Who uses slap in real life?

[Whousedtoplay]

Once again,
it's only because of the Musical Industry producers and that computer-based recording mentality that we don't hear bass slap.
You can take quite a few Top 40 songs and easily apply bass slap to it.
Just a few songs, IMHO, that a mature bass player could apply bass slap.

Pitbull, Ne-Yo - Time Of Our Lives

A good bass player could easily apply a la Mark King's "Lessons in Love" thumb slap with VERY few pops (if any). It could be a very effective bass-line, but IMHO, there are very few bass players who could get that Mark King's thumb slapping easily with the correct grooving "feel".

Here is a song where one could hear some slap notes:
Maroon 5 - Sugar


The next song also could "profit" from a properly articulate rhythmic bass slap at least in the song's Chorus section.
(Just call Jamareo Artis)
Sia - Chandelier


Ella Henderson - Ghost
(Hey, Flea where are you? We really need you for this song.)


The next song is just perfectly ripe for a subtle and very restrained "noble" bass slap line, kind of heard in the background. Long fingerstyle notes rarely interrupted by pop's with some lingering effect.
Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants


Anyway, you got my point about bass slap.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Slap bass covers SO many music styles. In the 80's it was mostly constrained to pop or funk...but it's certainly expanded into most musical genres now. It's more accepted and widely known technique. These days, it's more a question of "is it the right sound for this track?". Once upon a time you needed an active Jazz or Alembic to slap....but these days there are great tracks with even the humble P bass being slapped. If the shoe fits...then wear it.

Passive jazz and P basses were among the first basses to be slapped. Lots of recordings of slapped P's... but people look at the other bass on the CD or album cover and don't realize the P was used.

 

[JimK]

Passive jazz and P basses were among the first basses to be slapped. Lots of recordings of slapped P's... but people look at the other bass on the CD or album cover and don't realize the P was used.

Amen.
Larry Graham? I would bet all those Family Stone & GCS albums were passive basses.

P-bass slap/pop?
Louis Johnson (earliest albums + those w/ Quincy Jones)
From Mellow Madness-


Killer track with Louis Johnson slapping 4s (on a P) vs. Stanley Clarke-

Solos start about 2:50 in...

"Thunder Thumbs & Lightning Licks"...from the Brothers Johnson Looking Out For #1



Chuck Rainey...his many Pop/R&B things + "Peg", "Josie", etc from Steely Dan.
Rainey with Quincy Jones-

 

[JimK]

More passive P-bass from the '80s-
"High Hopes"- SOS Band

 

[Altitude]

Passive jazz and P basses were among the first basses to be slapped. Lots of recordings of slapped P's... but people look at the other bass on the CD or album cover and don't realize the P was used.

I didn't have the ears then that I have now. The pointy basses we saw in 80s videos notwithstanding, most of what I hear in those songs sounds clearly to me now like P bass. Very few of the double humbuckers we were looking at.

 

[stratovani]

Don't worry, I've been hanging around TalkBass for long enough that I can filter out the crap - it's just easier if you can prevent it from being there in the first place!
stratovani said: ↑
I never slap, I don't know how nor care to learn how, and I really don't give a schitt if anybody else slaps or not. The music I play does not require it, so I have no incentive to learn it.


Many thanks for your valuable contribution.

Sorry if you were offended, dude, but I was just being honest.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I didn't have the ears then that I have now. The pointy basses we saw in 80s videos notwithstanding, most of what I hear in those songs sounds clearly to me now like P bass. Very few of the double humbuckers we were looking at.

It's easy for me to keep track... I started playing when there was only one active bass.

 

[10cc]

Around :40

That's about as much as I like to hear. Tasty and put in the right spots.

 

[basskal77]

Knowing the different techniques is one thing, applying it is another planet, it depend from your feel, song groove and arrangement scenario.
I like to use it slap and advanced techniques I'm learning, sometimes I like to try and experiment on the real bass work but only if I have a good feel about it..

 

[Rimbaud88]

I hate slaping cos every time I try it, it´s a total disaster.

 

[nutdog]

I'm just starting to get it so I look for opportunities. The choir did this song in our Christmas Cantata last year. It was truly a Christmas present for me.



We also just finished 5 Sundays of doing Brooklyn Tab songs for the choir anthem. Fun fingerstyle with occasionaly pop/slap.

When the oldies band does Mercy, Mercy, Mercy I get to take a verse and toss in a little slap groove.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

We also just finished 5 Sundays of doing Brooklyn Tab songs for the choir anthem. Fun fingerstyle with occasionaly pop/slap.

When the oldies band does Mercy, Mercy, Mercy I get to take a verse and toss in a little slap groove.

"Everything in moderation, including moderation."
― Invalid Link Removed

Around :40

That's about as much as I like to hear (BASS SLAP).

I've known a few ex-musicians who became "producers/bosses" in the Music/Recording Industry.
I doubt that we could have Flea, Mark King, Marcus Miller, etc... if you were a "powerful person" in the Music Industry.
And of course, quite a few musicians would say, "You know it's impossible to hear ANY bass slap".

 

[kirkm24]

I am not opposed to it and use it moderately when it's appropriate for a particular song. I do get annoyed at all these kids that just go straight to slap without learning any fundamentals. Go to any Guitar Center on any given day and you will hear a bunch of slap hacks banging on basses badly. I think beginning players should learn fundamentals first and get into that technique later on.

 

[Emanuel Apascaritei]

It´s funny cuz slapping is the last thing I think about when try out a bass.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I am not opposed to it and use it moderately when it's appropriate for a particular song. I do get annoyed at all these kids that just go straight to slap without learning any fundamentals. Go to any Guitar Center on any given day and you will hear a bunch of slap hacks banging on basses badly. I think beginning players should learn fundamentals first and get into that technique later on.

How "myths are created (and why)?

It just happened that I went to Guitar Center two weekends in a row.
Only one time, I saw a bass player playing fingerstyle.
But I saw a lot of loud "metal" guitar players.
Those are my facts.

 

[nutdog]

Yep, definitely not slap bass that keeps me out of GC.

 

[DWBass]

How "myths are created (and why)?

It just happened that I went to Guitar Center two weekends in a row.
Only one time, I saw a bass player playing fingerstyle.
But I saw a lot of loud "metal" guitar players.
Those are my facts.

Same here. Must be a regional thing or imagined. The times I've been in GC, I can count on one hand the amount of times I heard a kid slapping. I did see an adult playing once who demo'd both finger and slap style and he was quite accomplished! And he wasn't doing anything outrageous. He was alone as well.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I am not opposed to it and use it moderately when it's appropriate for a particular song. I do get annoyed at all these kids that just go straight to slap without learning any fundamentals. Go to any Guitar Center on any given day and you will hear a bunch of slap hacks banging on basses badly. I think beginning players should learn fundamentals first and get into that technique later on.

I look at it like this: at least they're playing an instrument. And do you really know their learning process? They may be working on fundamentals, it could just be a matter of doing something they prefer to do while checking out a new instrument. And who knows what amplification they have access to elsewhere? Let them enjoy what they're doing. That can lead to further learning and might even inspire someone else to pick up an instrument.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Same here. Must be a regional thing or imagined. The times I've been in GC, I can count on one hand the amount of times I heard a kid slapping. I did see an adult playing once who demo'd both finger and slap style and he was quite accomplished! And he wasn't doing anything outrageous. He was alone as well.

We can talk a lot if bass slap is appropriate for this or that song, but one thing is for sure
- Advanced bass slap is a SERIOUS bass guitar technique and requires a long time (continuous training) to perfect it.

In addition, bass slap requires a lot of OVERALL bass player's knowledge and skills to apply it properly (or in a "hybrid" mode with fingerstyle/pick) without "insulting" the song, "annoying" other musicians, or "irritating" the audience.

 

[Brad Johnson]

After the 20 second mark...