Simple Triplet Slap

I will share with you the technique of creating the fast percussive triplet strike on the bass. Some people called it the bullet slap or machine gun.

The technique is pretty similar as the open hammer pluck. If you can do that, then triplet slap should be no problem. I will show you the basic way of doing it as I believe there are more ways
to achieve it as well.

What I did was I pluck with my fore finger, slap with my left hand on the fingerboard and thumb slap with my right hand. You can see it on the video.



Triplet = 3, pluck + left hand + slap thumb = 3.
Make sure the left hand slap give you a clear fret sound.
That's it!! Not difficult right? Practice slow first! Many bass players use this technique to add spice to their playing. Another way of doing it is use your right hand thumb follow by pluck 1(fore finger) and pluck 2(middle finger).

Ok let me show you in this short simple video clip how the triplet slap can be apply.



Thank you for visting.

Have a good time slapping.

Cheers,

Ben

Diatonic Scales /Major Scale Modes

Last time when I was surfing for some bass theory material and came across these Lydian, Mixolydian and etc. I was like...WOW! What are they talking about? Too sophisicated for me. Perhaps not that important since no one really told me that I need to know these?

Well.. the truth is, it will help explain why certain notes sound right when you are in a certain key playing certain chords. That will expand your music thinking as well.
I will cover the type of modes, it's interval and the notes for those who are still learning.
Let's get started. Remember to tune your bass and print this lesson if you find it useful. :)

There are a total of 7 modes. We will take the key of C for learning purposes.

1. Ionian (Interval - 1 2 3 45 6 7 8) (C D E F G A B C)
2. Dorian (Interval -1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 8) (C D Eb F G A Bb C)
3. Phrygian (Interval - 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8) (C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C)
4. Lydian (Interval - 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 8) (C D E F# G A B C)
5. Mixolydian (Interval - 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 8) (C D E F G A Bb C)
6. Aeolian (Interval - 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8) (C D Eb F G Ab Bb C)
7.Locrian (Interval - 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 8) (C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C)

There are good videos and books available that teaches extended patterns as they use 2 modes at the same time. Also videos explaining how you can apply these modes to your music.

Hope this lesson will give you a better understanding of the modes. Don't be afraid to try. A good bassist will like to learn more each day

Cheers,

Ben

Time to Slap?

Believe it or not most people who wanted to learn bass are because of slapping. They think that it is slapping on the bass that will make them groove, funky or look cool. Well!
Depend on how each individual view it.

The slap technique origin from Larry Graham. It was out of necessity as their drummer was not around and he had to use the bass to double up providing the snare drum.

Throughout the years we saw a few ways to slap and thump that bass. I will just quickly touch on the most basic of it.

What I usually do is to use my thumb and strike the last fret of my bass. It’s like bouncing on it and come back. Some people like to do the thumb down and up method. Occasionally I use the thumb down and pluck with my fore finger followed by my middle.

Try to slap on every open string and get the same volume. D and G string are thinner so might be more difficult to strike. With some practice should be no problem.

Think of a drum pattern and practise with it. For now you can treat the bass drum as your slap and snare drum as your pop.Your pop can be the octave of the note you slap. Up to you. Get the technique right first before playing with a time machine.Got a PC and don't want to spend on a metronome? Thank God for www.metronomeonline.com.Select a comfortable tempo and groove.

Ok hope you have some fun with it and don't rush.

Cheers,

Ben