Advanced Slap Bass Techniques

Left Hand Slap Triplet/Machine Gun Triplet

The left hand slap was introduced in my article on the Basics of Slap Bass. In that article, the practice tips section suggested left hand slap triplets without naming them as such. This technique is used widely in the slap style, and there are variations in the method of playing them. Slap the E or A string with the thumb, followed by a left hand slap and then a pop on either the D or G string. This can be abbreviated to T-LH-P. Some players invert the slaps, having started the sequence with a thumb slap, to get T-LH-T-P LH-T-P etc.

The incredibly fast triplet runs – called machine gun triplets – used frequently in Mark King’s bass solos, move this pattern all over the fingerboard and allow the popped notes to sound (here’s an example). It is very common for bass players to play all the notes as ghost notes for percussive effect during a slapped melody. This is a technique to experiment with until comfortable.

Slap Pop Sixteenth Note Triplet

The next technique is called the “slap pop sixteenth note triplet”. It is actually a sixteenth note triplet followed by an eighth note, with an even rhythm over the four notes. These are played on pairs of strings, either the E and D, or the A and G strings. So to play a slap pop sixteenth note triplet mute the strings, and thumb slap the E string whilst positioning your index finger under the D – this is done on the downward hand movement. Pop the D string as you lift your hand away from the bass, and then repeat the same action. It should sound smooth but fast in a 1-2-3-4 rhythm (like “trip-uh-let-a” if you were singing the rhythm pattern).

Practise the technique on the E/D and A/G pairs until you are happy, and then it can be introduced into slap bass lines to add more percussive interest.

Double Thumbing

This final advanced technique relies heavily on a method of playing slap that I briefly touched on in the Basics of Slap Bass article. Some bassists slap by bouncing their thumb off the strings, and others push through the slapped string so that their thumb comes to rest on the next string – in other words their thumb will stop on the A when slapping on E. It is important to be comfortable with both of these methods of thumb slapping, but for double thumbing, you must do the latter and push through the string.

To do the double thumb technique, slap the E string so that your thumb pushes through and ends up resting on the A string. Then as you bring your hand away from the strings, use the back of the thumb to pluck the E string a second time. So you should be striking the E on the downward motion and plucking it on the upward motion. This can be quite a tricky technique to master, so lots of practice is required! Here’s a nice example of the double thumb slapping technique.

Other Techniques

Some other techniques are very handy for slap bassists but occur in fingerstyle playing also. These include the string bend to give a vibrato effect; the upper mordant (or trill), where a note is popped followed by a hammer on to a higher pitch, followed by a pull off to the original note. Another part of the slap bass player’s repertoire is the strumming technique – so bassists can play chords! Simply fret the correct notes and “flick” your fingers down the strings – practise this carefully as it is very easy to injure your fingers if you catch the strings too heavily.

If you practise all these techniques diligently, you’ll never be at a loss when required to slap out an interesting and entertaining bass solo!