Why so much hate for slap??

[TuneSalad666]

Need I say more?

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

It's almost impossible to play anything from the 70's & 80's without
using slap...so why all the hate?? I get that some folks try to apply it
to everything, which slap really isn't meant for everything...but it does
have legitimate playing uses!

So is it a case of folks hating on it because it's really best for Disco/Motown,
and should never be used elsewhere?? Or just a general slap hate as a whole??

It should be a tool in every bassists arsenal, to my way of thinking.
Not the only tool, just one of several screwdrivers...

What? You can play what you want of the 70s without any slap ... slap in disco music? Where? In certain kind of funk music but not that much in disco music ... slap by itself is just a technique ... I esteem Marcus Miller a lot but his latest all-slap albums are really boring and repetitive ... slap only music is like that ... check out the polite and sweet sound of the P bass on America’s album “View from the Ground” you will expand your horizons ...

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Not sure how anyone could hate this, if only because you gotta respect the time it took to get this good.

Zzzzzz.... Zzzzz... not again ... another slap virtuoso ... nooooo

 

[tradernick]

Zzzzzz.... Zzzzz... not again ...

While you're napping, this guy is probably practicing : )

Seriously though, yeah okay I get it. It's easy to hate on this type of thing and towards the end of this particular video it's getting to be a bit much. First couple of passes are cool IMO.

I guess I'm just old enough and have heard so many people whining about their life outcomes that I appreciate anyone who's willing to put her head down and just 'shed the crap out of....anything.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I finally see how someone can hate slap...stopped by a Guitar Center before work and someone was haphazardly slapping with the volume dimed...

Every time he popped a string, it seemed to be hitting a pole piece because it made the most horrifying noise. I left with a headache...

I don't hate slap, but I bet everyone else in the store did after that!

Zzzzzz.... Zzzzz... not again ... another slap virtuoso ... nooooo

Do I detect a hint of...envy?

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I finally see how someone can hate slap...stopped by a Guitar Center before work and someone was haphazardly slapping with the volume dimed...

Every time he popped a string, it seemed to be hitting a pole piece because it made the most horrifying noise. I left with a headache...

I don't hate slap, but I bet everyone else in the store did after that!



Do I detect a hint of...envy?

No... i envy Bernie Edwards, Julius Farmer, Paul Jackson, Kirill Afronin (youtuber) etc but certainly not the guy in the video.
It's really ground and re-ground stuff without any armonichally interesting concept .. when I stumble onto this kind of videos i switch to another almost immediately... dont hate slap as anything else but i find a bit sterile and uninteresting... if you are a slap virtuoso and are content I'm happy

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

While you're napping, this guy is probably practicing : )

Seriously though, yeah okay I get it. It's easy to hate on this type of thing and towards the end of this particular video it's getting to be a bit much. First couple of passes are cool IMO.

I guess I'm just old enough and have heard so many people whining about their life outcomes that I appreciate anyone who's willing to put her head down and just 'shed the crap out of....anything.

I was also practicing a lot but not what he practices ... different tastes, goals and minds ...

 

[hillerup]

It's almost impossible to play anything from the 70's & 80's without
using slap...so why all the hate?? I get that some folks try to apply it
to everything, which slap really isn't meant for everything...but it does
have legitimate playing uses!

So is it a case of folks hating on it because it's really best for Disco/Motown,
and should never be used elsewhere?? Or just a general slap hate as a whole??

It should be a tool in every bassists arsenal, to my way of thinking.
Not the only tool, just one of several screwdrivers...

Mainly because IMO it sounds like ... There, I said it! Can we move along?

 

[Big Shrek]

Mainly because IMO it sounds like ... There, I said it! Can we move along?

Tell Flea that

 

[glocke1]

Stylistically and tonally slap really does very little for me, almost all the slapping I hear sounds like , lacks bottom end and is just way too over the top, (and I feel that way whether its Flea, Stanley, whomever) but I guess thats what some people like.

None of the bass players I consider to be my favorites or are inspirational to me do any slapping (Jaco, Phil Lesh, JPJ, a host of others) and there are far more other aspects of bass playing I'd rather excel at than slapping.

That said this is kind of cool..

 

[2luvthebass]

Depends whether it's self or professionally taught?

I kid, I kid. Because it's boring and unmusical when it's done poorly. Bad fingerstyle doesn't hurt my ears....as much anyway. And I don't like it much better when it's done well. It's a sound that doesn't appeal to me personally. I love RHCP but not the earlier slap heavy stuff. I don't much care for Marcus Miller's slappy stuff. When Victor Wooten goes at it I'd rather not hear it. But I think it's generally disliked by many because it's hard to do well and easy to do badly.

I agree a 100% with it's hard to do well and easy to do badly

 

[2luvthebass]

As a guy who works at a guitar shop, i really wish there was any "hate" for slap. 90% of people who waltz in here and pick up a bass immediately start slapping the damn thing like it owes them money. it's the worst.

Tasteful slap bass is fine. That dude that plays for Bruno Mars is good at it.

That's why I could never work at a guitar shop. Turn up some background music to tune them out.

 

[2luvthebass]

There was a time in the 90's to early 00's where slapping became the bassist equivalent of Smoke on the Water, Stairway to Heaven, and Freebird all in one. Well, at the music stores anyway. People who worked there hated slapping as much as the afore-mentioned songs.
In the giging world there was a perception by a lot of under-30 guitarists, singers, and drummers who considered slapping an indicator of overall chops. After all, most of he hip big-name bassists slapped. Most of the bassist wanted ads I saw back then had "must be able to slap" for non-metal and non-punk/ska rock bands. That caused two things: lots of bad slapping and lots of musically inappropriate slapping.
Those are the two reasons for the hate, IMHO.
Slapping is like brussels sprouts: done right and paired correctly, a real treat; but if it just sits in a boiling pot without proper seasoning, it is a mushy abomination that can ruin a perfectly good evening.

Well said

Just depends on who is doing the slapping and if it serves the song well.

Louis Johnson was the master at slap. He knew when to use it and when not too. Listen to his isolated bass track on Strawberry Letter .

I never want to hear GET ON THE FLOOR played with a pick or fingerstyle. That song should be all thumb and nothing else.

you couldn't have said it better

I love slap when done musically (eg, Larry Graham, Freddie Washington). I hate mindless slap almost always shown in Youtube demo vids.

I probably hate it more than you bro!

 

[2luvthebass]

Tastefully done it's good at times...most is overdone and sometimes really annoying.
Seems to be more of a hey, look at me thing.

Sometimes? More like all the time. Larry Graham could slap on ballads because he was tasteful like you said. People gotta get educated. I'm glad I don't work in a guitar store lol

 

[IamGroot]

Hate cuz there is a lot of technique and little musical taste. Might as well be playing walk the dog with yo yo's.

And playing all slap on a bass solo is usually just lame.

 

[turbo2256b]

a slap here and there tossed in like using a ghost note or even like a different finger tonal effect ended up how i use it few songs were i like the total use of it.

 

[WhenTheDrumsStops]

Stylistically and tonally slap really does very little for me, almost all the slapping I hear sounds like , lacks bottom end and is just way too over the top, (and I feel that way whether its Flea, Stanley, whomever) but I guess thats what some people like.

None of the bass players I consider to be my favorites or are inspirational to me do any slapping (Jaco, Phil Lesh, JPJ, a host of others) and there are far more other aspects of bass playing I'd rather excel at than slapping.

That said this is kind of cool..

I have that when I hear a Jaco for longer than 10 minutes, I can't take his playing any longer. However, as for slapping, I also can't stand listening to Wooten for longer than 10 minutes. I can listen to a Mark King or Marcus Miller all day though!

In other words, it's not the technique, it's what you do with it.

P.S. I didn't like the slapping in that video either. Sounds like being in a music store

 

[WhenTheDrumsStops]

I could not imagine this song without slap bass. Face it, the song would suck without the thumping and the 'drive' it produces in the rhythm.

 

[IamGroot]

The slap on Peg was good.

Its the difference between salting your food and eating salt.

 

[creaturegods]

That's why I could never work at a guitar shop. Turn up some background music to tune them out.

XD Hahaha, I wish it were that easy, my friend. Believe me, I've tried that. It just becomes a war of attrition and nobody wins.