I was wondering if you'd gone over vic wooten's method of popping or not. I'd look through, but I'm lazy, and there's alot of stuff here.

my slapping sounds too twangy and my popping too metallic, even though i'm following the lesson's instructions. what can i do?

Im still confused...when you say your meant to use your knuckle to slap, do you mean on the side of your thumb where your knuckle is, or that flabby wrinkly part on the very top where your nail is? :confused:

[quote]my slapping sounds too twangy and my popping too metallic, even though i'm following the lesson's instructions. what can i do?[/quote]

Most likely you either have very new strings, in which case just wait for them to wear in, or you can solve it with some EQ tweaking. Ease off the treble, and boost the Bass a bit, see how that goes.

[quote]Im still confused...when you say your meant to use your knuckle to slap, do you mean on the side of your thumb where your knuckle is, or that flabby wrinkly part on the very top where your nail is?[/quote]

The side of your thumb, where the knuckle is.

You said RHCP covered Higher Ground, who did the original?

Stevie Wonder

i thought stevie only helped make it, i didn't know it was a cover

Chili Peppers released Mother's Milk in 1989, Stevie Wonder released Innervisions in 1973.

GREAT THREAD! I love it, thanks ever so much!! I thought slap was a touchy subject but now its so cool!!

i had the same problem
 

[QUOTE=NewFoundBassist]dumb question by a slap n00b, but when I start to slap fretted notes, the strings keep tapping the bottom fret for an annoying 'dead' metallic tap rather than the actual note. any ideas on whats wrong? any help/advice would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]
yeah concentrate on just brushin the string as u pass it. it's difficult to put in writing. as u practice the aim it comes naturally. hit it with the bone that protrudes outta the side of ur thumb. if u hit the string right down u get the metallic tap u talked about. if u just brush the string down and rest your hand on the string below it, it works out perfectly. practice with the ending of stirway to heaven (A, G, F) which is the easiest bass i know. i learned using that. have fun! hope i was of assistance!
sparky.

^^
Thanks for your help, but he asked that question in 2003. The odds are he's got it by now, or he doesn't play bass anymore. Either way I doubt he's still waiting on an answer! :thumb:

(especially since I answered it for him back in '03)

My thumbs seem overly large, and I keep hitting the A string if I'm slapping the E, etc.

Any suggestions for working on accuracy? good songs for something like that?

Antipop, Power Mad and Golden Boy by Primus are all quite good for accuracy, as is just slapping out something like:


G---------0
D--------0-0
A--0-0-0----0--0--0
E-0-0-0-------0--0--0

It doesn't have to sound musical, it's just a physical exercise. The size of your thumb shouldn't affect your accuracy unless you truly have side-show worthy digits. I've seen people pull off slap solos on a guitar before now. It's just a matter of practise and accuracy.

Keep trying! :thumb:

I've started slapping, and found you post very useful, however, I keep getting harmonics sounding in my amp, is it because i don't mute the strings? (Btw, the amp is 20W).

I also find popping quite hard on my fingers, but slapping I can do without so much strength into the slap, am I doing something wrong?

First of all, welcome to the forums. :thumb:

Assuming you are fretting the not properly, if you're getting noticeable harmonics I'd say you're probably letting your thumb rest on the string too long. Just let your thumb bounce right off, keep a nice loose wrist.

As for the popping, it hits a different part of your fingertip to normal fingerstyle playing - your existing callouses won't quite cover it. As callouses build up, it will start to feel less hard on your fingers. You could also be doing it too hard - you don't have to pull it too far away, or hook under too far. When I first started playing I broke a couple of strings through popping - since I got the technique under control about two years ago I've not broken a single string.

im not that good at slapping

Thanks for your reply but i keep getting the harmonics on the other strings, not the one i'm slapping.

This freaks me out. I picked up bass no more than last weekend and I could naturally slap & pop but can hardly play standard style. Man I'm scared.

I guess this is considored a slap question. I'm working on double thumping, and I can't figure out how to get the seconf half of it to sound right. Can someone help with this or supply a good video that has details on what exactly to do?

[QUOTE=TSASI V.2]I guess this is considored a slap question. I'm working on double thumping, and I can't figure out how to get the seconf half of it to sound right. Can someone help with this or supply a good video that has details on what exactly to do?[/QUOTE]
i just posted some videos in the main bass forum, look for 'Video Lessons'

[QUOTE=quatre07]i just posted some videos in the main bass forum, look for 'Video Lessons'[/QUOTE]
I just came across that. Thanks man.

I watched the videos but I still don't completely get it. Do you slap the first time, and then pull up and basically pop it with your thumb?

But anyway. I can slap on the E string very easily now, credit due to Wintermute, but one thing I can't get right is slapping on one of the lower strings. If I try just hitting down onto it it makes a really muzzled noise, and there doesn't seem to be enough room to bring my thumb down enough to make a clean sound. Am I doing something wrong or is it suppost to be like this?

ive tried..
 

i get the element of slapping and popping, i get a good sound of it, but i have to do it very slow., i just cant nail the speed or the rythm u know?., ive tried a lot and it seems im not getting better at all, what am i doing wrong? what excercises can i do in order to get to actually do it in a continous motion without losing the speed or rythm or the thrust if u can call it that.
i appreciate any kind of help
thnx

[QUOTE=irotinmyskin]i get the element of slapping and popping, i get a good sound of it, but i have to do it very slow., i just cant nail the speed or the rythm u know?., ive tried a lot and it seems im not getting better at all, what am i doing wrong? what excercises can i do in order to get to actually do it in a continous motion without losing the speed or rythm or the thrust if u can call it that.
i appreciate any kind of help
thnx[/QUOTE]
hey man, play nothin but slap and pop, and all i can say is experiment w/ songs, like incorporate these techniques into all of your songs start w/ slow songs and eventually (once uve mastered that) move 2 a faster song
ive gotten 2 were i can play seek and destroy doin nothin but slap but ne way thats all i can say
good luck and i hope this helps u :thumb:

I can't get any noise when I try to slap a string...

[QUOTE=88BASS88]But anyway. I can slap on the E string very easily now, credit due to Wintermute, but one thing I can't get right is slapping on one of the lower strings. If I try just hitting down onto it it makes a really muzzled noise, and there doesn't seem to be enough room to bring my thumb down enough to make a clean sound. Am I doing something wrong or is it suppost to be like this?[/QUOTE]

It's just a case of practise, practise, practise.

[quote]what excercises can i do in order to get to actually do it in a continous motion without losing the speed or rythm or the thrust if u can call it that.[/quote]

Try the Higher Ground cover the Red Hot Chili Peppers did.

[quote] I can't get any noise when I try to slap a string...[/quote]

Just a muted thump sound? If so, you're keeping your thumb on the string too long. It has to be a sharp impact, then away, otherwise you just mute the string. Let it come naturally - just bouncing off the string. No need to force it, no need to go too hard.

All right, I can finally slap, all the strings. And I've learned the first part to Wooten's classical thump. But one thing I can't figure out, is how to mute a string, or do a palm mute, or what ever it's called. I was trying to learn My name is mud by Primus, but the song involves palm muteing or something.

you can mute by either using your left hand to dampen the strings (more than 1 finger so you dont ring a harmonic) and use hand. I use a combination of left hand slaps, mutes and right hand slaps and palm mutes to make a very quick beat slap style which works really well. Palm muting works well when playing things like Stuart Hamm Country Music

I just got a bass yesterday, I've been playing guitar for maybe 4 years though.

Am I doing this right?

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