Skipping the slap lessons?

:joy: :joy: :joy:

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I wasn’t trying to cast a negative light on slap above. I like slap a lot - some of my favorite bass artists are slap masters. I was just saying that while I feel like I should slap more, it just doesn’t work so well with the styles I like to play.

Picking, on the other hand - not sure what you all are saying up there, but picking is the truly refined high end of the art :rofl:

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I started the lessons, then skipped them completely and then went back. I think. I’m not actually sure.

Now I can slap. Not a master, but I can definitely do it fairly decently.

If you just don’t want to slap, that’s okay, too. How you play your instrument is entirely up to you.

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No, just slap it. its not a long module. If its not ur cup at least u have it complete. its good rhythm training if anything.

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Good point- why not give it a shot? Who knows, you might like it :slight_smile:

I think someone above had some good advice too; there’s other slap techniques that might work better for you. Slapping through is popular here. What Mark calls a rest stroke here:

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personnally I’m not interested in slap things, I’ve always found it sounds too demonstrative. I much prefer more direct and efficient bass lines. but also it depends a lot on the different styles of music, and the ones I’m listening to are not prone to slap at all.

that said, I always think that the more playing techniques you know, the widest is your expression range with your instrument. That’s why I actually learned all the slap lessons, and I’ve recorded one (and only one) cover focused on slap.

and that said, I don’t think it’s a problem if you skip the slap lessons. you do what you want/can and it won’t prevent you from becoming a good bass player in many styles.

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This^^^

Of course, if someone doesn’t plan to ever slap or pick, there’s no point in spending time practicing the technique.

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I never slap but I am glad I learned how to slap in both main styles.

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image

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@Barney she launched a bbq sauce after she became famous :smiley:

Thanks for the replies everyone!

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Won’t make further progress harder. I’m 100% no slap person. Just practice the rhythm with regular plucking technique if you feel guilty

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I played some slap for about 5 mins today, I’m probably good for another 6 mos now :sweat_smile:

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I don’t care to learn slap bass. It’s just not my style and it’s not the sound I’m looking for.

I really suck at slapping. After working really hard at it for about a year, I can finally play that silly part of spooky scary skeletons. I was never able to do the bounce slap like Josh teaches because you have to have your bass up high to have your thumb angled up, which means the neck is further away…always felt like I was holding a rifle. I hold my bass low and vertical-ish, so downthumb or rest stroke are the only 2 that work for me. I still have a very hard time getting a good tone out of the G and D strings. Another challenge I faced is that I don’t have a bony protrusion on my thumb knuckle…my thumb is consistent width, which makes slapping without hitting other strings tough. Initially, I “cheated” by using a thumb ring, which was very helpful.

But the bottom line is that unless you intend on playing funk or in a RHCP cover band, you don’t NEED to slap. It really is its own thing. It takes a ton of time to be able to get accurate and you have to deal with the calluses. Don’t let the slap module stop you from completing the course. Its totally normal to feel frustrated and inadequate the first time through the slap module.

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I suck at it; only a few of my favorite artists slap at all (and are mostly local musicians like Kiyoshi and F-Chopper); also, the styles I want to play don’t fit with it.

But I am still glad I learned it and did the slap lessons, simply because it’s fun :slight_smile:

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There’s a very small slap section on the A string in Rosanna by Toto (according to the tab I’m using) and I just pluck it. I’ve tried again with the slap instructions, but it seems I can only get a decent slap on the open E. Still, the song sounds okay without having to slap.

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You can just pluck it extra hard for those notes and it comes out sounding good enough in these cases.

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Yes please. Slap, slap, slapidy slap all night long if I could play some RHCP :metal::sunglasses:

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Slap is only for the real talented! He he he…

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