Funk 101

I get asked a lot by bass players about my approach to the whole slap bass thing and I never know quite how to answer them without seeing themplay. They always say that they got some technique but can't seem to make it groove. Right then I say to myself "well then get the technique down and start grooving", but it comes out like "just keep practicing and it well eventually come to you".

Unfortunately folks it's not that easy. The first rule of this maze of slapping, popping, thumpin' with hammer-ons and 16th note triplets etc. is that you must FEEL IT!!! And you must make it HAVE FEEL!!! You can have all the technique in the world if you can't get it to groove it means nothing.

I learned that the hard way at the age of 17 at an after hour jam spot that musicians would go to after their gigs. The people that went there appreciated all types of music, after all that's why they were there, to hear good musicians jam all night long. I was a young slightly cocky bass player trying to impress the cats and most of the time I did. One night the keyboard player asked me to start a groove to get things going. I pulled my thumb out of my holster and started to fly, notes were everywhere, I gave them all I had. This went on for about a minute, which at the time seemed like an hour because of the blank stares I was getting from everyone in the club, including the musicians on stage. Why weren't they jamming with me? Maybe they can't keep up. Ya, that's it, I told myself.

Just then the keyboard player got up and stopped me, he asked if a friend of his can borrow my bass and sit in? I thought, well he can't top my speed and chops, so why not. The man gently put my bass around his neck and laid down a groove that had the club rocking - I mean the place lit up, the band joined in and you could see the joy in everyone's face, except mine. As a tear rolled down my face, I then learned the importance of the groove.

I stayed away from the jam spot for 2 months 'cause I was so hurt, but in those months I worked on my grooving skills. I finally had enough courage to go back. Once again, the keyboard player invited me on stage and asked me to start a groove. And that's exactly what they got - a bass line with feel, a progression that worked, a tasty amount of thumb that made the place bounce. That was the night I married the technique that I had with the groove I was missing. Hopefully I'll give you some insight to save you similar embarrassment.

When it comes to slappin' or thumpin' the bass, the first thing that you should do is evaluate if your technique is complementing the groove or lick that you're trying to do. If your technique isn't right, then you can actually be limiting your potential to do certain things. Ask yourself and be honest. Is your thumb bouncing off the string instead of passing through to the next string while thumbing, when it could be used to double strike the string to create two notes with the same movement instead of one? One note with a down stroke and another note with an upstroke of the thumb which is called double thumbin'. Do your fingers on your left-hand stick up above or duck under the fret board, unless they are being used to fret a note? I call these run away fingers. Do you keep your plucking finger on your right hand nice and low to the strings to minimize movement of your entire right hand to pull off those 16ths note triplets that you'd love to do at any given moment to show you got skills? And most important, can you groove? Can you sit down with just your bass, jam with yourself and make people feel it? If you answered yes to these questions, then you're on your way.

If you think that you can use some help getting there, then I've put some video examples in the "bassic training" section of my web-site at mocamusic.com for those who would like to check out what I'm talking about. Till then, mad love to all my bottom dwellers.