The Secret Slap Technique To Playing Mark King and Les Claypool Grooves!

[@talkingbasslessons]

Note: The tab is slightly wrong for the machine gun triplets. The written D at the 7th fret should be C at the 5th fret as I show in the video. The correct tab is presented on the website here: www.talkingbass.net/the-essential-slap-technique/

[@Sergio-dh5qh]

this link directs me to bass chord article

[@marcgauvreau2663]

This outstanding Mark; you always make it look easy until one tries it...and then one realizes the skill (practice; time and discipline) required to pull this off. unbelievable!

[@pfg_pedals]

This is exactly what I’ve needed to be shown. There’s a part in Virtual Reality that I never could figure out and within five minutes I nailed it. Thanks.

[@aarongrooms8881]

I know the exact part you're referring to. Zender is fuckin beast right?!?

[@jamiemcdonald4279]

I just recently got a new bass, it's been about 15 years since I've touched one. I've been watching a lot of videos and this has explained the slapping, specifically ghost notes the best. It's crazy, I'm basically starting all over again.

[@glynnp42]

Mark, you are amazing at breaking things down and thoroughly explaining things. I'm so glad I found your site. Thank you!!!

[@briancherry8088]

It's been a long time since KZbin recommended a TalkingBass video. It feels like visiting an old friend. Now... I have a lot of great new content to start working through....

[@adamadeptus3686]

That machine gun triplet method with the left-hand slap unlocks the mysteries of "Lacquerhead" by Primus. Thank you, Mark!

[@talkingbasslessons]

Have you seen my lacquerhead tutorial?

[@adamadeptus3686]

@@talkingbasslessons I did and just started studying from it in fact. Thank you so much for making it, Mark! If you would ever consider making a similar video with tips for learning "The Lesson" by Victor Wooten, I'd be much obliged. I'm saving up money to buy some of your paid courses soon. 🙏

[@jacobsmith1877]

@@adamadeptus3686hell yes to The Lesson. One of the best pieces of music I've ever heard

[@elhazelrah]

Thanks for breaking down the technique slow enough to understand. Now to put in the practice to get up to speed!

[@drewhopkinson9610]

This is absolutely brilliant!!! Only just found your channel Mark and cannot get enough of it. Many thanks.

[@talesfromthetoiletseat8295]

That jazz bass is sick. I want one

[@H23-z6p]

love the tone of that 70s jazz bass. play this bass more, Mark!

[@kahwigulum]

slap bass is pretty cool i guess

[@BayouMaccabee]

😆

[@pacosoundaruba]

What a great explanation about this slap technique, it really helps me a lot to get into Mark's slapping!! Awesome, thank you!!

[@wolfganglipper3308]

Thank you very much. There is no better way to convey this.

[@humanidrome]

Great stuff!! As you mentioned, you have plenty of slap videos here. This one is a nice refresher. Thank you very much, Mark 😊

[@ronbaldon8125]

Good job thanks for the lesson.

[@isidrosalistre]

Detailed teaching! It pushing me to get started practicing slapping 😂❤️

[@johnwilliams2420]

Spot on beginning problem. Thanks for the proper instruction.

[@micktomazou]

Simplicity itself - yet so effective. Thanks Mark

[@glyder356]

Thank you for the video, it's great, just what I was looking for.

[@tangerinepopgames]

I struggled with the 6 pattern. Then I broke it down and omitted the left hand and just got the alternating working between two thumbs and a thumb/pluck in time of course. Adding the left hand became a bit easier. Also I found that if I start and the thumb it was easier -> Thumb-pluck-LH-thumb-thumb-LH... Took me less than 10 minutes to get this to a moderate speed with a metronome. Hope this helps anyone struggling with this technique.

[@danielpalmersofficial]

Slap bass is the best, you can’t go wrong with it!! ✌️😙

[@stefanherzberg1630]

Thank you. I'm a beginning bass player and I'm very interested in learning Claypool. This seems like a great lesson, so thanks!

[@restojon1]

Hi Stefan, I hope you're doing well with your learning of all things Primus. I'm quite an experienced player and have played a reasonable amount of Primus so I wanted to share some experience with you to help you on your journey. May I suggest American Life as a way in to get started with Claypool and his style and then move onto Tommy The Cat. Tommy the Cat really opens up some of the trademark techniques as well as the abilities you'll need to be familiar with. Lastly, make sure that your bass is set up right to play this kind of stuff. I'm a Luthier and build many instruments and I have several basses at home, I could technically play Primus on any of them barring the limitations of number of frets but, I'd much rather be playing on my little Jackson neck Frankenstein build or my homebrew Stingray. Make sure that your bass is set up nicely, has nice new strings and is plugged into something when practicing. Best of luck my friend, and, as we Primus fans say; PRIMUS SUCKS!!!

[@stefanherzberg1630]

@@restojon1 Hey, thank you for giving me tips, I appreciate it!

[@disturbedtomato5163]

@@stefanherzberg1630 if you wanna get good at the fretboard slap lacquerhead is good, this guy also has a video on lacquerhead

[@rickrocketts183]

Cool video Mark. I remember being blown away when i first saw the Claypool solo in Tommy The Cat on MTV. You know, during that 10 yr period MTV was actually fun to watch.

[@giovannigaravoglia2432]

Very useful and free to access. Thanks 👍

[@thierrylemetayer3371]

good lesson , thank you Mister

[@euc131]

Really helpful lesson - thanks

[@willschwabenbauer2577]

DUDE!!! Friggin' Awesome!!❤❤

[@reclaimingminds2811]

Great lesson Mark, well explained and demonstrated, thank you!

[@bassomatic6055]

I have this love/hate with thump and pop. On the one hand it sounds cool as hell and I love the percussive funkiness. On the other hand I'd prolly get kicked out of my band if i used it more. So as a result my slap skills have progressed only to a point and seem to be kinda stuck. I go back and forth as to whether the technique is worth developing forward when there is so much other technique stuff to work on like pick playing and palm muting, etc.....but cool lesson. This is one technique I do use already thanks to you.

[@KaninTuzi]

As it is almost always going to be more functionally used as a bit of flair rather than a consistent groove, a nice strategy might be to just get pretty proficient at one or two of these little percussive riffs and that will be all you need to add that flair.

[@aussiecoastie72]

Your a great teacher ❤ thank you

[@thesmallhuman5750]

That jazz bass looks so freaking cool

[@DaveHobbs]

Top man! Many thanks.

[@andysmusikwelt1562]

Super analysis presentation 👍

[@MC-qe5qb]

Awesome vid. So crystal clear

[@manfredmethyl6137]

Could you do a Bass Breakdown Video on Lopsy Lu or Silly Putty by Stanley Clarke? Would be awesome 😍

[@altom4295]

excellent lesson..

[@charlieburns1385]

Thanks Mark!👍

[@lesc7219]

Super help, Mark

[@TheHealthyPlumber]

Thank you 😊

[@PeterWilliams-ek2bh]

So will these techniques work well on a short scale bass, I just can't get it to sound as good as with my full scale?

[@spekterum]

What they never tell is the type bass strings to play, how you balance the mixer sound, how you choose the amplifier and additional sound effects.

[@mattsuran1270]

It's nice to see the parts in isolation and then see that they are just tools that you use.

[@steelgoa8486]

Dude you're awesome

[@doublepick]

Very good. Are you using a compressor on your bass set-up?

[@talkingbasslessons]

Nah. Just direct for this.

[@MrTimjm009]

It was a good way to start then work to the 6 ´s at the end to end being able to do that " Tommy the cat" type of lick at the end . Well broken down

[@the3foremicsseacraftsoundc709]

i was hoping to get a tip on settings so ta speak. i know claypool uses a lot of different settings from looking at his footboard which is larger than most guitarists lol. I've got a slap and pop setting on one board of mine but it doesn't break it down for me much on what is being changed to help with this type of stuff. still good info here

[@ianmackenzie686]

What are the best amp and passive pickup settings for this particular sound?

[@talkingbasslessons]

On the amp I keep all tone controls flat (12 o clock/mid way). On the bass I have both pickups full and tone full (on passive).

[@Valvey789]

The tab in the lower right corner for the triplet licks has D on the first string when I think you meant C.

[@b1uerogue]

Can you apply slap to all pieces of music? Rather than playing traditional..thats when i finally get used to it as it sounds so cool

[@mojoemurphy]

What a monster

[@Viktor.V.P]

У вас классные уроки и классная техника игры!👍 Привет из России! На вас подписан.

[@dancolukdc]

How are you pop the 7th frett on the G string, i camnot see how you are doing it

[@davidbalan6571]

Bass slap for trial lessons chords progressions Dm7b5 , Am and so on especially liked playing music Vocalists Dexter Holland group band the offspring .

[@hetschhog]

Hi Mark. I think for the machine gun tripplets you play other than indicated on the sheet a c on the g string. Great video though.

[@talkingbasslessons]

Yes, your are correct. I'm going to amend the tab at the site. Unfortunately can't amend the video

[@eamonmoran6890]

@@talkingbasslessons hey mark, is that the actual rudiment you will played that is tabbed out or is it generally just dominant seventh thats played because they feel worlds apart in terms of difficulty

[@chachabooom5]

My brain fell out of my head watching this.

[@midimojo]

So, machine gun triplets look super natural to me! When I try to slap with the other 3 fingers after the pop, it sounds like a hammer on. Can't figure it out haha

[@jamiemcdonald4279]

Man, slapping that A string without hitting the E is tough. I try muting the E string for now but it messes with my finger placement and throws me all off.

[@robscott-buccleuch1195]

Does this work with flat wound strings?

[@och70]

The sound wouldn't be as bright as round wound strings, but I bet it would still sound really cool. Try it!!

[@ElBellacko1]

hes a slap god

[@b1uerogue]

I cant for the life of me get a clean tone out of dven an open string...mayve on the e string i can get half note half rattle ..im wondering of its the cheap ass bass im playing on or is it pure lacl of knowledge and skill...anyone got any ideas? Honesty appreciated but some feedback would be appreciated more

[@luigi.zanini]

5:44

[@kevmac1230]

Slap bass is my Achilles heel.

[@andreasdeutinger7319]

got a new bass?

[@davidwhite8587]

I give up

[@danburns8715]

3:45 start

[@talkingbasslessons]

I wouldn't advise starting there. That misses out the most important part of the technique lesson. The timestamp you've given just goes to the riff. That's a secondary part of the lesson. It's simple there as an example of the left hand slap

[@andrepereira744]

Nope

[@TheTwangKings]

If Jaco or Alphonso Johnson didn't slap, that's good enough for me 😄

[@kresimirdobranic1682]

Alphonso Johnson slaped the bass, just listen Stay with me tonight by Jeffrey Osborne

[@MarcLuc-pc3by]

More Boring Slap 😮!!!

[@oov55]

Slap Bass died 10 years ago. get over it

[@dancolukdc]

Which I was this good

[@pen8142]

Thanks!