Tips on playing slap bass?

bass-or-nothing

I want to learn to play slap bass but its not as easy as it looks (and it looks pretty hard anyway). I found out how to play slap bass but am not very good. Any help/tips etc....???

Rigsby

bass-or-nothing wrote: »

I found out how to play slap bass but am not very good. Any help/tips etc....???

In that case then practice is the only way to improve. I know that's not the answer you were looking for, but if you know in theory how to do it you will eventually get good with practice. There are no short cuts (unfortunately !! )

The Chessplayer

If you want to hear some class slap-bass, just buy a Seinfeld DVD. Every sketch is preceded by a quick dose of slap bass. Quality!

Dord

Chessplayer, thats actually a keyboard. But it can be played on bass too.

OP, a metronome is your friend when it comes to practicing slap bass.

Tzetze

Some good lessons (plenty of slap) to be found on Active Bass

Slow the speed down to what you can manage, and gradually build up on it.

Latchy

Have a look at this guy playing along to level 42's ' children say' (who's bass player mark king was .scuse the pun, the king of slap bass ).

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dsYGa8cI4zg

Tzetze

King of slap bass?

Rustar

King of slaps? hmmmm.....Crown Prince, maybe.

These guys have been around for a while and pretty much laid the foundations for the style...

Marcus Miller
Larry Graham
Louis Johnson

Then there's the man whom Victor idolizes, Stanley Clarke.

The best is when you get 'em all on stage at the same time.
Stanley, Marcus, and Vic

My own slapping is pretty rudimentary.....still can't fathom that whole "ghost note" thing. :eek:

It wasn't me!

The one thing I found to be key with slapping and such is muting and control of the strings. If you just watch that from the start, it all sounds and feels so much better and cleaner.

Doctor J

The best thing you can learn is when to use it. It's a great technique but woefully overused in the most inappropriate musical contexts at times in this country.

As mentioned above, Larry Graham is on youtube, you'll find all you need to know in his instructional video, he's the man when it comes to slap.

Rustar

Yeah, Larry's the "Granddaddy Of Them All", and a delight to watch. He's one of the few people around who can actually sing and slap at the same time.

The Chessplayer

Joe Robot wrote: »

Chessplayer, thats actually a keyboard. But it can be played on bass too.

OP, a metronome is your friend when it comes to practicing slap bass.

Are you sure? Sounds like a slap-bass to me. Is it just a keyboard with slap-bass effect? If that's the case, then I will be e-mailing Larry David and expressing my displeasure.

The Chessplayer

Lads, where can i get my hands on some cheesy slap-bass music? Anyone got any bands to recommend?

darragh666

Your forgetting this guy

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=kNOKwlDTCsY

Dord

The Chessplayer wrote: »

Are you sure? Sounds like a slap-bass to me. Is it just a keyboard with slap-bass effect? If that's the case, then I will be e-mailing Larry David and expressing my displeasure.

Yep. sorry for shattering your illusion. It was a Roland Sound Canvas MIDI module.

The Chessplayer

Joe Robot wrote: »

Yep. sorry for shattering your illusion. It was a Roland Sound Canvas MIDI module.

How did you know that? That's a very obscure thing to know. Did you work on Seinfeld?

Dord

I actually play bass and know what one sounds like. I heard about what synth it was years ago.