How To SLAP Like Mark King

[@croydonmassive]

You're a brave man - gonna show you how to slap like Mark King. In 7.07. It's great to see Mark getting some love from across the pond. I've been listening to him since I was a teenager and I'm now 53. He's always been a bit 'niche' as a bass guitarist and I can't understand why. He should be so much more popular. His slap technique is terrifying, and he's been doing it since...well, forever. On top of that, he's a great composer. Thanks again for highlighting this absolute legend...this absolute genius. Lots of love.

[@BassFreedom]

Thanks so much!!!!!

[@croydonmassive]

@Andrew Freed Dude! You are so so welcome. I really enjoy your content. Keep it coming. Tony x

[@thewomble1509]

And......He's actually left handed! He plays a right handed bass because he switched from drums to bass and learned all his drum skills using right handed grip, as he thought that was the "right" way to play drums and bass!

[@cwh1246]

As a bassist myself, I want to mention that the gaffa tape Mark is using for his thumb is not only for protection, but I think it’s really helps with the 16th note slap style. Try it yourself by wounding your thumb with 5 or 6 rounds of tape and now try thumbing songs such as ‘Lessons in love’ etc. It’s literally acts like a piano hammer or bass drum beater which make it easier to play consistently, in timing and better stamina. I don’t know if it’s a good advice, but it works for me.

[@scottyboy11001]

Do all these things, practice real hard for 20 years and trust me, you will still never be as good as Mark King 😝

[@frankherrenberger-bassplay1454]

I agree as well…. therefore just take the inspiration and make your own style playing… 😊

[@MontyDodge]

George Best of football, you might end up somewhere near him if you're lucky, but you will never be him!

[@scottwheeler6946]

soo right dude

[@df3575]

The thing is, by all account that MF "learned" how to play the bass in a matter of months. That's to hear King tell it.

[@scottyboy11001]

@@df3575 Absolutely, don't remember the exact numbers, but I saw an interview with King where he spoke about how they started the band, how Mark,Boon and Phil all wanted to play drums... so it went to Phil and he took up bass around that time?? Anyways I remember doing the math between then and when the first album was released... didnt even seem humanly possible. He was a bass God by then LOL!

[@adamabdullah1176]

Mark King is always the best

[@troubleondemand7703]

Love me some Mark King. Another thing that gives him his tone is that he uses very light strings.

[@jaydeebasssociety268]

30 - 90's,....Rotosounds

[@gtamediaproductions1]

Mark King is the King of bass playing! The absolute best!

[@bluefunkybassman]

The craziest thing of all is that he's ACTUALLY LEFT-HANDED! I know this because I watched him sign something for me!! #mindblown

[@BassFreedom]

Believe it or not, so am I ;)!

[@michaelb.42112]

@@BassFreedom Me too !!!! Lefty who plays right handed !!!

[@MrJasonodonnell]

I am pretty much the same also, everyone I run into or read about with a similar approach is often self taught and Very Creative.

[@stevenkenney9473]

WHAT????? I didn't know that!!!

[@BazookaBob]

Good video, thanks! When I started learning slap bass (many moons ago!) Mark King was my idol - he's truly a percussive genius. This is quite different sound and technique to the slap bass you'd see on 70's funk bass tracks which was more open and had fewer dead notes, in spite of still being very syncopated. With the Mark King slap style the gaffer tape on the thumb actually increases the rebound off the strings which can improve your speed, and it also gives a more treble-y sound than you get from hitting the string with just your thumb.

[@jaydeebasssociety268]

King uses 30-90 bass strings which makes his slapping style easier to perform. King tried to use heavier guage strings once, but all he got was nothing but a 'plik, plik,' sound as it really required a lot of effort due to how stiff the strings were for him. And as a fun fact: King does not read music. One reason he has such amazing timing on the bass is because he started out as a drummer, which King has pointed out that his style is merely using both hands on the bass as a drummer would on the drums. He also uses gaffers tape on his thumb to preserve his thumb for touring. The tape fixture came about as the band performed a show in Holland around 1980. He was slapping his bass so hard that the callus he already had on his thumb split wide open on him. He started using the tape after that to preserve his thumb.

[@jameswhite7997]

And he sings lead vocals! Try that! Awesome video thanks from Big UK 🇬🇧 level 42 fan

[@frombeginnertoband7973]

Fantastic tutorial! Thanks so much, it's about time more people started talking about Mark King on YT 👊

[@margix1172]

Level 42 one of the best band EVER and Mark King one of the very best bass player OF ALL TIMES!!!

[@danielpalmersofficial]

I love Mark, he’s such a brill bassist and my biggest inspiration. ✌️☺️

[@robertakiranishihara238]

And he use 90-30 very light strings set!

[@BassFreedom]

Nooo wayyyyy wow didn't know that!

[@ranmitrani3948]

Angle is very important in order to perform lessons in love at real speed, very upward thumb angle is what you need

[@seanfarrell6275]

Good analysis. Thanks. As others have pointed out, Mark played Jaydee basses for most of Level 42's heyday. He revived the Jaydee on the most recent tour and it sounded so much better than the Statuses he's used. A much fatter growly bottom end. The other distinctive thing is how high he has his bass with the thump pointing up. I think he has it a bit lower than in the 80s. Check out Love Games on Top of the Pops for the Jaydee worn high. That appearance caused a flood of enquiries to Jaydee.

[@formwandla70]

Sorry, but I prefer the Status sound. But of course Mark sounds always great. 😅

[@CANALROBBY]

@@formwandla70 Moi je trouve que les basses Status ont un beau son ok mais cela ressemble presque au son d'un piano 😵 alors que la Jaydee voilà un vrai son de guitare basse, le vrai son Level 42 ❤❤

[@joe-vl3nd]

Mike is a nice bloke to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿👍

[@alanleemaxwell831]

Mark King and Les Claypool inspired me to start playing bass, over three decades on and I'm still nowhere near emulating either of them...🤣👍🙏🇬🇧❤️

[@macoba17]

Wtf? Puts the Slap in Popmusic ? He Puts the Slap in finest Jazz-Funk!

[@michaelanthony9068]

Thank you Andrew. I’ve been trying to learn slap for a few months, and I’ve been trying to increase my thumb speed, measuring it with a metronome. I’m stuck at a plateau. I’m barely fast enough to play the 2 notes (Gb - Ab) in Forget Me Nots that bounce back and forth and properly played, they are slapped every note, not hammer ons. Sometimes I think I was just born without a slap bone.

[@BassFreedom]

Slap doesn’t come naturally to all! Keep it going! I suggest videotaping yourself so you can see the mechanics from an outsiders POV. A good teacher can help too pointing out all the bad habits 🤘

[@gregartman9827]

Dude I love your videos! They always have great exercises. Which bass do you enjoy more for general play, favoring slap? Your music man or the Warwick thumb I saw in the background?

[@robinlee28]

Super interesting that his thumb looks like it's pointing up. Knuckles parallel with the strings. Lots of people have the finger pointing straight down with the thumb parallel to the strings. I think I prefer the thumb point up as it feels a bit more like I can get more aggressive with it and my right shoulder is more relaxed.

[@teem7030]

You're a fantastic teacher!🤘🏽

[@BassFreedom]

Thank you!!!

[@Generalbas1972]

@Tee M lol maybe but he hasn't got a clue on the Mark King slap technique.

[@michaelb.42112]

I write left handed and play right handed, too !

[@solyamidoremifasolya1027]

Keep it up..)

[@babapawan62]

1:32 Hey, I was in front row of that show, The Java Jazz 2007 :-)

[@brandongiovanni2157]

Great video, man:), a Joe Dart video like this one would be awesome too

[@craigs19721972]

Who?

[@thewomble1509]

@@craigs19721972 The bass player you think invented bass playing if you were born after the year 2000...............Honestly, he's the poster boy of the post millennial bassist.

[@philb4462]

With the best will in the world, I'm not going to end up playing anything like Mark King.

[@localbod]

For very many years he used Jaydee basses before Status.

[@N0B0DY_SP3C14L]

A couple of other points to note are the height he plays at, and the fingers are basically straight when doing the fast continuous flow off the thumb, not curled. I know it sounds trivial, but when you have to maintain that kind of endurance, as shown in Lessons In Love, every little bit counts. Unlike a lot of other players, he is all downstrokes on the thumb and just uses his index finger for the upstrokes, as opposed to double-thumping, and double, or even triple-plucking. His left hand technique is kind of awkward, sometimes wrapping his thumb, sometimes placing on the back of the neck. He's actually not particularly proud of his technique, and being the humble wizard that he is, he recommends learning better techniques from others, which is why he's never (to my knowledge) put out a formal instructional video. Despite his humility, his technique still manages to afford him great tone, apparently without sufficient injury to hamper playing hours after hour, night after night, year after year, and not restrict his amazing musical ideas...WHILE SINGING. Not just simple harmonies, either, but rhythmically and often harmonically complex vocal melodies and heady words. For a good example of that, check out To Be With You Again. Try playing that bassline AND sing the lead. At the same time. His main axe for many years, was a Jaydee, sometimes he used a Pangborne, later Alembic Signatures, but he's also used Status Graphite for decades. Occasionally he'll use others, but rarely.

[@davidupton3186]

I totally agree about 'To be with you again'. I always think of this when people mention Mark playing and singing at the same time. The vocals and bass line are worlds apart and he manages to blend them together beautifully.

[@taylankral]

👏

[@johnnieguitar5724]

S. L. O. W. I. T. D. O. W. N. !

[@jbmedrano520]

How to slap and sing at the same time? 😜

[@GreggOliverBass]

YOu ever think of doing a video on Wojtek Pilichowski? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qonXZH2nbtiCmK8

[@floydpattersonii4996]

great, can you teach us how to sing over it too ?

[@LAOBASS]

thanks. I got as far the as the left hand mute. :(

[@josuLawliet]

pleeeease do a "how to play like Cliff Burton"

[@PaulGBass]

Thanks for this but I've been googling ham morons for ages and nothing is coming up. I give up...

[@fletcherkirkland5003]

Can you please STOP being so damn good? I feel worthless now.

[@Generalbas1972]

yeah there's a bit more to it than that, and you can't even play Mark King slap youorself :P

[@enoz.j3506]

Will Smith, also good at slapping.

[@andrewrobinson2565]

Mark King is the robot upgrade to Larry Graham.

[@theavenger1285]

Nobody noticed that he plays pretty much like Louis Johnson? No? I guess it's just me.

[@oliverbowen17]

Most people slap like Louis Johnson

[@gideonsikk8733]

Pure nrg =Mark king

[@seandonohue6365]

and he sings Lead WTF! no one like MK. legend

[@steevyboy1]

...but we all know this already. Have a look at Stanley, or Whetton, or Jaco. Maybe even Felix.

[@rudygracia5573]

Legendary player;Not a fan of his tone though.I owned a Status Series II,Walnut wings,Graphite neck thru,non headless.Sounded like crap,very"bitey".(Not warm).Might explain why graphite necks never quite caught on.His technique is impressive,but not appealing for me.How fast does a person wanna slap?!The best bass player IMO,the licks of Jaco,The speed of Sheehan,and the funk of Wizard(Mothers finest).Wooten?

[@acularp]

How can she slap

[@FablesJonny]

What are hammer wuns? Lol

[@tatyanalovyeremuk1133]

You are talking too much

[@trygd100]

Mark King was elected best bass player in the world by down beat magazine 2 years after he started playing bass