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Slapping- need help

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(@usaf_chrisa)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 93
Topic starter  

Okay ive searched around for different techniques for the slap and pop style of playing but i just cant seem to get the hang of it. When i hit the string with my thumb it makes a rattling noise as the string hits the frets im guessing. Am I hitting the string too hard or in the wrong place? Any advice you can lend would be nice...

Top 3 albums of all time:
1. Abbey Road
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band


   
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(@manitou)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 121
 

Use the hard point of your thumb by the joint. And experiment with slaping on different points on the string, on the actual string and on dfferent frets and see what happens, usually they say around the 20th fret I think but depending on your guitar it might be different. Also. Fret notes VERY VERY Cleanly and precisely or you WILL Rattle. Hope this helps.

SHUT UP ABOUT IRON MAIDEN SOLOS AND GO PRACTICE!
-Manitou


   
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(@usaf_chrisa)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 93
Topic starter  

Thanks, that does help. However it still seems that the string is coming down and hitting all the frets and just making like a click. Even when i try to slap an open E the string hits the fret closeset to the bridge... Am I hitting it too hard?? Should i raise the strings?

Top 3 albums of all time:
1. Abbey Road
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band


   
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(@musenfreund)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 5108
 

Your strings should be fine. And you might be hitting too hard -- I had that problem at first. But it should also be a really quick slap and release with the thumb. Check the section in Wheat's Online bass book on slapping and popping. (Thanks, Helgi!). He describes letting your thumb bounce off the strings. I'd wager that's the part of the technique you need to work on.

Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon


   
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(@usaf_chrisa)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 93
Topic starter  

thanks, ill look into that

Top 3 albums of all time:
1. Abbey Road
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band


   
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(@paul-donnelly)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1066
 

No one has mentioned yet that the strings are supposed to hit the frets when you slap. You'll need to experiment to find out how hard to hit them to get the best tone, but they should be hitting the frets. Likewise with popping. It doesn't take much force to make them hit, as you've found.


   
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(@artguitarhendsbee)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 157
 

I don't play bass but I do play gutiar and I do play slap guitar and I am fairly sure it has similar methods as bass. One thing i elarned is that if you slap the string with your thumb somewhere over the pickups (in that general area) the string should hit the frets on the fretboard as a result of your thumb hitting them.( the string SLAPS the fretbard making that sound) One important thing to remmeber though with this technique is that::

if your thumb is still in contact with the string AFTER the string has "slapped" off the fretboard , your thumb will mute the string

so you gotta be quick, If youre a student liek me jsut spend some time thumb slapping your deskif you play right handed bass the left side of your right thumb on the joint is where you will want to hit it@

good luck and "happy slapping"


   
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(@confusd)
New Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 2
 

My bass sounds sick when i slap... um.... could that be because the strings are pretty old?


   
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(@musenfreund)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 5108
 

I doubt it. Have you followed the instructions from Wheat's bass book (link in my earlier post)? You might also crank up the gain a wee bit.

Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon


   
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(@paul-donnelly)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1066
 

My bass sounds sick when i slap... um.... could that be because the strings are pretty old?
Yes, but they would have to be in really bad shape. Since you're a beginner (I assume), it's more likely that you just need practice.


   
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(@usaf_chrisa)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 93
Topic starter  

Okay so i STILL cant slap... just get a clanging noise. Does anyone know of any good videos that demonstrate the slap technique?

Top 3 albums of all time:
1. Abbey Road
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band


   
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(@jmb-d)
Estimable Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 98
 

Are you making sure to release the string quickly after striking it with your thumb? If you don't, then the string won't have a chance to make any sound at all.

Also, with your fretting hand, are you pressing the string down right at the fret?

In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.
-- Yun-Men


   
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(@usaf_chrisa)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 93
Topic starter  

my thumb seems to come off the string right away and i am not fretting right on top of the fret. im fretting just behind it, like i would do if i wasnt slapping. The noise im getting is like a regular bass note but also with a big CLANG that seems to be coming from the frets near where i am slapping. I am hitting the strings where the fretboard ends and the body starts. Do i just need to practice pulling my thumb off more?

Top 3 albums of all time:
1. Abbey Road
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band


   
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(@musenfreund)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 5108
 

I think it is probably an issue of practice. And think of it more as "snapping" than slapping. It's a quick movement.

Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon


   
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(@artguitarhendsbee)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 157
 

one excercise i do when Im not aplying guitar (at school or work) is on a flat surface like a desk I slap the desk with my thumb then with my pinky the tip of your pinky and the bony side of your thumb i try to do it as quickly as i can and in different patternsd, i found this really helped my slapping, I do it on guitar though so it might be different?


   
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