Pro et Contra 1: Slap Bass is Overrated

Sure The Roan and I share this nice little blog. But that sure doesn't mean that we agree on everything. So we were talking about it, and we decided it was time to present our opinions on issues out there in the world of bass playing. To start, I will explain why slap is overrated wankery and Jay will offer a rebuttal (I hope). Here we go:

There was a picture in the paper the other day of some guy who had run a marathon while juggling. This is something that undoubtedly require many hours or practice and preparation. The man who did this must have had all kinds of coordination as well as endurance. In short, it was impressive that he could do this sort of thing at all.

On the other hand, I don't think I'd very much enjoy watching some guy juggle and run for three hours. A couple minutes of it would be interesting viewing, but beyond that, I wouldn't need to see the whole marathon. And that's how I feel about slap. Like juggling while running a marathon, slap bass is an impressive accomplishment - but is either one worthwhile beyond the technical precision and the novelty? Many slap players have spent hours mastering the technique. Hearing a lightning fast double-thumb line, the listener has to respect the player. All the same though, I have to suggest that slap bass is not all it's cracked up to be by its proponents.

Slap bass gets lost in the mix very easily. It seems that to do slap and be heard, one needs to employ some kind of boost. That's the first problem, when you're showing off to grade tens in Long & McQuade, it may sound cool. But in a band setting, it's just getting lost. Remember, bass playing is not a competitive sport, it's part of a creative process. If you want to serve that creative process, you'd better be prepared to do what's needed for the music. It doesn't seem like slapping is needed in actual songs quite as much as it is needed for showing off in music stores.

Now what about funk? Or jazz fusion? Yes, more so than in other genres you can justify slapping in these two. At the same time though, there are all kinds of examples of great fingerstyle players in both genres. How often is a player going use this technique in other genres? There are all kinds of things that might make for a better player that might be worth trying. Again, music is an art form, and as a musician, your first job is to participate in creating art. Often times though, the slap riff is more of an incongruous intrusion than a tasteful addition.

In short, I think slapping is an interesting novelty. A bassist can pull out something like Higher Ground and the band can have fun jamming along. But, excepting fusion (which, the last time I checked, is not the most popular genre) how often is this technique really used? Not very often at all it seems. The time spent learning how to master slap might better be spent studying things like theory to learn how to create something other than a percussive assault.