The Slap Bass Welcome Center

[Another Dave]

Sorry no. My main problem is with the E string (4 string only) which I suppose makes sense. It is bad enough listening to me without having to watch it but I certainly don't have that effortless natural sort of movement so evident in your Vids. I use 3 fingers to pluck quite quickly but to slap I really find difficult. I must have watched hundreds of slap videos explaining the technique and part of the thumb to use. Is it like balance on a bicycle when by practice it just clicks? Do you suddenly find the right force to slap and the right place on the thumb for you? Pete. PS. Many thanks for your reply

If you're having trouble with your thumb, maybe visualizing bouncing a ball (like a basketball player,) with a little bit of rotation in the wrist might help get you closer?

Best of luck, and never give up!

 

[redname]

hi guys, not sure if this have discussed before.

i've been having difficulty to slap on a 5-stringer. my guess is that the space in between is giving me trouble as i keep hitting another string, i tried to be careful but i just can't get the solid "thumping" sound when i try to be careful

any advise on this?

 

[Bass_to_Bass]

This is a great thread! I'm diggin the Anthony Wellington paradiddles lesson you posted... Thanks for that! That will keep me busy for a while Have you seen this lesson too??? I scoped this out several months ago and it opened up possibilities for me when playing slap... this is the youtube link: Invalid Link Removed

 

[Grant Stinnett]

Hey guys, My name is Grant, lately I have been slapping my way around the world using Victor Wooten's, Marcus Miller's, and Michael Manring's techniques as my main influence. When I first started learning to slap this is the video I watched for years. My father Jim Stinnett (he is actually mentioned earlier in this thread) gave me a video tape of Victor Wooten's Bass Day 98 performance. Here is a link to an excerpt.

Victor Wooten - U Can't Hold No Groove & Bass Solo (Bass Day 98) - YouTube

It was rather difficult to learn how to slap from this vid, because it is pretty technically complicated. So in the last few years I have started making lesson videos and online courses braking down exactly how to do it. Here are some links to a few free youtube lessons I made that are very popular.

Power Lesson #2, Double Thumping - Grant Stinnett - YouTube

Power Lesson #3, Slap Bass - Grant Stinnett - YouTube

Power Lesson #4 Power - YouTube

Power Lesson #5 Grant Stinnett (Exerpt from Contemporary Techniques online course) - YouTube

More recently I have started creating downloadable video lessons that are about 3-4 minutes long and around one or two dollars. You can check them out here.

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I hope this helps anyone looking to learn.

-Grant

 

[Roy Vogt]

Great stuff everyone! More please.....
Grant, please give your Dad my best regards. I will see him this January and have a couple of Bass Events I'd like to have him play/teach at.

 

[Shadow123]

Anyone have any ideas on getting a good live slap tone?
My issue is with switching from plucking to slapping. I have a Spector bass. I normally play with both pickup volumes the same. That is my default and favorite tone. When I throw some slap in though, it doesn't seem to cut through the mix very well. Using the neck pickup only for that seems to work the best, but I really do not like that tone, P-bassish. Could a compressor solve this maybe? My eq is usually close to flat, with a very slight drop in the middle and the lower mids raised a little.

 

[Dumb Bunny]

I hate slap bass because I can't do it worth a damn. I've been practicing it every day and still get such a clicking noise with out the funky zing that good slappers get.

I have Alex's, Tony's, and MusicDojang's courses to no avail.

Does it sound better with light gauge strings?

Should you have high action for best results or low?

I am using DR Fat Beams, no effects on a Sadowsky 5 with rosewood fingerboard/alder body if that matters.

Signed,
Frustrated and about to give up!

 

[JAUQO III-X]

I hate slap bass because I can't do it worth a damn. I've been practicing it every day and still get such a clicking noise with out the funky zing that good slappers get.

I have Alex's, Tony's, and MusicDojang's courses to no avail.

Does it sound better with light gauge strings?

Should you have high action for best results or low?

I am using DR Fat Beams, no effects on a Sadowsky 5 with rosewood fingerboard/alder body if that matters.

Signed,
Frustrated and about to give up!

I don't know where you're located but if your in or near Chicago, I would sit down with you one on one and see if I could help you get things worked out.

 

[DragoshW]

Grant can you pm me with your email or yahoo id or an instant chat ? i would like to talk some more with you

 

[TastyCarcass]

thanks for the help guys, I'm getting quite good at this now

 

[axeinurface]

this has probably been covered here but there is too damn many posts to read through.. I have some pretty good slap videos and lessons (I get the idea and have the basics of it down)..what are some good songs with slapping which aren't too hard to play?

 

[hernameisrio]

I think I'm getting there, but oddly enough, I'm wondering if anyone has more examples of what it SHOULDN'T sound like. I'm starting to get a better sense of the sort of fulcrum effect between the thumb and index finger in relation to slap and pop (I've been playing octaves slowly to work on the proper tone), but I'm still kinda questioning if I'm getting enough of a true slap tone out of the strings without having it be completely percussive and sort of muted. I've watched and listened to tons of videos and audio clips of how it should sound, but I guess it would help me to hear the "wrong" way and then be able to see/hear what I could potentially be doing wrong, if that makes sense. For reference, I am playing a 4-string Peavey Cirrus BXP with the pickup selector knob in the middle, DR Lo-Riders, and it's got a 35" scale. I keep my bass relatively high, just to the point where I'm not hunching my shoulders at all to play it. The body of the bass is small enough that I don't bother with curling my right forearm over it to play, which to me is just kinda awkward anyway. I keep my thumb up and close to the neck. I know it's different for everybody, but what are some common mistakes, what would they sound like, and why would they be happening? Through trial and error, I have found my own, but I'm just curious as to what other people have experienced.

 

[fatNfunky]

i like this guys videos, there are lots of them

4. Slap bass lesson - beginner/intermediate - YouTube

 

[Staccato]

^^^ Thomas has helped beginners and advanced players, alike! Slap is just one of the areas where he focuses on instruction! His website is great. There's hundreds of free 'lick a day' links, there.

 

[Exemonium]

Y'know...I have to agree with Dumb Bunny. I tried and tried, it just didn't click with me. Sadly I haven't really touched my bass in months because I've become so frustrated with the fact that I don't "get" slap. Technically I study people and it makes sense, I see what they're doing and why. But at the same time, I obviously don't, I just "think" I do, because when I try to apply it I go nowhere fast.

This is something that I MUST learn, I love slap! The Rhythms, percussive sounds, etc it's great. Could anyone suggest a program that's worked wonders for them when they were starting out? I've watched all the marlowdk vids, bought a book that was ok, but still didn't help. Emulating someone and being able to create it myself is different, and I'd like to have the latter. I can't afford an instructor as much as I would LOVE one, so anything short of that would be wonderful.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Y'know...I have to agree with Dumb Bunny. I tried and tried, it just didn't click with me. Sadly I haven't really touched my bass in months because I've become so frustrated with the fact that I don't "get" slap. Technically I study people and it makes sense, I see what they're doing and why. But at the same time, I obviously don't, I just "think" I do, because when I try to apply it I go nowhere fast.

This is something that I MUST learn, I love slap! The Rhythms, percussive sounds, etc it's great. Could anyone suggest a program that's worked wonders for them when they were starting out? I've watched all the marlowdk vids, bought a book that was ok, but still didn't help. Emulating someone and being able to create it myself is different, and I'd like to have the latter. I can't afford an instructor as much as I would LOVE one, so anything short of that would be wonderful.

I'm in Chicago if you want, I'll give you lessons for free on the technique. All you have to do is get to Chicago and let's make it happen.

Give it some thought.

 

[FunkySpoo]

Wish there was someone near me making the same offer.

 

[phillybass101]

Markus Setzer audio on MySpace
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Check Out Track No.1: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] at CD Baby

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MARKUS SETZER

Bill the Buddha Dickens video on YouTube
Slap Demo Video

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BILL DICKENS

Damn. I just had an eargasm. I have to pick this up. Excellent bass playing and singing. Gives me an idea for a gig. I may have to work something up like this for myself. Do a 2 hr set or so. split the pay between just twp people and play to my hearts content. This is awesome.

 

[phillybass101]

Wish there was someone near me making the same offer.

I'm an old school slap bassist and can hold my own with the best of them. I live in Delaware if you want to take that trek. If so PM me. There are many great bassists in the MD DC area that can hook you up. Just get out there man and start meeting people. Bassists are some of the most cool people in the world and we don't mind sharing.

 

[phillybass101]

One of my pet peeves is that a lot of cats don't slap in time. What I mean is they just display the technique but is has no context. For those beginning to slap start using a metronome or a keyboard or something that can keep a beat. Far too often cats can slap but it sound like they are saying words and not sentences. Another thing is a lot of cats are too busy and too clikety clakety. They end up sounding more like a banjo player than a bass player. For those just starting out check out early Larry Graham for example a song called Water. Check out Timmy Allen on a song called Mutual Attraction by a group called change. Then see what mark King does on the song Love Games. I'm willing to help out any one who wants to learn how to slap. I did it the old fashion way, by wearing out albums. back in the day there were no forums, or youtube, or DVDs. You had to use your ear, and get out of the house and check other cats out. There is a social aspect to slapping as well. It helps to see the techniques up front, live, in your face. I learned how to play triplets while filipping through the channels on the TV one night and of all things it was a Yanni concert but just for those few seconds, the bass player was doing a solo and he played triplets and there was a closeup on his hands, and I was like BAM I got it.