Hmm, I suppose it depends what you mean by clunk. The sound I get is from the string hitting the frets up near my finger, not down by my thumb. I don't think I could pull my thumb away any faster, so it's not that. I don't suppose there's a recording anywhere of slapping without an amp?

I'd like to make one for you, but I'd need a microphone for that...

There will certainly be a clunk, or a click, as the string is supposed to hit the frets, but there should also be a note ringing out. Is there?

To be honest, it's not all that important, as long as you can make it sound right amplified.

Well, I was using that to see if I was playing it right. There is a note, so I'm assuming it's right. I thought that you needed to hit the string extremely lightly, which was the reason it's hard to do. But if you don't need to do that, why is slapping so hard?

Edit: [url]http://www.warwickbass.com/basssurvival101/slap1.mpeg[/url]

I'm getting that sound, though prehaps I could get it to ring out a little more. I think I've got it now, so cheers.

You don't NEED to slap the string very lightly, it's just wasted effort to do it hard. As long as the string hits the fret it's hard enough. Slapping is considered hard mainly because it's the only technique that you can do on a bass that you can't do on a guitar (Regi Wooten excepted).This makes it hard in the eyes of guitar players.

Ok, I may just be really dumb but one thing I dont get about slapping/ poping is:

How exactley dose the slap set you up to do the pop and vice versa.

Thanks for all the help guys!

But I was wondering what you do you have lots of fast notes on the same string... Do you have to just go crazy with your thumb or what?

Also, what about all these muted notes you see? How do you do that sort of thing so fast and why mute them instead of just playing the ordinary notes?

[QUOTE=Hitler 69]Ok, I may just be really dumb but one thing I dont get about slapping/ poping is:

How exactley dose the slap set you up to do the pop and vice versa.[/QUOTE]

Depends what way you do it, I suppose. If you do the way they say on all the sites, then when you move down to slap, you hook your finger under whatever string, and then pull away.

[QUOTE=burntgorilla]Depends what way you do it, I suppose. If you do the way they say on all the sites, then when you move down to slap, you hook your finger under whatever string, and then pull away.[/QUOTE]

That's pretty much right. Also popping moves your hand away from the string and makes it ready to slap.

Sorry about the delay, been moving house.

And livingzombie, you can build up speed with practice, but also for runs of two or three notes you can just bounce, slapping twice in the same movement. The thumb hits the string, and bounces off it, and you just let it fall right back again without pulling it back. (This is particularly tricky to explain verbally)

As for why you would play muted notes, sometimes it just sounds very good. Or works well as a rhythmic device. If you play a song which contains muted notes, try playing with ordinary notes instead and it'll sound convoluted, miss them out and it sounds disjointed.

ok im kinda havin trouble with this. i got the slap down, i can get a pretty clean sound when my aim is good, but i listen to songs using slapping and popping and mine just doesnt sound like theirs. For instance, in 311's "What was I thinking", the intro is a slap/pop solo...and it just sounds cleaner, like theres no excess ringing after a pop or slap which i cant get to do. Whenever i try the sound just keeps buzzing unless i mute it with my hand which requires me to stop playing. Is there a technique to get a cleaner sound or do i just need practice?

Not quite sure of what you mean, but Higher Ground sounds really different when I play it. Must just be different basses or something. People say about getting callouses on their thumb, but all I've got is a painful blister on my popping finger, which is irritating.

[QUOTE=burntgorilla]Not quite sure of what you mean, but Higher Ground sounds really different when I play it. Must just be different basses or something. People say about getting callouses on their thumb, but all I've got is a painful blister on my popping finger, which is irritating.[/QUOTE]


Its like when i hear other songs the slaps and pops are sharp(not tone-wise) and clean but when i try the notes just ring out when i use hammerons and stuff

Sorry, another delay there. I should be back online properly now, problems with a house move.

The short, clean ending notes your afterare most likely achieved through muting. What you need to work on is your muting, probably. You shouldn't have to stop playing to do one. There are other ways of muting than just palm mute, for a start.

Practice pulling off a note, but keeping you finger on the string. (You may find keeping two fingers on the string helps avoid unwanted harmonics.) The note should stop immediately when you pull off.

Also, try muting the string or strings using the side of your hand, (The right hand side as you look at it palm down, the side without the thumb) You should be able to touch the strings with this side of your hand without stopping slapping and popping. Think of it as a hinge, so you can slap and pop comfortably barely moving this side of your hand. This makes it easier to mute with.

[url]www.soundclick.com/alexgmusic.htm[/url]

My mind is blank... but what is that song he is playin in his slap demo...

the first one after the practice pops and slaps....

the lyrics to it go like... "people.... keep on ??????somethin"

lol... I dont know, lol... someone help me out cause I wanna play that.

Higher Ground, as covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

ok, i havent read all of the posts, but i have a quick question regarding slapping muted notes. i havent had this explained to me very well and am still confused as to what exactly to do. do you mute on the frettboard or just on the string and if it is on the frettboard, how does this not screw up the timing of the song? thanx

It can be done either on the fretboard with the right hand. Here's what to do. To mute on the frets, simply rest two fingers on the string without actually fretting. Similar to what you would do if you were playing a harmonic. This prevents the string from ringing, and you get a muted, toneless sound on the slap.
To mute with the right hand, when you slap leave the right hand side of your hand (as you look at it palm down) touching the string. It's best to think of the hand as a hinge for seeing how to do this. Imagine there's a hinge between the right hand side of your hand and the strings.

As for interrupting the flow, it's just a matter of practice. With effort, you'll be able to do them just as fluidly and comfortably as you would slap normally.

[QUOTE=Wintermute]Higher Ground, as covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.[/QUOTE]

Thanx alot man... this whole thread has really helped me out. :thumb:

Hey, no problem. Just remember to rate the thread!

Does it sound different when you use a guitar amp instead of a real bass amp?

Yes, it'll sound horrible. [b]DO NOT PLAY BASS THROUGH A GUITAR AMP[/b]

You can severely damage the speaker of the amp. At low volumes you might just be ok, but start doing more agressive (tonally) styles of play like slapping and you'll damage something. Get a bass amp.

I like to slap.

Thank you for your contribution.

[QUOTE=Wintermute]Yes, it'll sound horrible. [b]DO NOT PLAY BASS THROUGH A GUITAR AMP[/b]

You can severely damage the speaker of the amp. At low volumes you might just be ok, but start doing more agressive (tonally) styles of play like slapping and you'll damage something. Get a bass amp.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Now I know why my slapping sounds bad when I do it at home. :D My friend is a bass player too and when I play with his gear, it sounds great. I'm not into this whole gear stuff, so I didn't know this, although I'm no noob. I just play songs and if there's some noise coming out of the amp, I'm happy. ;) At first I thought it would be my bass, because it's a shortscaler, which was built in 1967.

[FONT=Courier New]dont quite know how to explain this question but oh well....
does anyone know where that thread is that had slapping and popping "shapes" (there was a word used but i cant remember what it is)

for example the aeroplane rhcp shape:
g----------
d-----4-4
a----------
e-2--2-2-
Think that should be readable.

Reason being that thread is what ive used to learn slapping and popping and am now a bit stuck on a couple of "shapes" and so need some new ones. [/FONT]

[url]http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128136[/url]

That's probably the thread you're looking for.

i'm tryin to play at victor wooten's speed and its the pop of all things thats slowing me down (i play a 6 string but my slaping is sound) anyone else had this problem

Ok all this slapping and poppin on a 4 string is great.... but what about a 5 string.

The B string is easy to slap duh... the E as well as soon as you can get it down.

But the strings are just so much closer together. Dirk Lance (The old Incubus Bassist) used to do it.

It's just when I shape my hand like yall tell me too... my hand is a lot more tighter... so what I normally do is just "freehand" it... like raise my hand and slap and pop with my index, middle, and ring fingers.

What would you suggest?

P.S. - Don't say buy a four string either.

i can answer that cause i play a 6... muteing comes into play more, use ur fretting hand to mute that b string when ur playing e

actually wat's ur string spacing u just have to get really accurate with ur thumb... 20mml is big 18 is comfortable.. 16.5 is gettin small

Liquid Tension Experiment - if you're doing Wooten stuff you may want to look into popping with more than one finger. I.e. Pop with your index finger then with your middle finger, then with your ring finger. You may also want to look into Double thumbing, there's a different thread in the L&A for that.

Dustin James - It may sound like a cheap answer, but it's just practice. You'll get used to it.

[QUOTE=Wintermute]Liquid Tension Experiment - if you're doing Wooten stuff you may want to look into popping with more than one finger. I.e. Pop with your index finger then with your middle finger, then with your ring finger. You may also want to look into Double thumbing, there's a different thread in the L&A for that.

Dustin James - It may sound like a cheap answer, but it's just practice. You'll get used to it.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I know, practice practice... Im gettin better... its just harder. But I guess thats the best for beginner wanting to be great.

I think I've gotten it down, but i'm getting this "clunk" sound. I'm playing thru a 15 watt amp, so do i just need more power to drown out the "clunk"?

And also, my pop is alot louder then my slap, is it supposed to be like that? Or am i just not slapping hard enough?

It's probably closer to the mark to say you're popping too hard rather than not slapping hard enough, but as the pop is more trebly, it is more biting, so it should always seem a little louder.

And yes, you do basically just need more volume. The clunk shouldn't be amplified, for the most part, so with more volume it'll be left behind.

Hey, when you slap is it supposed to be the side of your thumb hitting the string lightly just enough to make a noise and then immediatly springing back up from the string while poping (I got the poping part down that was simple)? Sorry for the dumb question, but I just want to make sure I'm doing it correctly.

Ok newb slapper question: I've pretty much got slapping, but for popping, how is the "popping" different from plucking the string as normal? Thanks!

[QUOTE=convergecult89]Ok newb slapper question: I've pretty much got slapping, but for popping, how is the "popping" different from plucking the string as normal? Thanks![/QUOTE]
Plucking the string as normal, you just kinda push down/back on the string, popping, you hook your finger under the string and pull up. Im sure this is explained at least 3 times in this thread dude! Its explained in the original lesson at least!

BassNewb - You should be slapping just hard enough to make the string hit the frets.
ConvergeCult - That's explained in the main lesson, post one, page one.

how serious can the damage get if you slap on a fretless....Ive been slapin on mine for a while before i saw this. the only damage I see, is I can see where my strings have been hitting. can that get worse?

ive been playing for about 15 months and i think im pretty good at slapping and popping. i have managed to tackle Classical Thump and A Show Of Hands(even though this is mostly tapping) and i dont know if im average at slapping or if im advanced. i can play any red hot chili peppers song easily slapping and popping and i really havent tried any primus songs because i dont know any really really good ones(if you know any please list). i havent really found any other good slapping songs besides Classical Thump and certain parts of A Show Of Hands so ive gone on to slapping non slapping songs such as Anesthesia. if you can tell me some really good slapping songs id be greatly appriciated.

also i slap at the corner of my nail on my thumb, its farther up from my knuckly and it gives me the same sound but i have better accuracy because there is less amount of thumb going over the string.

basskid the damage can get pretty extensive if you keep doing it. i suggest getting a slap plate or stop slapping for the cheap solution, or if you have the money buy a good 4 string(fretted).

wintermute you say that the Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray often claimed the best for slapping, ive never heard this but im sure its very good but id say that the very best bass for slapping would have to be the Fodera Victor Wooten Classic 4 is the best for slapping because he said it himself that it was his best bass for normal playing and for slapping out of all the basses he has.

well thats all i have to say and if you know any really good slap songs please tell me.

Well I'm still a beginner but I'd go with saying that it's really a personnal thing. You usually play with what you start with or get used to. Marcus Miller uses a Jazz bass, Flea uses Music Man Sting Ray on every video I've seen of him, and Wooten uses his Fodera.

For slap songs, get into some Marcus Miller if you haven't yet. He's one of the best slappers of these days. Funk is probably the way to go, since most of slap and pop is in it. If you master Wooten's thumb-pick technique I guess it won't be hard for you.