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Wintermute · 11-18-2003, 04:27 PM

Slapping

Slapping is a sound made by striking the string with your thumb.

- Hold your thumb parallel to the string
- Twist your wrist sharply so that the thumb hits the string, and pull away again immediately.

I've often thought that slapping was closer to a Drumming technique than a stringed instrument technique. You're looking for the same kind of bounce off the string as if you were drumming.

Slapping is easiest on the E string, so start there and work your way onto the other strings.

You don't have to slap hard, as a general guide I slap the back of my left hand with my thumb, and if it hurts AT ALL I'm slapping too hard.

I personally slap near the fretboard, but experiment with this.

Popping

Popping is a technique commonly used in conjunction with slapping. Usually slapping will be used on the lower strings, with popping covering the higher ones.

- using your index or middle finger, pull the string away from the fretboard, perpendicular to it.
- release.

This doesn't have to be hard either, you are not trying to break a string.

The beauty of slapping and popping in conjunction is that a slap sets you up for a pop and vice-versa.

A good exercise for slapping and popping is the song 'Higher Ground' as covered by the RHCP.
A tab is included here. Slap the lower notes, and pop the high ones. Build up speed until you can play along with the song. Incidentally, this song uses octaves almost exclusively, going two strings up and two frets up like this is an octave and is a handy tool in songwriting.
Other good songs for demonstrating slap include:

Oysterhead - Little Faces, Mr. Oysterhead
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop (during the guitar solo), Aeroplane, Higher Ground
Primus - Antipop, Golden Boy, Tommy The Cat (Hard) Awakening, most other songs
Wooten - Classical Thump (Extremely hard)
Marcus Miller - Teen Town (Hard)
Ella Fitzgerald - Slap That Bass (Easy)
Mudvayne - Dig

If you have any questions or comments, I check this thread most days and will reply as soon as I can.
If you ask a question here and I can't help you out properly, feel free to add me to your MSN (gehennaprophet@hotmail.com) and I'll try and help one to one.

www.soundclick.com/apgmxmusic.htm - download 'Slap Demo'. This is a brief demonstration of the technique. I first slap each of the strings, then pop each of the strings, then have a quick run through RHCP's 'Higher Ground' and Oysterhead's 'Little Faces'

* * * * * * * * * *
Addendum

This is an addition about gear. People ask questions such as which basses are best, and similar. So here are some important points.

NEVER slap on a fretless bass unless you are VERY sure you know what you are doing. It can tear the neck apart, unless it has been made from a select list of hardwoods, or has a slap plate. You see, when you slap, the string hits the frets hard. This is what causes the characteristic noise. If there are no frets, the string hits the wood, and this can quite quickly cause noticeable damage.

As for which basses are good/bad for slapping, no high end basses are bad for slapping. (bar fretless models) Some say the Fender Jazz isn't good for it, but it's good enough for Marcus Miller, one of the masters of slap...
However if one must be chosen as best, the Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray is often acclaimed as the greatest standard production bass for slapping.

EQ - I personally use a 'scooped' EQ setting for slapping,
Low:6, Mids:3 High:7
though I can think of at least one MXer who uses a very high Mids - experiment with this for yourself!

11-18-2003, 04:27 PM	#1
Wintermute There Can Be Only One Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Lancaster, UK - Coldest place in the Universe Posts: 12,724	Elementary Slapping And Popping Slapping Slapping is a sound made by striking the string with your thumb. - Hold your thumb parallel to the string - Twist your wrist sharply so that the thumb hits the string, and pull away again immediately. I've often thought that slapping was closer to a Drumming technique than a stringed instrument technique. You're looking for the same kind of bounce off the string as if you were drumming. Slapping is easiest on the E string, so start there and work your way onto the other strings. You don't have to slap hard, as a general guide I slap the back of my left hand with my thumb, and if it hurts AT ALL I'm slapping too hard. I personally slap near the fretboard, but experiment with this. Popping Popping is a technique commonly used in conjunction with slapping. Usually slapping will be used on the lower strings, with popping covering the higher ones. - using your index or middle finger, pull the string away from the fretboard, perpendicular to it. - release. This doesn't have to be hard either, you are not trying to break a string. The beauty of slapping and popping in conjunction is that a slap sets you up for a pop and vice-versa. A good exercise for slapping and popping is the song 'Higher Ground' as covered by the RHCP. A tab is included here. Slap the lower notes, and pop the high ones. Build up speed until you can play along with the song. Incidentally, this song uses octaves almost exclusively, going two strings up and two frets up like this is an octave and is a handy tool in songwriting. Other good songs for demonstrating slap include: Oysterhead - Little Faces, Mr. Oysterhead Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop (during the guitar solo), Aeroplane, Higher Ground Primus - Antipop, Golden Boy, Tommy The Cat (Hard) Awakening, most other songs Wooten - Classical Thump (Extremely hard) Marcus Miller - Teen Town (Hard) Ella Fitzgerald - Slap That Bass (Easy) Mudvayne - Dig If you have any questions or comments, I check this thread most days and will reply as soon as I can. If you ask a question here and I can't help you out properly, feel free to add me to your MSN (gehennaprophet@hotmail.com) and I'll try and help one to one. www.soundclick.com/apgmxmusic.htm - download 'Slap Demo'. This is a brief demonstration of the technique. I first slap each of the strings, then pop each of the strings, then have a quick run through RHCP's 'Higher Ground' and Oysterhead's 'Little Faces' * * * * * * * * * * Addendum This is an addition about gear. People ask questions such as which basses are best, and similar. So here are some important points. NEVER slap on a fretless bass unless you are VERY sure you know what you are doing. It can tear the neck apart, unless it has been made from a select list of hardwoods, or has a slap plate. You see, when you slap, the string hits the frets hard. This is what causes the characteristic noise. If there are no frets, the string hits the wood, and this can quite quickly cause noticeable damage. As for which basses are good/bad for slapping, no high end basses are bad for slapping. (bar fretless models) Some say the Fender Jazz isn't good for it, but it's good enough for Marcus Miller, one of the masters of slap... However if one must be chosen as best, the Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray is often acclaimed as the greatest standard production bass for slapping. EQ - I personally use a 'scooped' EQ setting for slapping, Low:6, Mids:3 High:7 though I can think of at least one MXer who uses a very high Mids - experiment with this for yourself!