1. Slap bass lesson - beginner/intermediate

[macfreak18]

i'm just gonna put this in my favorites for right now as i'm a beginner of all bassic bass (see what i did there? anyone get the reference? ;) ) but oh don't you think i'm not comin back, cuz i will. thanks in advance Marlowe

[leveeisbroken]

how MarloweDK im a massive fan but what is your recording set up? like you i have a a RH450 and a Apogee one (you might have the duet) and a mac. do you use the digital out from the amp ?

and the second one is is how do you record video? do you do it seprately to the audio and sync it up or do you do both in one program? let me know

Cheers

Rob

[MarloweDK]

@leveeisbroken Go to this page for the answers, playbassnowDOTcom/recording-vi­deos/

[jasenandstuff]

Is this much harder if you have a 5-string?

[koolmaaan]

@jasenandstuff I don't have a 5 string, but the strings may be bit close together... but it should be fine providing you still are being mindful of your index finger to mute the higher strings when you slap.

[ferniedz1]

Good bass player

[jubbelidiot]

Jeg takker, det hjalp virkeligt meget!

[sambumj]

Good job Marlow. I enjoy all your teachings I'm a better bass player because of your lessons. Thnx

[ashdown1981]

Hello, bass player on youtube seeking a quick bit of advice. If you check out a video of mine, you will see that i pluck in between my two pickups. Is this wrong? I see many pluck nearer the end of the fret board. Which is best?

[GUALLACOL]

Great Video! Very, very good instructor!!!! One of the best in youtube!

[ivanolu1]

man you are such a good teacher har du norsk?

[supern00b25]

@ivanolu1 Han er Dansk

[Mord0sK]

I'm fairly new to playing the bass but I've always wanted to learn slap :D Thanks for this lesson and especially for making me realize that the pluck is easier to do with the index finger rather than the middle.

[AutumnFlower1982]

I really appreciate what you've shown here, very helpful in my learning process.

[tajunska]

Sehr behilflich, herzlichen Dank

[Pentaerythrittetrani]

do you use any sound effects on your bass?

[monster6607]

I noticed you hit the string with your thumb on the fretboard. Would it make a difference if you hit the string more toward the bridge (off the fretboard)? Is it better to hit the string on the fretboard?

[gifted14u]

I love the way you play funky style Im a beginner desperate to be able to pop and slap the bass thanks for the inspiration and guidance danka G man

[Prettyflyforabassman]

SILENT :P

[tunasanwitch]

Hvor underviser du henne? Du er sgu vild :D

[Pentaerythrittetrani]

now my thumb hurts xD youre awesome!

[MAUFOFAO]

Dude I just love your videos and I always learn very much with them, but I have one question: are you french? Because your accent sounds a bit mixed for me: half english and half french ...

[TheZombieXecutioner]

ive always wanted to do slap bass but, when ever i slap my bass it sounds like someone is tapping on a microphone, why is that??

[o0bassist0o]

I've been playing bass for about a year and a half now and I've just started to play slap, this has helped a bit :)

[99TVB]

Er temmelig sikker på, at du er dansker :o) Udemærket og dybdegående undervisning. Jeg spiller selv, og underviser i guitar (speedmetal) men har altid været fascineret af bassen. Lækkert instrument.

God undervisning. Well done :o)

[PrachReceive]

marlowe .... u r using first finger or middle finger to play "up" stroke ?

[MrRockyBar]

Marlowe i love the basss i really do could you sugest some must hear music for me to listen to and learn from please i try and listen to all kinds of music but there so much just dont know where to start any help would be greatly apreciated also how are you so funk'n cool god i love your style

Jupp

[chrissalz]

That is the CORE of danish accents!

[jeffengee2000]

This is one of the most informative lessons I have ever seen on YouTube. Thank you!

[TechSmack]

i see you have 4 black dials, instead of 2 chrome 2 black

can you get all chrome ones?

[okornyalbaro]

the best and funniest bassist on youtube:D

[RawrForMyBassGuitar]

Thaaaaaaanks!!

[ThePennac]

I just can say Thanks MarloweDK

[simpsonsfan312]

You say thank you at the end of the video as if we are helping you out, we should be saying thank you!!

Thank you.

[65oon]

I like the way you teach

Thank you

[Mrgrig13]

wow... thanks uncle @MarloweDK ,.... U're one of the the greatest bass player......

can i follow your tweets??? ^_^

[zippoguy101]

Thanks a lot for the help glad to no thats there's at least one good teacher out there great lesson

[TheClairvoyant777]

Very good lessons, and very informative, I remember asking you about these type of lessons a while back.

[michaelmikaeel]

im a drummer and i love this great you yube pay the man!

[batistaladchuk]

Very god tanks

[TheFatPandIsHere]

Thats.... a really good lesson, thank you. I have pretty much learnt to slap bass fairly well in 2 hours. Your an awesome teacher!

[showtimed23]

i love the tc electronic amphead....but wat type of cab is that

[firehot006]

Great teaching great video, thank you!

[jonnwu]

Higher ground bass cover

[sjmzeldaavgnfan]

every time i slap my thumb on the string theres no tone coming? what am i doing wrong:(?

[ghostraider2112]

GREAT STUFF!!!!THANK YOU FFOR YOUUR PATIENCE,AMAZING TEACHER

[kuliwuli]

is it a good idea to try this as a total beginner?

[rob825]

I have very little slapping experience so this really helped me out. Any listening suggestions for funk bands or other bassists who are known for exceptional slapping skills? Thanks.

[sexylilkid010]

why does the bass buzz when i try slapping it sometimes??

[zuzizmi]

the first time seeing good bass teacher on youtube :| you are cool man

[TheRealReverendKev]

Thanks for all the videos, Marlowe!! You're a very good teacher!! I've been playing bass for 30 years, and I have 9 albums out there... However, I find much to learn from you!! You're one of the best bass instructors on YouTube!! Keep the lessons coming

[MarloweDK]

@TheRealReverendKev Thx man:-)

[hamidfan]

@TheRealReverendKev that was flea from the RHCP thanking you i am sure... hi flea

[goranski]

Thank you for all the lessons! You have some excellent teaching skills!!!

[paradeproductions]

hey Marlowe.....just a quick question about your Marcus Jazz...I also have one and notice your control knobs are different to what comes standard. Have you changed the pre amp in your bass if so what pre amp did you install and do you prefer it over the factory fitted one? Cheers From Australia!

[MarloweDK]

@paradeproductions Its a Sadowsky preamp, and i only changed it to get a tonecontrol - its not a BIG difference in general

[kangkongnilaga]

@MarloweDK about your tone control? the kit with the VTC? is the stock active/passive switch still wired with the new preamp? since the sadowsky seem to have another similar switch.

[MarloweDK]

@kangkongnilaga No its not wired, i just kept instead of having a hole;-)

[animewisher]

@FakingApathy yes, playing the beauty of a frettless requires many more skills not on a fretted bass, and the loss of many too. The frettless bass is meant for a verry experienced bass player, who knows where notes are possitioned without the need of fretts telling him/her where thry are, this resaults in the need of different "tech"s and playing style, usualy finger, not slap

[heavybass4ever]

This is God

[duckofdestruction]

@MarloweDK i watched sooo many how-to-slap-videos here on youtube and read a lot about slapping but man, i just couldnt figure it out until i watched your video. such a pity i didnt find it earlier. thank you so much for this!

[FakingApathy]

Hey...I have a fretless bass, a cheap one, and muting the strings by putting fingers down over them doesn't work very well. It usually results in it creating a quiet hammer-on. I was wondering if fretless basses require different techniques?

[acewizard44]

@FakingApathy hey you might just need to practice more cause i remember a long time ago i thought it was my bass also, but it was me. although your action could need adjusting if that isnt it. i hope this was helpful and i dont mean to be rude. good luck!

[IlbanenezH4CKER]

Hi, ive seen the whole video... and I wonder if you can play this slap and pop on every bass? Because i got a cheap bass and it doesn't sound like yours....

This is exellent though :P

[Stofferdyret]

Jeg må sige at det er en god video, men jeg kan da krumme tær af accenten en gang imellem. Men det skal da ikke stoppe nogen i at lægge videoer op :)

[MarloweDK]

@Stofferdyret Jeg er dansker og jeg lever med det;-)

[pbarnard740]

Hi Marlowe,

Impressive work. So clearly explained. Can you tell us what strings you use and if there are particular strings that work well for all-round slap and finger picking?

Many thanks

[p3nxil711]

thumbs up if your also a self-taught bass player.

[ChasePlaysBass1]

You're a really good teacher.

[MrRedPL]

Thanks man, very good lesson! I like it!

[Edelibo]

Tak for det Marlowe (:

Har spillet bas i et par år, og blev inspireret af noget Primus til endelig at lære slap (:

Fed undervisnings video!

[alxiroi]

Very nice beginner lesson.. thank you marlowe :)

[MrJAkObOo]

you a great bass man and youre lesson are very impresionat

[AlexEntwistle85]

Hi Marlowe!

I've started playing bass with a teacher only a year ago, I had been a self-taught for 2 years. It's been 3 weeks since we started the slap technique, but I can't mute the strings with my left hand, so can you suggest me some exercises so that I can improve this movement? My hands are very very small... thanks!You're great!

[ClaytonStaples]

Hello there Marlowe, it's me again.

I just wanted to personally thank you for helping me out so much with this. My friend and I want to start a "garage band" and he really enjoys listening to jazz slap bass just as much as I do. I've never been able to figure it out until now. (I'm a self-taught bass player)

Thank you so much for your help, and I wish you best of luck in your future endeavors.

Cheers,

Clayton.

[MarloweDK]

@ClaytonStaples You are most welcome:-)

[MrGrinch23]

Hi!

Your major triad video was awesome. I would like to start slapping. Is there a particular sequence of your slap videos I should follow?

Thanks for the amazing teaching!

[findthis8]

do you live in cali by any chance?

[SocialOutsider]

So what kind of setting would i need to have my amp on? I've also got a ibanez bass which is more for metal so slapping isn't too easy but i still like to learn it.

[adsong]

Marlowe im from Salvador /Bahia, Im a very very fan of you, all day i learn more about the bass because of you. Thanks bro, Quando quiser vir a Salvador terei o maior prazer em te receber em minha casa e te levar pra conhecer nossa cidade. abração. Adson

[JesusKid2006]

very helpful video, thank you very much for this

[queenaston]

I'm a begginner and my question reffers to muting other strings while slapping, to prevent them from sounding out. Is it just a some kind of tip for begginers because they often happen to hit two strings at the same time, or is it a professional way of playing? Should I cover the strings and don't worry about the misses? How should I lay my fingers on the fretboard?

[MarloweDK]

@queenaston Have you seen the whole video?

[queenaston]

@MarloweDK Yes I have and its great but I couldn't find the answer to my question (actually now I figured it out myself). Earlier I used to play the classic guitar and the finger action on the fretboard was different. I tried to lay my fingers on the fretboard in the shape of the hammer (so I could precisely and easily push the string) but then the other strings were sounding. Now I see that my fingers should rather stay slightly curved over the fretboard providing the cover for other strings.

[Kalilah8]

@queenaston It is called muting. It's more of a palm technique. As a tip.....practice playing your bass like a set of drums.....just pure rythme...then open up certain notes. Let them breathe....like a wine or what not. Operate bk wards from this teaching.

[Kekefarankos]

thank you man 

[lolosailing]

thanks a lot ! I love you ! I'm an old beginner (One mouth of practice at 40) and what you taught me impressed my bass teacher and some pretty girls (2 in particular) .

Now, I can pretend to slap like a beginner, but I'm tired and dry because of hungry chiks. Thanks for that too.

[skid987]

Thanks brother. I'm learning a lot from this.

[chjohnst]

Marlowe what settings are you using on your TC stack for a slap tone, been fighting with my EQ to get a brighter/clearer sound of my Fender Jazz. I either get a muddy tone or way too dark. thx!

[MarloweDK]

@chjohnst Boosting bass and treble a bit, and try with new round wound strings, that can do wonders

[chjohnst]

@MarloweDK I am running brand new EB slinkies, generally a pretty flat EQ on the TC. The bass boosted a lil and treble boosted. I cut my mids back a lil seems to help. Bass is always flat (most of the time).

[MarloweDK]

@chjohnst Same here, one other thing, on the video you hear also the acoustic sound from the microphone, that gives that "twang", direct out sound only is more flat

[WinsomeJohnny]

THanks so much!

[Rhysabdeen]

THANK YOU, first good lessons on how to play slap bass so far (ive been playin for a year)

[kantefier]

Cool lessons, thanks a lot, you are improviong my bass skills :)

Btw, can you tell me, what's this bass model? It's definately a Jazz Bass with some changes. Is it active?

[mxeria]

@kantefier fender jazz bass,marcus miller signature model..i think it's active.. p.s. marlowe dk for president!! :)

[MrChuey88]

i'm learning from your content. awesome so far man!

[rafikyandre]

nice lesson!!!

[fufish]

Another magnificent lesson.  Thanks @MarloweDK.

[djtimelord]

Wow! how easy you make it seem!

[tercermono]

Awesome all the way !!!! Thanks for taking the time for putting this videos together. I hope you continue with this thread. I'd like to see beginner videos for double thumb slap, which is very hard for me to do. Thanks again !!!

[GORFF987]

Professor....

How many Basses do you have?

20, I guess...

[RUBENPEREZmusic]

danke mein amigo, gracias bon lesson, merci for todo

cheers aus venezuela,



[Seriphyn]

Does slap bass sometimes rely on the actual guitar itself? For example, my bass is a P/J with a slim, rosewood fretboard. E-string slapping is okay, but anything higher is weak

[MarkyGoldstein]

Thanks, great lesson with good showing of details

[SaintUdnitz]

One suggest only:

I would change the name. It is not an intermediate lesson in any point. cheers!

[MarloweDK]

@SaintUdnitz The terms "beginner" and "intermediate" can span either way. I know of many that claim to be intermediate, that cannot keep a steady rhythm for instance and beginners that are quite good but too modest:).

[SaintUdnitz]

@MarloweDK oui oui, c'est vrai. Je comprends ce que tu veux dire. En particulier, la rainure n'est pas vrai pour beaucoup. Il est plus pur le spectacle en cours d'exécution à la "best and fastet slap bass ever including double thumbing, hell yeah!!"...Pour moi, il est également important de toujours être humble et modeste d'apprendre, de devenir meilleur.

Avais-je raison de dire que vous êtes Français? Wenn nicht, tut es mir leid ;)

Salut de l'Allemagne. Vous êtes un très bon bassiste.

[MarloweDK]

@SaintUdnitz A german writing in french to a danish guy!! Thats almost too complicated;-) cheers and thx:)

[SaintUdnitz]

@MarloweDK Oh dear, Im sorry! I really thought your accent was french ~_~'

Jeg bor i Kiel, slet ikke, langt fra Danmark. Tæt nok til at tale om noget dansk. Cheers!

[MarloweDK]

@SaintUdnitz Ha, ha, det gør ikke noget:-)

[SaintUdnitz]

this is cool, thank you.

[wanwanwaver]

Someone's lost a little weight, keep up the great lessons.

[PhuckHue2]

sounds like the chorus to Mista Cool

[thebassboy17]

Thanks for lesson

[IsaJacoBasso]

Thank You For Your Bass Lessons!! <3 <3 <3 :)

[TheGaoliang]

great video, I am right at this stage, picking up slapping slowly, slapping is not my main problem actually, I just find it very difficult combining it with popping. Practice makes perfect.

[clockworkwar]

I love your head bob when your in the groove.

[casimsalabim]

Very good for the beginners.

A great video, like always!

c.

[Scissers12345678]

thank you!

[joepic85]

Awesome, great stuff.

[Groynkikt]

Thanks for the lesson. Hope to see more.

[jgsky]

Thank you Marlowe, I love you!

If I were still in Sweden, I would have come for a lesson....pity pity...

[Barathrun]

You mister thank you very much !

[Kaiser325]

One question, How do you get some much sound out of one slap!?

No matter how much I try I always sounds low I need to raise the volume to insane levels... Any specific amp settings I shold try? Or is it just the tumb?

[sweederlander]

@Kaiser325

Get new strings perhaps? Old strings are often worthless to slap on.

[irishryno2000]

Thank you Marlowe. You, as always, rock. You got me over a hurdle with this lesson. Now I can start experimenting. Slap is something that has always troubled me as a player. Could you in the future show some proper striking techinques for the right hand thumb? Hate to make a request. Thank you.

[then00best]

to ee dumm, to ee dummm, to ee dummm

[MarloweDK]

@joelb79 Beginners are very often youngsters with too many hormones for their own good, I know I was, I just wanted to play fast slap and impress the chicks:-D

When I try teach all the important other stuff , its like like I'm saying "Eat your vegetables, before you get dessert"

[vivi125]

@MarloweDK Great explanation :D

[WinsomeJohnny]

@MarloweDK I'm 50 and want to play fast slap bass to impress the chicks!

[MarloweDK]

@WinsomeJohnny Lol:)

[koolmaaan]

@WinsomeJohnny

play slower... bass sounds poopy when played to fast, unless your playing funk, and even then...play any instrument and chicks will love it

[tadejonbass]

@joelb79 beginners should learn how to groove, it's usual for beginners, that they want to play as fast as possible and the hardest things... I think they should learn how to groove and how to express emotion while playing this beautiful instrument

[jpcaras]

@joelb79 Totally, begginers shouldn't try to play slap right away. I tried that, and yes it's very annoying when a bass player only focus in it, and i got really frustated because at the time I didn't have any previous technique, so I couln't do shit! LOL Thing is: when starting, don't bother with the slap, because it will suck, the main objective is to learn some basics, learn fingering, developing it and then got to the harder techniques.

[tadejonbass]

wow, cool. I have to watch several videos to learn all this, you just put it all into one video.. nice turn man, the world needs teachers like you!

[jpcaras]

thanks a lot for this lesson MarloweDK! :D

I usually listen to and play Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jamiroquai when recurring to the slap technique. Do you have any suggestions to which band/group I could listen to learn more about it? Thank You

[MarloweDK]

@jpcaras Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, Marcus Miller........

[piepmaxx]

@MarloweDK led zeppelin, beatles(oldschool bass;)

[MarloweDK]

@piepmaxx Yes? What about them?

[cornflakesnwater]

tightttttttttttttttttttttttttt­tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt­tttttttttttttt.. ;-)

[clewi1091]

can you show how to hit the strings with your thumb? i cant get the right sound out of it when i try it. i either mute it too much or it just sounds like im playing with my fingers.

[tadejonbass]

@clewi1091 slow down, it will work soon, dont rush! some thing that helped me was hitting the school desk with my thumb while sitting in school :)

[nrwhite6325]

Hey Marlowe! Do any of your lessons have instruction on the proper use of chromatics?

[MarloweDK]

@nrwhite6325 Some have, but dont remember which, i normally stick chromatic notes in to tie the chord and scale notes together. Ill keep it in mind for a future lesson, thx

[bwsailer]

Another excellent video Thomas! I think you are an amazing person for taking the time to share your knowledge in the thorough way that you do (AND FOR FREE!). You are a saint of the bass community.

[MarloweDK]

@joelb79 Well, join a funk band that plays Old school funk ala Graham central station then - its a matter of playing the style of music where its used. Of course you dont slap your way through your regular top 40 wedding gig:-)

[woutertron]

@MarloweDK @joelb79 Also, the obligatory slap solo is a staple of any successful disco/dance band's set. 

[t0kt0k]

Thanks, this was really helpful

[metalabyss1]

I have never had a problem with my slap and pop technique. I have that down pretty well. My problem has always been how to convert my knowledge of scales and arpeggios into this technique.Sure, I can slap and pop octaves all day long in a major scale pattern, but it doesn't really come out groovy. It just lacks something. You know what I mean? I hope you show further videos with advance slap and show us how to incorporate what we know already.

[MarloweDK]

@metalabyss1 Then you just dive aboard my slap lick section - plenty of advanced both rhythmically AND harmonically stuff, these lessons are for basic concepts

[jeanmarienoe]

thank u so much thomas

[TechSmack]

doih umm , classic!

[MarloweDK]

@TechSmack LOL!

[TechSmack]

@MarloweDK Heh heh :-)

[PeteGoesWild]

thanks Thomas.. it really helped me :)

[metallicametalhead]

@Noxx93 Yes you can convert these techniques to guitar.The space between strings is smaller.And it works well on acoustic guitars for me

[Skanderbeg91]

Really thanks!

[bobbysbackingtracks]

I think you have attained world supremacy, you got my vote!

[hoz49]

Looking forward to this series.

[Noxx93]

very nice! love it. do you think you can convert those tecniques to the guitar?

[Noxx93]

@Noxx93 not YOU converting it, but the rest of the world (or the few that's realised the awesomeness and informativeness of these vids).

[RaidenNoKishi]

@Noxx93 It's not easy, but it can be done after a fashion. Look into hybrid picking - you can probably adapt hybrid picking into a more guitar-based slap/pop technique.  You will want your strings to have a fair amount of tension for the right sort of "snap".

[dLema1]

@Noxx93 If I'm not mistaken Victor Wooten's brother Regi already did this, you should check him out.