Mark King (of Level 42) Slap Bass Techniques

[nicetrydick]

Wow

[MrOctane3]

he is one of the best!

[paddy689909]

Who gives a fuck whether he's cheating or not? I'm not a bass player but those red lights look cool as fuck and Mark King is an unbelievable bass player.

[minx3a]

@paddy689909; Wow, steady on Paddy !.

[divast2008]

Absolute legend. One of my all time heroes.

[minx3a]

@divast2008: I agree 100 % !!.

[a1974h]

He's cheating he got red lights to tell him where the frets are

[minx3a]

@a1974h: Yehh right !.

[enterBJ40]

man : i dont think Mark King need to cheat. Do you really think he's cheating when performing at stadiums? dont think so...

[minx3a]

@enterBJ40: Yahhh, don't think so !!.

[fmrecords]

@a1974h post a video of you playing like Mark King and we can have a discussion. Until then.....

[bofursgun]

What a flthy slapper.

[minx3a]

@bofursgun Madam, please !!.

[bofursgun]

@minx3a,

OK. The madam is a filthy slapper.

[angwx]

his expression at 2:59, " Well, piece 'a cake"

[StrawberryJungle]

Mark King is my biggest inspiration.

[minx3a]

@StrawberryJungle excellent !!.

[the12345joker]

Luke Skywalker on Bass. Mark may not be a Jedi but he is certainly a King !!

[minx3a]

@the12345joker "may the force be with you !"

[nilpointdotcom]

the answer to both questions - the chinese way and level 42!

[jsilence418]

"Slapping is the ketchup of Bass playing"" Anthony Jackson

[minx3a]

@jsilence418 ??. 

[jsilence418]

@minx3a !!

[MrSluggo666]

@jsilence418 Yeah it sounds good in its place, but grows tired after a while. Finger style always! some of the best players ever never slapped !

[1969fenderjazz]

@jsilence418 Well put. Mark surely drowns his food in ketchup.

[jazzlyzack]

quality........

[BassAce691]

No Mark, your hands aren't going particularly fast at all..... O.O

[licobass100]

Exellent Work! beatiful technique...

[minx3a]

@licobass100

[minx3a]

@licobass100 ??

[germaneusko]

I thought I knew how to play the bass, but after that ........ i will go to set fire my bass and throw it away

[drewzzr1]

I feel the Force

Thank you Yoda!

[minx3a]

@drewzzr1 excellent !!..........

[deadfredshead]

i thought i was weird when i slap because my arm proper comes away from the bass then back down when a lot of people are just moving the wrist but mark does as well :) (not so much in this video)

[VenousPlatypus]

Thumbs up for Mark King picking his nose!

[twinsnake13]

he pratices the double thumb ?

Pratique-t-il le pouce aller retour ?

[sprintbass]

this man is amazing...please some one out there who is a fan sample his dna because we need more bass players like this! the funny thing for me as a bass player is im not as fast as he is but i play differntly..for example he wears that tape on his thumb..ill play for hours and my thumb is fine, but its my pointer and miuddle finger that gets the brunt of it...i also got tendonitis in my pip joint from playing so much..find i must be very warmed up to even get near that..bass playing i love.

[carriersignal]

effortless!!!

[TheRod1968]

pure class ;-)

[Metalcatable]

Legend ........

[123YngwieMalmsteen]

1:04 hahaha lol...

[MrTilee]

dommage que la qualité laisse a desirer sinon très intéressant

[minx3a]

@MrTilee Juste un commentaire MrTilee mais à plus de 173.000 points de vue, il ne peut pas être si mauvais!, Pour chercher une meilleure qualité au Pt Pier Interview 2.

[Ettore66]

bravo e simpatico el "fio"

[JohnnyKwango]

1:40 - it all goes a bit Seinfeld! But I like it!

[mow2vu]

mint

[epikuroarq]

wowwww...amazing

[saviouroftheuniverse]

Lovely sound for an interview - what amp does he play?

[69erthx1138]

For sure, mastering that percussive element in the basic triplet pattern is the key!

[stratmad]

makes perfect sense when you hear and see him demo his drumming ideas transposed to the bass...until you try and do it! brilliant musician.

[jannemannetje44]

he makes it look so easy...it's not tho ! ;-)

[SuperJLogan]

the amazing thing is: he plays in a percussive way making notes and melodies and at the same time he sings....like the greatest of all time....

[umiiruka07]

@SuperJLogan And to add to this: he still holds the floor in almost everything he plays, even while soloing; at the end of the day, he's still playing bass, that's not easy

[taufoofar]

@SuperJLogan Claypool from Primus... amazing slap lines, while singing. And I think that's harder, cos it's not really singing, more like narrating.

[bassthumper]

i love him...

check my name..he is why i started...

[sleslie23]

Holy shit!

[wildtatz]

not only a genius ,, hes funny to.. 1:03...

[jazzfunk61]

This is awesome.

Pure musical talent

[Zaul2410]

like i've allways said, the bass is a drum with notes

[stjimmy1976]

i went to the same school as mark on the isle of wight, and was taught drums by the same person who taught him. all this inspired me to take up slap bass, 25 years later i can replicate alot of his techniques, but its one thing copying them, and quite another inventing them. the man is a living legend!

[Embrace179]

Loving the lights on fret markers :)

[RaccoonMario22]

He tells you how to do it, but I still couldn't. I greatly admire Mark King, I am in awe.

[Mr6292]

I cannot play bass at all, just guitar. However, I can appreciate brilliant bass guitarists and Mark King is one such example. I appreciate how 'working both hands' you can create the note speed, but understanding the principle is so different from putting it in to practice. I will buy a short scale bass in the New Year to learn a few basics though.

People like Mark King are really inspiring and I wonder how many people will take up playing bass seriously because of him. A real talent.

[kinshasaAPP]

@Mr6292 I am one of those people. :)

[Apathesis0]

@Mr6292 I think plenty of people will just get discouraged! But practice makes anything possible. Granted some people will always be better. That's just genetics.

[utahdrumtech]

Mark is a master of what he does. He really plays and thinks outside of the box. His passion for his music shows in everything he does... There never was another band that sounded like Level 42!

[plangentmusic]

Makes me want to get an Alembic. What a sound! And King is great at that technique-- very underrated.

[txp303420]

I thought he plays status basses

[meksiboi]

i believe so, yes

but in this video he use an alembic, u can tell from its head

[kinshasaAPP]

@txp303420 He's played Jaydees, Alembics, and Status's.

[GuyMagicFingers]

SIMPLES!

[TRaddcliff]

so what do you do if you are cursed with small hands?

i know his bass has SUPER lite touch. which helps, but what do you do with the reach.

mark king is fantastic

[arunaka]

I wonder what he wears on his thumb and what you call it.

[minx3a]

B&Q Gaffer tape !!, LOL !!......................

[WindowInThewall]

he doesnt wear anything.. its called slapping

[iadans]

he often wears a ring of tape around his thumb, though not during this video... its shown briefly on the photo around 32 seconds

[ijizz420]

ahaaa its so simple now :P sum day ...

[Tooltrocity]

Sweet. Now I'm 110% sure I'll never be that good at slap bass. Lol

[SalvationHasCome]

Dude, you should let it inspire you, encourage you, remind you to keep practicing.

I thought I was never going to do such things then I got a bass teacher who plays a lot of Mark King and what Mark King does is really quite simple. The hard thing in this part is putting the notes to it, but it's pretty "easy" even though easy is a relative word :p

[markod1991]

That Is Unreal! Itd Be so awesome to do that

[mickeymoose76]

Im glad he cleared that up, I can do it now!!! (I wish!)

[SSLostSoulSS]

....and it's as easy as 123.........I wish haha

[carriersignal]

Pure TALENT! I would so love to have his gift.

[jaydeebassman]

ALEMBIC!!

[jugglerjoe]

Great slapper. Haha but really. He has come up with a lot of slap riffs that other bass players copy these days. He's so fast but still stays in time which extremely hard for slapping and can get very tiring. Just an amazing bassist when it comes to slap.

[sophiegromit]

MUCH RESPECT TO MARK KING!

[bitterspice]

I just discovered Level 42 on Thursday. (Late, I know.) Always knew about the two really big hits, but didn't know anything else about them, except for the Douglas Adams connection. Thanks to YouTube and you, I now know about Mark King. I always thought he had a beautiful singing voice, but now I'm truly impressed by his musicianship. Thanks!

[yesbassist]

man should of heard them on a wednesday!!! lol... oh well better late then never

[gtw94]

uhm....is his fret ID inlay .....lit up ?

[MeltedProphet71]

Yes. I believe that's an Alembic bass with LED fret markers.

[Numlocq]

Correct

[Kalcite]

Yep :'D

Inset LED's

[tall32guy]

F'in rockass!!! :D

[0630nicknu]

Genius doesn't describe the core talent that is this man.

[BurNiNgBAssisT86]

it actually turned a switch in my brain.. like ahhh!

thanks for putting this up

[FuttexD]

stunning

[janica63]

Gold fingers...

[lkman4]

i bet the action is damn low

[klamatoconlimon]

this guy its  I M P R E S I V E

[SalvationHasCome]

I like his face at 1:54 :D

[Kalcite]

it's like he's having an orgasm xD

[RespIendency]

thats exactly what playin feels like

[Kalcite]

no doubt

[supermushy]

he reminds me of a south park character at that part

[phanchieta]

man, that guy is fast...

[fsujci]

i appreciante the nose picking to prove your point.

[irocknj]

nose picking goes a long way in my book too

[toofpick151]

Nice on the Alembic, but I have to admit, I do like his sound on the Status better. Good switch.

[shredidiah]

I was geeking out on this stuff 30 years ago and still am. But its not just about speed and how fast you play, its about feel and the melodic songs. Feel for me is not someone who's techincially fast (and there many out there), but when they play it makes the hairs on your neck tingle ! which more often and not isnt fast playing, ie The Johnson Brothers etc. Bass lines that Hurt !

[tadtravis]

I just picked up level 42's latest cd-retroglide from 2006----unbelievable-you HAVE to check it out....music is the soundtrack to the diary of our lives....in 20 years from now when Im still digging on it...I'll be remeniscing on 2009!!

[bladesaint21]

This is great! Most famous artists that are on top like mark King won't break down their signatures techniques this simply were you can see it being achieveable except for Wooten.

[wajpereq]

Thanks for posting! Now I know how to play the bass and pick the nose at the same time :D But seriously - a good vid, gracias.

[t3hubern00b]

What is this from? A dvd or something?

[minx3a]

From the "Pier Interview" entitled "King of the Isle.

[feeps55]

WHoah!!!

[f3xphilippru]

God, save The King!

[Criticalizzy]

I've only just discovered this. I've been a huge fMark King fan for over 20 years. Thanks to whomever posted this video. Mark can transform a four-stringed instrument into a mult-percussive band with his genius mind and fingers. He is so technically proficient, it's ridiculous!

[ilovetodefygravity]

Yeah, I know, but he's just showing in a funny way he can play

with one hand.

[ilovetodefygravity]

He's just showing his technique!

[scat4u]

it will come to you. just learn whatever your teacher tells you.

[oleoleo1]

2:43-end is what makes MK so special. Haven't heard anybody else sound like that.

[humpreystrong]

its the boger that make it lit!!! hehe

joke

[barkon]

What amazes me about Mark King and Les Claypool is their economy of motion.

[minx3a]

The Pier Interview named "King of the Isle".

Hope this helps !!.

[Retroglide1]

what is this from?

[invert48]

booger fingers in hair

[LittleCinty]

He started out as a drunner my Uncle new him at school

[SmedleySmorganoff]

wow ... what kind of bass is the white one in the back

[minx3a]

LED's (light emiting diodes) built into the neck of the guitar, MK can turn these off or on by a switch to the rear of the main body, we all say they look "tarty", but Mark assures us they are to help him see the fret spacing in the dark !!, as if !!.

[wtfyourdumb]

Most Alembic bases have had LEDs in the neck since the late 70s. This is nothing new. And of course the bass in this video is an Alembic. And it is one you can actually purchase at any dealer. Alembic does not make his signature model, however his signature model does have the LED's as well.

[markowalski]

why do his frets glow like that?

[bloodaltar2]

dammit. i just lost the right to my balls

[Beatles4President]

mwahaha major bass face

[yuraoilwrestling]

I really want to learn how to get that driving 16th note slap style, it just sounds cool.

[Zinglogo]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAAAH thats AMAZING

he is way awesome!

[apeskinheart]

So there you have the secret! The drummer who became a bassist. Nature abhors a vacuum.

[GDT1124]

he uses status graphite.

[groovemak]

Everytime he plays he makes me move!!!!!!

[TOTTYHAM45]

Brilliant ,genius at work ! Long live Mark King & Level 42 .

[crankylobster]

so not fair

[danny1066]

His surname says it all

[bensoan]

he makes it look so easy

[ozzcows]

Your insane we get the point, break down one riff so we can actually learn something.

[ERICWENDYBRIAN]

I guess I better get back in that woodshed....

[christophegautier]

look at his face at 1:56 !!! :)

This man has the groove. He's my favourite bass player.

[rushfan992]

1:03

lol

[kingbassplayer]

THE BEST ~how to~ VIDEO IVE SEEN RELATING TO THE SLAP STYLE FROM ITS BEST EXPONANT MR MARK KING !!!!

it really is all here

MANY THANKS minx3a  KINGbassplayer

[bassman936]

1:55 he has major bass face

[benny704]

AAHHAHA

[AshleyC42]

I wish I could play the bass like that.....Awesome!!!!!

[santinobass]

what kind of bass does he have?

[spudgun05]

in this vid its a alembic ,mark king model

[far0n]

Not quite, Mark used Series II Alembic basses. The Mark King model came along much later.

[kileythebassist]

need more... must have more mark king instructional...

[Mowac]

Note to self: Put your plucking finger up your right nostril when doing hammer-ons with the left hand. Thanks Mark......got it!

[racrx32]

then hide it in your hair! he is great!

[thegroove369]

Mark King Rocks and alwaya will!!!!!

[humankey]

does anyone know if mark king has made any instructional videos??

[StevieGTT]

Absolutely loved that, cheers!

[over18start100]

thanks a lot for the vid!

and zepascalou:

mark king is a master of virtuosity AND expression !

[babyjoke64]

woah tx this is really helpful man,,,, ur the best mark king. O_o

[mgfaxlad]

Mark King rules. He's a bloody genius with that instrument.

[emt4242]

AMEN...He's the man!!!

[rewbert]

Thanks so much for uploading this vid :) what a legend, not you... him ;) thanks again

[zepascalou]

To many notes isn't music...

virtuosity has nothing to do with expression

[CE750]

easily the most under rated bassist in music

[dolphinroundabout]

..and he can sing pretty well whilst playing! No mean achievement.

[ramon709]

He keeps amazing me...even though i've seen his "tricks" for 25 years now. i still adore his sound and techniques...and he is a great guy.

first time i noticed that he isnt using rotosound strings btw...anyone knows what strings he uses here?

[dkcvv]

I've read somewhere that he's now using status strings. I used to play with Rotosound before (I think that brand replaces Superwound that Mark uses in the 80's but the brand doesn't exist anymore. I've tried D'Orazio superlight gauge (30-85) : Great for fast playing but the E and A strings sound is toooooo light. I put GHS Boomer 40-95 now and I think it's a good choice for seed-sound.

Fred

[duffymoony]

Hefty!

[rdbilly]

From memory, I think they were always superwound strings but don't quote me.

[maidstoned]

Yep, he always used to use Superwound.

[sbenzardo]

Mark has an incredible sense of rythm, every bass part is full of groove...AMAZING!!!!

[millerflea]

he is amazing....

fantastic

[zorro1955]

THIS DUDE IS BAAAAAAAAD!  he got larry graham beat i think!

[sjohnsjakie]

for speed yes, for groove and sound, no.

[DMCpro6944]

He is the reason why i started playing the bass!! Still a great bassplayer, very ahead of his time!!NEVER underestimate bassplaying especially rythmic and melodic playing and do not forget he sings aswell with it and thats the hardest thing to do, try it for a change you will find out!!! Great RESPECT FOR MR.KING!!!

[jarriano]

He´s the best.imposible to follow the fingers.

[TrueVelocity2]

Mark King is truly the best slap-bassplayer ever. Totall madness..

[4StringDomination]

Very true...

But the things he is explaining in this vid are just the basics of slap-bass...

Greeeeeez