How do you play a slap bass guitar?

Answer 1

There is not a special bass made for playing slap bass, but setup and tone will both affect how "slappable" the bass is. For instance, my warwick can be slapped on but has a much darker more sterile tone(great for rock, metal, etc) so it does not get slapped often. My Ibanez SR506 on the other hand has a much brighter and bouncy tone so is my go-to for more slap oriented songs.

There are two forms of slapping in the current lexicon: slap and pop as invented by Larry Graham and double thumbing invented by Victor Wooten. You will want to start with standard slap and pop first.

You want to hold the thumb *almost* at a 90 degree angle to the rest of your hand. Don't stress the muscles in your hand trying to do a perfect right angle, as long as it's close. You then want to hit the string with the fleshy part of the side of your thumb facing the string slightly above the middle of your thumb. This will create the slap sound intended by Larry Graham to take the place of the kick(bass) drum. You curl your finger under the string and pull it up with the reverse motion you use to slap. The pop, intended to immitate a snare drum, is made by the string slapping against the fret when you do this. Don't pop too hard though, you'll likely pop either a string or your finger.

There is a user on YouTube named Murdokbass that has GREAT lessons on slap bass.