I'm a pretty new bass player (little under a year) and I'm trying to learn Midnight Rendezvous by Casiopea. This is my first time trying to learn a slap song and this one's pretty simple. My only issue is that I have a hard time hitting any string other than the E string without hitting another string. If anyone could provide ways to work around this and just get more accurate at slapping it would be really helpful, thanks!!
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Slapping Accuracy
- Thread starter James_hd
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First, I want to commend you on your fine taste! Though you could probably find easier tunes to try to develop your technique on. And that run at the end, geez...
There are a million (or more) guides to slapping. I guess my version would be to say try to put the bit of your thumb by the corner edge of the fingernail *through* the string, just grazing the underside rather than trying to bounce off it. Kinda tough to put into words but hopefully you get the idea. Combined with increased accuracy you will also develop more facility and speed... but don't rush it! Building a technique takes time and it's more important to make each note sound good than play a bunch notes sloppily.
There are a million (or more) guides to slapping. I guess my version would be to say try to put the bit of your thumb by the corner edge of the fingernail *through* the string, just grazing the underside rather than trying to bounce off it. Kinda tough to put into words but hopefully you get the idea. Combined with increased accuracy you will also develop more facility and speed... but don't rush it! Building a technique takes time and it's more important to make each note sound good than play a bunch notes sloppily.
IME the thumb slap presents two fundamental challenges:
The first relates to the 'attitude' of the thumb, that is to say it's orientation relative to the bass at the point of impact. At some attitudes you will inevitable hit other strings but there will be those that don't. Because every thumb is different and everyone holds their bass slightly differently, it is on you to find an 'attitude' for your thumb that allows it to strike any of your strings on your bass without hitting the others. To the casual observer, slappers just stick their thumbs out - to the rest of us, thumb attitude is almost as unique as a fingerprint. As you get better you will find yourself using a range of positions for the thumb that work mechanically but lead to variations in tone, attack, timbre or whatever. But for now, just find one. Remember that attitude can be adjusted at the shoulder, elbow and wrist as well as within the hand, so there are plenty of options.
The second challenge relates to 'registration', which means establishing a consistent and repeatable spatial relationship between your body, your thumb and your bass. Once you have 'attitude' sorted, you need to position your bass relative to your body such the strings fall into an area where the thumb can get to them whilst holding your attitude. And you need to keep it there! Use a good strap and spend some time fine-tuning everything so that the strings fall under your thumb when it is in 'playing position'.
After that it's just like every other technique - practice, practice and more practice. Good luck
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Victor Wooten has done some great videos on slap technique where he talks about angles. Seeing his hands up close might help you adjust your angles to match, even if you use a different technique to actually attack the string:
Thanks, I just graduated high school so I got plenty of time to work on it. Again that you for your advice!!
That's great! I started playing bass in my senior year in high school. I was a drummer before that and I put in a LOT of time and effort to "catch up".
Can I give you one more piece of advice? Play with everyone. Don't wait until you are "good enough", just get yourself out there and develop yourself as a bass player in an ensemble, whatever the music is.
Good luck!
Since you're new to bass, in-person instruction with a good player can be invaluable if you can do some at all. Basically, they will take care of your bad habits early on when they're easier to fix. When I started, I was slapping by moving only my thumb up and down instead of my entire hand like turning a door knob. I was doing it wrong for ten years.
You can get similar percussive sounds without using the blunt, difficult to control instrument (aka your thumb) as the striking digit. Some folks (myself included) use our index finger to bounce the string(s) off the frets. The middle finger is used to "pop".
John Entwistle did a lot of percussive stuff with his fingers.
John Entwistle did a lot of percussive stuff with his fingers.
IME just like your fingers it takes repetition to get that placement.
Also, learning the song is cool in that it’s a good motivation. But run through your busy work with your thumb. Play scales and such. If you do it with your fingers do it with your thumb. Practice.
And don’t worry about maintaining the tempo of your song until you can get that technique a little tighter. You can do it. It just takes practice.
Also, learning the song is cool in that it’s a good motivation. But run through your busy work with your thumb. Play scales and such. If you do it with your fingers do it with your thumb. Practice.
And don’t worry about maintaining the tempo of your song until you can get that technique a little tighter. You can do it. It just takes practice.
Check out Talkingbass.com. Plenty of free content, and Mark does a great job presenting skills. Set up a free acount and you can access the practice room. There’s a 25 exercise slap challenge that builds from simple to hard.
Get a drum machine, or use a drum app. Set it half the target tempo and get your subdivisions accurate at the slow speed. Then bump the tempo up 10 bpm at a time.
Check out a free trial on SBL. Take some time to get past all the click bait noise and look at the courses. Players path and style courses.
I wish I’d had something like these resources when I was 18 and just getting going. Back then, drum machines weren’t a thing. You were lucky if you had an LP called Drum Drops.
Start learning to read now.
Get a drum machine, or use a drum app. Set it half the target tempo and get your subdivisions accurate at the slow speed. Then bump the tempo up 10 bpm at a time.
Check out a free trial on SBL. Take some time to get past all the click bait noise and look at the courses. Players path and style courses.
I wish I’d had something like these resources when I was 18 and just getting going. Back then, drum machines weren’t a thing. You were lucky if you had an LP called Drum Drops.
Start learning to read now.
Look for Alexis Sklarevski video school on YouTube. It goes very systematically through basics. It's free. It's been basic slap course for decades.
All good suggestions. Charles Berthoud's Basscamp on Youtube is also very helpful as he is one of the cleanest slappers around.
the best tip I got about slapping when I was young was that we don’t have ti hit very hard with the thumb at all. AT ALL. Like not only is hitting it comically soft good enough, but hitting it softer will make it sound louder and fuller. For general slap at least, rather than like Flea.
Other than that, you just gotta practice it, simple as that. This is one of the few things where very boring practice like 8th notes EADG EE AA DD GG whatever
I learned on Slap It!, back when it came with a little vinyl record in the pages. I'm dating myself I know, but that book is still the standard for learning slap IMHO.
Slap It is always open, sitting on my desk. One day I will conquer, but there’s a ton of work in there. My version came with a cd! The Slap It playlist is in my iTunes library.
Set up is key. Straight neck with very little relief, low action, and fresh round wounds. It’s okay to use a Gruv gear fret wrap or scrunchie to help quiet strings while you get your left hand muting together.
Don’t neglect the left hand slaps and ghost notes, they are just as much a part of it.
Set up is key. Straight neck with very little relief, low action, and fresh round wounds. It’s okay to use a Gruv gear fret wrap or scrunchie to help quiet strings while you get your left hand muting together.
Don’t neglect the left hand slaps and ghost notes, they are just as much a part of it.
I was able to develop a fairly reasonable slap technique over the years. My issue is what to play. I have a difficult time creating decent bass lines. I will listen to licks that I like, learn them, and not have them in my head when I need them.
Maybe I'm too old, maybe I'm too Swedish.
Good luck my friend. It will come to you.
Maybe I'm too old, maybe I'm too Swedish.
Good luck my friend. It will come to you.
Check out Brian Brombergs thumb style, that's what I use. My thumb tip actually aims slightly towards the floor. I pop with my 1st and 2nd fingers.
I found scales and exercises to be very helpful in developing slap techniques. Found I didn't get sucked into speeding like I did when I practised other peoples lines. Also you should learn from the start how to stop unwanted strings from ringing out. This will affect the angle you hold your hand. Higher pitched strings can be easily damped with you fretting hand. Lower pitched ones can be muted with your forearm or the heel of your hand. Very important if you have a B string. But if you learn from the start you won't have to relearn your technique when you get a 5 string.
After you can slap a scale up and down, exercises like C,E,D,F,E,G,F,A... or C,D,E,F,D,E,F,G,E,F,G,A etc, up and down 2 octave scales and around the cycle of 5ths will help with accurately changing strings as you slap. Bigger interval exercises, like 1,6,7,2,3,8,9,4,5 etc will get you precisely skipping over strings while avoiding the pain and potential damage of holding an octave shape for long periods. Alternatively, run 4 chromatic disco octaves then play a scale up or down to practise transitioning into and out of them while keeping the blood flowing in your fingers. Your hands will thank you when you're old.
After you can slap a scale up and down, exercises like C,E,D,F,E,G,F,A... or C,D,E,F,D,E,F,G,E,F,G,A etc, up and down 2 octave scales and around the cycle of 5ths will help with accurately changing strings as you slap. Bigger interval exercises, like 1,6,7,2,3,8,9,4,5 etc will get you precisely skipping over strings while avoiding the pain and potential damage of holding an octave shape for long periods. Alternatively, run 4 chromatic disco octaves then play a scale up or down to practise transitioning into and out of them while keeping the blood flowing in your fingers. Your hands will thank you when you're old.
