunes yet I seldom have the opportunity to slap when playing with other musicians. First the sound is not as supportive and second many people find it obnoxious. Lastely it is somewhat typecast as an 1980's style of playing. I only use it to impress the kids at guitar center 
Slap hate is also known as "slap envy".
A little tasteful slap goes a long way.
Half of what people refer to as "slap" is actually "string pop"!
I don't rule out any right hand technique that can make the song better.
...except pick playing, because I CAN'T master it!
I respect a good pick player, however. But not a pick hack. Pick hacks give bass players a bad rep overall!
A little tasteful slap goes a long way.
Half of what people refer to as "slap" is actually "string pop"!
I don't rule out any right hand technique that can make the song better.
...except pick playing, because I CAN'T master it!
I respect a good pick player, however. But not a pick hack. Pick hacks give bass players a bad rep overall!
Yes, yes, yes. It's almost as if a lot of players have their working/functional technique (I.e. Finger style) and then they have their trade show / music store technique of crazy busy slapping and tapping.
Walking past the bass maker's booths last week at NAMM , it sounded like a wide spread Victor W solo training course was underway.
I don't have a problem with slapping, and love it when it's the appropriate style for a given gig. That said, it seems that with the exception of a very few gigs I've seen lately, it's almost never used anymore and is becoming as common as playing with a bow. Except for solos, or at your local music store.
Walking past the bass maker's booths last week at NAMM , it sounded like a wide spread Victor W solo training course was underway.
I don't have a problem with slapping, and love it when it's the appropriate style for a given gig. That said, it seems that with the exception of a very few gigs I've seen lately, it's almost never used anymore and is becoming as common as playing with a bow. Except for solos, or at your local music store.
IF slap technique is overused than most certainly fingerstyle and pick styles are about ten times overused. Is tapping overused too? What does overused even mean in terms of music? Is fingerpicking overused on banjo?
This thread is silly. A plucking technique is a just a method of moving the strings. It has no bearing on style or musical content untill the player makes it so. Jazz can be played with the thumb, finger, pick, fingertips or just the left hand.
Why keep trying to divide musicians further based on their preference right (or left) hand technique?
This thread is silly. A plucking technique is a just a method of moving the strings. It has no bearing on style or musical content untill the player makes it so. Jazz can be played with the thumb, finger, pick, fingertips or just the left hand.
Why keep trying to divide musicians further based on their preference right (or left) hand technique?
It has gotten really boring as it is usually FAR overdone. Think of how it was used in "Peg" - THAT is how slap should be. An emphasis, not a way of life.
Same here. Pretty much the only time I hear it is when someone is showing off by themselves. It makes me feel real bad because I can't do it. I'd say it's not overused in general, though, because you don't hear it in mainstream music very much at all. I pop a couple notes in one song my acoustic trio does, but that's it.
Musiclogic
Commercial User
- Aug 6, 2005
- 6,505
- 75
- 60
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder: HJC Customs USA, The Cool Lute, C G O
I would say it's overused by those people learning it, or trying to sound cool. You go to NAMM and it sounds like a construction site, you go to a bass clinic and it sounds like a bunch of monkeys with hammers, you go see Stanley Clarke or Victor Wooten and it sounds like music.
I had to double-check the date of this OP, thought it might've been some 10 year old zombie thread!
This sentiment has been expressed since long before TalkBass even existed.
...but to answer your question: Yes some of us are tired of it, and yes some of us lean towards it a bit too much...but probably not everybody.
I get as sick with slap playing as I do with "just riding the E string", or "tap technique", or "playing for the song"....
all techniques are viable, and all are overused. What I don't like is the mentality that one type is better than the other, and those who stick to a certain type have some kind of instant cred because they eschew the other.
all techniques are viable, and all are overused. What I don't like is the mentality that one type is better than the other, and those who stick to a certain type have some kind of instant cred because they eschew the other.
If I wanted to hear annoying typewriter noises, I wouldn't go to the music store.
I won't go so far as to say it's an illegetimate (sp?) style because there are guys that do it well and tastefully. I think the real issue is that players are learning this style before ever learning to play fingerstyle well. Its like a guitar player learning nothing but pentatonic scales and never learning to play chords in the first position. Can that guitarist play a lot of leads? Yes. Can he play with others and serve the song? No.
I won't go so far as to say it's an illegetimate (sp?) style because there are guys that do it well and tastefully. I think the real issue is that players are learning this style before ever learning to play fingerstyle well. Its like a guitar player learning nothing but pentatonic scales and never learning to play chords in the first position. Can that guitarist play a lot of leads? Yes. Can he play with others and serve the song? No.
