Top 10 Slap Bass Tips (for Beginners / intermediates)

For some musicians, slap bass is a little like Marmite (or Vegemite, depending on where you live in the world); you either love it or you hate it. If you happen to fall into the former group then you’ll know that with great slap skills, comes great responsibility! But there are no short-cuts when it comes to getting started.

In today’s new video I’m going to show you some of the best ways to tackle the technique AND how to work out any kinks in your playing.

We’ve also got a beginner's guide complete with all the tab and notation that I use in this lesson, and it’s yours to download for free! Seriously, we’ve got everything you need to start giving your bass some twang!

In this lesson you’re going to learn:
- The variations and techniques involved in slap bass.
- How the style originated.
- Key bass players you need to know.
- How to get your bass setup properly.
- And much more!

As always, see you in the shed…

Scott :)

=================================================================

GET MORE BASS TIPS 👇
_________________________________________________________________

ABOUT SCOTT’S BASS LESSONS (SBL)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the largest online bass education platform in the world, with an ever-expanding course library and 40,000+ active members, Scott’s Bass Lessons (SBL) has everything you need to master the bass, all in one place.

Featuring beginner level bass lessons, engaging courses from expert instructors, step-by-step development curricula, direct feedback on your playing, real-time mentorship from A-list bassists and a thriving and incredibly supportive community, SBL is the perfect platform to uplevel your bass playing, whether you’re a total beginner, or an advanced pro-level bassist.

RECOMMENDED BASS PLAYLIST
-------------------------------------------------------------
Catch up with SBL Content you’ve missed:
#bassguitarlessons #bassforbeginners #easybasslines

LINKS
--------------
Tune in to our Weekly Podcast:
Explore our FREE courses:
Try our FREE GrooveTrainer App:

[bcole]

Les Claypool. The man that made me want to learn bass.

[linusmorgan-jones]

Flea for sure! The way he combined his funk origins into rock with the RHCP is unbelievable!

[benjaminwaechter]

Tatsuo Sakurai of Casiopea!!! His slap on the live version of Midnight Rendezvous never ceases to amaze me!

[ChurchOfTheHolyMho]

Louis Johnson. My parents had Brothers Johnson albums, so loved his sound from early on.

[megabobbob]

10:30 those new floating descriptions are brilliant ! It really makes the fretboard less overwhelming for me. You bring teaching to the next level, Scott !

[tommytritone]

Ryan Martinie is my “slap pop” guy. Underrated. Insanely talented. A pioneer of modern techniques and uses classic techniques as well. Known for being in a “metal” band but is currently in a jazz/fusion/prog band called soften the glare. Has been featured in several Warwick videos online. The dude blows my mind with his unique technique. Would love to see him on this channel!

[mattbishop]

Mark King. The reason I started playing bass back in the 80s. Also Wojtek Pilichowski - he wears his MK influences on his sleeve for all to see and has taken that particular style of slap bass to another level.

[jpost]

Marcus Miller. Power still blows my mind everytime I hear it.

[flatwoundfisker]

Freddie Washington thumping and popping on a P Bass is for me the best “ slap tone”.

[interfecirelinquo]

Victor Wooten is my guy, alos his so humble.

[stella]

davie504 is actually one of my favorites! i love the way he arranges everything and his technique is incredible

[hanglider]

My favourite slap bass player is Tetsuo sakurai. He played in the band Casiopea

[lespaul]

You're not only a great bass player...you are a brilliant teacher as well

[zenclover]

This was best video ive seen on beginners slap bass. As a 20 year old i bought a squire 5 string bass knowing nothing about bass and barely played much guitar. All i knew was that squire was the bassist from Yes and sounded awesome. Well i was lost and always dabbled but never understood what i was doing. This was before YouTube. Could have you used you back then! I sold the bass and got a different acoustic guitar that i felt more comfortable with. But now theres someone out there that doesnt have to sell yhier bass they can just listen to stuff like this and practice. These tips save you loads of time !!

[cheesecurds]

Les Claypool is my favorite bass player of all time

[prinsen]

I had this VHS with Alexis Sklarevski lessons about 25 years ago, and have not played slap bass sinces. Thou my insperation is FLEA!! I’m trying to get back in the game.

[damienscanlon]

Larry Graham is the slap bass messiah. I'd love to go through a Larry Graham class. But I would also love to hear from Bootsy about how he uses pedals and his funk techniques.

[insanecomicdude]

Man. Watching this video after watching your slap bass video from 2012 really shows how far your channel has come, and how much youtube has changed since then.

[frakognome]

Marcus Miller, whom I met several times: so a great felllow, so a great man and musician. Great video, too.

[LionAndALamb]

I was playing in a funk band 35 years ago and thought I was the funkiest thing east of the Mississippi until I heard Victor Wooten on that first Flecktones record. I was humbled and and inspired by his speed and technique. These days there are so many brilliant young players who can funk me under the table that I'm watching Scott's videos just trying to keep up!