So What's Up With Slap?

[GSPLBASSDC]

I agree that Marcus is a bad brotha...but Gerald Veasley and Bill Dickens are both SICK...and, lest we forget, our old school playas:

Larry (do you really need his last name?) Graham
"Thunder Thumbs" himself...Louis Johnson

 

[michaeldl]

Swampshark, are you right handed?

If you are, then I have three words for you, that will change your slappin' life: "left hand slap".

Ignore all that thumb-pluck stuff, that's for beginners, and dweebs who don't "get it" (and never will).

When it comes to slap, the left hand is where it's at.

And if you're right-brained, just switch everything around.

Left hand slap? Never heard of/seen it... describe?
-Dweeb #1

 

[jenderfazz]

not to derail but any song recs?
thanks

How about Power and Rampage for the great slap, and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat for the great fretless work. Boomerang is also a cool song.

 

[Andy Cleaver]

Nikki's Groove is one of my favourite slap pieces off M2. Also Burning down the house is another great one! Definately agree with everything said about Marcus. He's been my favourite bassist for the last few years.

 

[FUNKonthewall]

Left hand slap? Never heard of/seen it... describe?
-Dweeb #1

Left hand slapping is like a hammer-on in which you don't press down on the strings. It's more like a "dead note hammer-on". You simply place your left index finger on the strings and then hit the neck with the rest of the fingers from your left hand. You can then transfer that knowledge and technique to slapping with hammer-on's from open strings and such. Listen to "Laquerhead" by Primus and you'll hear left hand slapping and as I recall, Bill Dickens also goes over it in one of his videos. Dead notes are a good way to make a slap lick flow and the left hand slap is a pretty efficient way to add them.

 

[phxlbrmpf]

If you ask me, slap grooves tend to be less annoying if the slap/pop ratio is perhaps 85%/15%. Too many pops = too much treble, too little bass.

 

[GobyWan]

Ignore all that thumb-pluck stuff, that's for beginners, and dweebs who don't "get it" (and never will).

I sincerely hope you're being sarcastic and not just stupid and elitist. Left hand slap is one more tool, not the be-all-and-end-all of techniques, and it truly only works if you're, y'know, using your right hand to do something at the same time. You still have to play while you're left-hand slapping - try using nothing but that technique sometime and see how far it gets you. If you find you enjoy the thudding and whacking that your instrument produces more than the notes it's capable of, you might consider becoming a drummer. At least people who slap with their right hand can produce a pitch.

 

[michaeldl]

...Listen to "Laquerhead" by Primus and you'll hear left hand slapping and as I recall, Bill Dickens also goes over it in one of his videos. Dead notes are a good way to make a slap lick flow and the left hand slap is a pretty efficient way to add them.

Appreciate that, thanks and will absolutely check out the examples... Cheers

 

[Petary791]

I think of slap in all sorts of terms. I don't think you suck at slapping if you slap slow. For example, in one of my songs in my band, I slap down low on the E and B and pop up high on the G. It's not all about just being all fast like Victor IMHO.

 

[geoffkhan]

Favorite slap techniques:

Left-hand slapping
Double-thumb pluck (or double-thumb pluck pluck)
OHP
Pop harmonics

 

[Tash]

I've been playing for 10 years and I still can't slap to save my life.

 

[geoffkhan]

I've been playing for 10 years and I still can't slap to save my life.

You just have to sit down and really work on it. Listen to a lot of CDs with slap bass and imitate it, practice with a metronome, and practice with a drummer.

But then again, slap isn't all THAT necessary. If you don't need to slap, spend the time and effort working on something else.

 

[PilbaraBass]

I'm not a slapper, but I play a LOT of lines by using occasional slaps and pops as accents.

I find it interesting, too, that I can play a riff that I haven't done in years and I still automatically put the slap and pop accents in the same, exact spots. It must be how I hear it, or something.

 

[metalguy2]

Yeah... Slap bass definately has alot of flare though. Which makes it very attractive to work on. People always love to hear some slappin licks hear and there. Too bad the bulk of my time is devoted to other less flashy things :-(