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The Slap Bass Welcome Center

#321
phillybass101 said:
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.
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Thanks for the offer. I'll keep it in mind. Delaware is a ways away. I do "get out there". Problem is I have been in the blues/jazzy camp for a while and there's not that much slapping going on in there. But, yeah, I gotta start hangin' with the plank spankers more.
 
#325
But my problem is creativity with slap ... Most of the time it seems in Em pentatonic when I listen or it has a pentatonic feel with octave ... which get old quickly.

Sometime I think i would have to try to use slap for a part I would play with a pick just to see if it will be more useful in my life. Or maybe play the head of jazz standart with slap.
 
#329
I play a 5 string and I am having trouble muting the other strings as I go down the strings, particularly when I play the E string.

My bass teacher has told me to keep my right hand vertical to the strings and use the outside palm of my right/slapping hand to mute the strings, but I just can't seem to get the jist of it.

For example, some times when I am playing the E string and I mute the B string, when I release the B string will ring, and other times when I slap the A string if I am slapping it will mute the string slightly and will sound pretty much like a dead not.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
#330
klemen said:
I play a 5 string and I am having trouble muting the other strings as I go down the strings, particularly when I play the E string.

My bass teacher has told me to keep my right hand vertical to the strings and use the outside palm of my right/slapping hand to mute the strings, but I just can't seem to get the jist of it.

For example, some times when I am playing the E string and I mute the B string, when I release the B string will ring, and other times when I slap the A string if I am slapping it will mute the string slightly and will sound pretty much like a dead not.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

A technique I use on multi-string basses (5 string and above) is to actually flatten the fingers of my LH a bit. I then use the LH to mute the strings I'm not playing. I have seen the RH mute in books by Tony Oppenheim and others but I've found that using the LH mute is a little quicker. As a bonus, you can hit the strings with the LH doing a "drums on bass" technique a la Bill Dickens or Mark King.
I would try this to get the hang of this: Play D octaves on the A and G strings using 1 and 4 fingers. Rather than curving your fingers as you do when playing fingerstyle flatten them a bit. Lightly touch the other strings with the unused fingers AND the finger tips of the fretting fingers (you use a bit more of the flat of the finger to fret the note with this technique). The trick is to touch any open strings with at least two contact points to stop any harmonics. When fretting a note, just relax the pressure on the string slightly, taking care to keep two contact points on the string.
If you follow the link for free bass lessons on my Sig Lessons 8, 9 and 10 in the beginning section deal with the whole "drums on bass" idea.
 
#331
yeah i get what you mean, and I've tried this, but when I play the higher strings, eg: d or g, i cant mute the b, e strings and the palm of my hand below my thumb cause those strings to ring.

It just seems like I can't win :hmm:
 
#333
klemen said:
yeah i get what you mean, and I've tried this, but when I play the higher strings, eg: d or g, i cant mute the b, e strings and the palm of my hand below my thumb cause those strings to ring.

It just seems like I can't win :hmm:
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Is there a youtube video you've uploaded? I may be able to see what's going on from that.
 
#335
Roy Vogt said:
Is there a youtube video you've uploaded? I may be able to see what's going on from that.
Click to expand...

Guys you don't have to suffer. Guess what, sometimes you can't learn everything from a video. When this happens communicate and find a player who can slap. take the time to go visit them for a face to face and sit down so they can show you directly how it should go, how it should feel etc. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing it live close up and having a person explain it to you. Slapping is not rocket science but a slappers hands seemingly will go faster than the camera can catch. I don't know of a single bass player who after you have bothered him half to death, won't break down their technique to you and show you how it's done. But it will be up to you to work it out and build it up. it takes ahwile to master slapping. if i spend too many days away from my bass (which is rare) I too have get back in the groove to find my groove. AND there is nothing wrong with playing with a metronome. I can't stand to see a guy with all these chops but can't play in time. Always practice to a beat, whether it's a metronome, or keyboard, drum machine, loop pedal etc. This will get you into the habit of making everything you play musical. This is where the magic happens with slap bass. when it's musical, and in time. it makes you stop and say hey, what's going on here. A great slapper will make the room get quiet and make the audience pay attention and you can tell when you've hit the mark. players of traditionally lead instruments will bow down and give you the repect you deserve.
 
#337
Bassist4Life said:
Here's Tony Oppenheim's
Warwick Bass Survival 101 Lessons by Dale Titus: (w/video & notation/tab)
Lesson No.5 "Steamlining Your Right Hand Slapping Technique
Streamlining Your Right Hand Slapping Technique

Lesson No.6 "Learning Raked Triplets" (w/video)
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Lesson No.11 "Using Fingerboard Percussive Slaps (w/video, tab/notation)
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Lesson No.13 "Muted G String Popping" (w/video & tab/notation)
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Lesson No.15 "Another Way To Slap Triplets" (w/video & notation)
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Click to expand...

These links are dead. Any mirrors?
 
#338
Here's some of the slapping stuff that I've been doing and working on... I've been playing bass for about 12 years or so but I've always avoided listening to other bass players play because I didn't want it to come out in my work. I was fortunate enough to be given some INCREDIBLY confusing advice early on in my playing so that I could progress in a relatively unique way
d-_-b
Hope you guys/dig it
:hyper::hyper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PVjjV56TMs&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAc22QWbSHc&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlTUcwwJwzs&feature=channel&list=UL

Also, if I wasn't supposed to post this stuff here than I am very sorry =(
 

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