[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.

[QUOTE=basskid]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?[/QUOTE]

The damage where your strings are hitting is what will happen, yes. It can get worse, it can get quite bad. I'm not an expert in this area, but there are ways of stopping it. Ask in your local guitar shop, or look round the forums.

[quote=FreakOfNature]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.
[/quote]

This is a little pedantic, don't you think? The Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray is commonly regarded as the best STANDARD PRODUCTION bass for slapping. Most people can't afford a Fodera, and even if they could it's only a matter of opinion whether it would be the best, you may well find Carl Thompson custom basses, as endorsed by Les Claypool and Stanley Clarke to be the best.

I mention other good slapping songs in the main lesson at the beginning, but I'll go back and add some more now. Marcus Miller is indeed a good choice though. That guy has incredible slap tone.

i tried all of those songs and they were too easy except Classical Thump which i already know. If you have any more suggestions they would be greatly appriciated.

Cheerz, this topic has helped me greatly, i used to slap with my thumb horizontal, but through reading this topic i have learned a lot, thank you.
There is only one problem for me now, and that is speed, i cant get enough pace as i would like to with my slappin, i practice but it seems like it aint gonna happen for me.

Is there any more tips for 5 strings, coz i have a 4 and a 5, but would like to be able to be as good on both.

[QUOTE=Blink'd]to mute the strings so it doesnt buzz for too long, get your sisters or your prison mates hair tye- the scrunchy fuzzy ones, and wrap it around the neck, like a capo for bass, this is what such bassists as victor wooten and p-nut do! cheers[/QUOTE]

or you could just mute it with one of your fingers on your left hand, just dont press down

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by Blink'd
to mute the strings so it doesnt buzz for too long, get your sisters or your prison mates hair tye- the scrunchy fuzzy ones, and wrap it around the neck, like a capo for bass, this is what such bassists as victor wooten and p-nut do! cheers[/QUOTE]

ive done this before and i havent been able to find a good scrunchy to use on it. you have the strings all at a certain height for the scrunchy to effect it. what i use for my steinberger is this thing i made out of medical wrap. i just stapled it together in a circle and it works perfectly, but the only problem is it will only work for headless basses.

Well some of you might remeber me having the five string slap questions.. well I dropped the five string and got a four...

the four is sooo much more easier! I can really bust out now on this, since I was playin on the 5 for soo long.

^ see it is easyier because the strings are further apart, so i dont understand how anyone can think they slap better with a 5 string over a 4 string.

Good introduction yo :).

Man I wish I had have been on these boards when I first started bass.

I had been playing for a year before I taught myself slap, my bass teachers showed me the technique but I never understood. For so long I honestly thought I would never be able to do it.

But hey, now I can, live and learn.

^^
Ha, at least you had teachers. I taught myself to slap by watching the video of Claypool playing the Awakening. In fact that video made up a good deal of my bass education.

The string spacing makes it easier to slap cleanly on a four string, but going from one string to another is easier on a 5 as there is less distance to travel.

If you find the suggested songs too easy then you've gone beyond this lesson, which was intended after all as an introduction. There have been many many threads made about hard slap songs and such, go search for them!

Wow, all's silent for ages, then I spend ONE night under a desk in an airport and EVERYONE comes to the thread!

ya i had to teach myself how to slap also and i didnt even have a video to do it. i had a teacher but he couldnt slap because he was a classical guitar player. how fun it was to learn bass from him.

Wintermute nice thread on slapping. It took awhile to understand what slapping should sound like but this thread helped alot. When you first played that part from "Higher Grounds" I thought it was impossible. Couple days later I was able to play it full speed. Good job on the thread it's helped so much. :D

[QUOTE=FREAKofNATURE]^ see it is easyier because the strings are further apart, so i dont understand how anyone can think they slap better with a 5 string over a 4 string.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I've noticed in tabs that slapping on a FIVE and a FOUR use two differnt techinques. FIVE string bassist like Dirk Lance who used to play for Incubus use more of a finger tap for the slap.

I'm workin on that thumb now, since converting to a FOUR.

I've not watched Dirk Lance, but you commonly see Les Claypool going ape slapping away [i]with his thumb[/i] on his six string.

Bass-Newb - Glad to help. Slapping is a lot easier than it looks and sounds, and so it continues as the ultimate weapon in our war against the guitar ;)

lol war against the guitar, to slap on a 5 6 or 7 string all you need to do is have a **** load of practice. i know this guy who has a 7 string and he goes crazy slapping on that thing.

With sufficient practice, you can slap virtually anything. Regi Wooten has been known to pull off slap solos on his electric guitar.

i found out i can play the first two parts of classical thump on guitar slapping.

Good.

Right, back to the lessons...

Edit: - To all readers - This lesson has been duplicated in the new, non-archived L&A section - if you have a question or a comment, be sure to head over there, and, as ever, feel free to contact me.

Thread resurrected from the Old Lessons and Articles forum to stem the flow of slap questions in the Beginner forum.

Any questions, ask them here, and I'll answer them as soon as I can.

Later today I'll take a couple of pictures, and include them too.