. The Slap Bass Program with Alexis Sklarevsxl Produced by David Schaub © 1999 Vicoo Progressions. INTRODUCTION The slap sive of cass playing nas become increasingly piewilétt ithe AAs! tev yeBrs adeing 4 thythmc patency to everything Irom rock Io New age TI's cenlinuslly evolving and! the lachrvgues thal ¢ecorcorales are Becoming much mare complex, Thi. progiom nas Deen ou tagathar io oaughiy adglara maze taehe-ques and nopetully clear up some oF te mystery that ‘envelopes this provoeatve style The [ape prosems a systematic approach that wil nelp you incorpovala the isenniguas ia your enn playing syle and Give you a led for how ican mes ~ fume: ol musesi scuenons : Uke ary ofa” sta, there ave cavtan teznnques inal prodvea ina “saune” Crea we some ¢! ine Rape bu-ing BIGckS, ren we Gan eraDDrate, Cha slep at a lime. to achieve so-9 ‘ety eacti24ng Dass pars Keep Tne and expennact with ine material presemec ners. The i208 corsa = toto! senate: s2ould give you 2 fz! fo’ tne passibilies, The Wanserstics nik hea slay { @ of the Bass lines. Mevveve! i should ba menicned thal tha gveral "is sometimes dlicul se cagiure en a whiten sheet of muss. The notation Tn lag eile cantare ary suttleues mnt can aniy be laine halening ine moves Ones you Gee Now its acne, youre 8 ong v3) If tation vs by far me best way ca learn Lal aM ll mall 1 your r USING A METRONOME : —+ A matanams 7 arum machine is probably se os! important tec! you can use in your mesial cavelzma Since th slap sj Jeans neaviy on ehythmic coatent 1's imporars thal 7 you develop 3 song sense al myinm right from the start. E play the bes more accurelly you cauld ty seting your meleoaarne Io dich moles is exaclly af demonsimated in exmple #1, only ag last, Practice mproveing your own thyinm paris. Vion wth slow te ‘aster matronom 8 seings when you leel comionstie. Jaen os oF vagOCTAVE EXERCISES siap style. i n aavelonec simple, remember ‘The tines should be rerlook the imporiance endurance, ¢ A contsileg damping techngue #6 utes 10 ser ne Gurabon 9! the fetlae Holes to provide inyinme amanane eng elanty Ex.1 Long Tones Ex,2 Short Tones to I al a a Hl wd Patieon for Ex, dana j polampies @ and 2 can be joined togemer 's ‘c1m 3 Ino bar phvasa Novica Pow the se a! ‘space actually eenarce af of ne pater «mee 2queNg he PuMBer oF MOHeS per Car Ex. Ex.@ ans \ 65 ine relanoas” > celagen a stylneucally Complex ting arc ‘ne sumple eaghthvande ecies deitern, The ociave aztern seis up Ine foundation (cr relerence}, anc the syrcopaton ss bust arcund that, You shauis be cecslancy aware of this telanonship e: [BIways 00K for commen Mplnimie Genaminatork in dny style ol music oF DAEs line. The sinieensh nore “high-nal” fine na¢ 2!g0 been included te reary ngicate where Ine syncopation 12's Ex. 10 Variations: deg fo — SSSFUNK VAMP c Ex.1 A (one tones FSSA jatiern in Ex. 1 and 2 forms ine foundation for ihe syncopated versions belor: wo eatrerses until you project comlidence and comfort in playing this varies potern in its simalest form, Ty several differen! fompas, ard remember, some ines ete mach mare diffew! 19 slay slowly! The time and! lee! shovid De consislenl and clean Be sure lo keep tng baie plakeimin ming a5 you work sath ine syneopa'ed axampies: Nha da tn afl a al wr Vine playa these exorosses. ity io keep your wes! relaxed and continually in motion as you fiow along wrth the thythm. This wast maton 4 somenhat the a mevvonome iat will help. yOu loch inla The grédve, and hopalully insowe yOu 19 RlUEK random nates within Ihe bar Io creala your ene syneonalcn,OPEN STRINGS and DAMPING TECHNIQUES. lecrques end der snsiraiec now thes is Eanter in ine ace we worker: oar ieth-nare used 10 conic! 1-2 sound of the heed Toles. A open sting eho Concept 8 that one hght whe the fel hang contecls sideeio and sustain ring, Using the ght And Jelt Nance 7 conneven wae hs Inc satler ns either choking Ihe stings, oF let Paleo produce tome iat Ex. 1 ran mules sing 10 Bem preci oct, Fx ete Ex.2 cersana saps sing 10 pee + ex. Ex.4° Ex.S Ex.6 ~ Ex. ¢ is cemonstraied in the list four bars af the example thal combines ech ol these pattems.a nea omee aa il lfa i in Zin Lara Cot ADAPTING TO. DIFFERENT RHYTHMIC FEELS An gnrray new musical fave’ can De achieved by simowy changing Ine dhyihmic feel ol a pass ine mre keeping the notes esxenticly the sama, Ths is demenstrated in the next examcte were the ‘es are played vith a shuille te shows ine basic shutie paltern which yeu should lind very usetul. The fils nave Deen ‘adsoied (rom ihe examgles on pages 7 and &, Alimough fhis +s ar, accurate wanscription ol what ‘was siayéd ON UNG Lape, remember ai iw! necessary Io memorize the parts exscily as ‘aitien Lislen ealetully Io the track and scecd some time working with the baxi¢ shutlle patie 2 youre comloriable with ihe feel of the grocve d should ine Easy tO create Eome lite ct your 34 Sap 34 Ge 3a ee eye ge 5" wa SSouateeoeo ogoyYgpenmomm a SeBLUES SCALE ‘can be used Io smBLUES SCALE The blues scale ws the most commonly used scele in ine funk sivle samiliae yh ths seala mn a many keys 28 204416 and in dillerent posibons up ard down the k, Nebee thal ere sve Several PRLEMg 1omeS which CaM be wsEd 10 SMOAIMTy lie the fe oles al ine scale passng Jones Alves salen G a Ag you mark vuth this, yOu will find several oars thal lay very well on the bass. that also and a vety funky sound Ex.1 + SSS Saas= = so" cone Enamole 10 sare win 8 simple Ineme in Ing key of G, Inen develops inio sa rD!onses ‘s0!0 ull areune ihe bises scale Ex.10 et ‘The nase tneme sn examole 10 1s cemonstraied * row tne ehange in anc an ely new sound 1 roe! tle tne m: 9 and iy 10 pamary Obective 18 1 Enamole I used (Te Dues sree me aay OE cae ced ca cat CORES re exit Le PM oi ataganepenanaaellal Bee,— DOUBLE STOPS A deuble-ctop is celined smply 2s two rotes thal are played ogeiher to creale harmony. T+ara are many ditecent comhynalons ol noles thal cans be UFed Ie Neimonize » crasn inewals are used extensively in lun Ex.t2 8a, Bim a ins ~e Inverued roo! roar) These “ietals are sncorporated in the next example oe Ex.13 Tre tomenco strum ara te some /athe’ ynormoaes nasshien a7 sill be suDecl lo rmany siflerent nt L Pe aM alll le lle eal leas Ebly Gatorade show tbs ta came sve Soe! 2 a vatiation co Ex. 13. The double-pluck technque & corporate ‘THE SLAP BASS PROGRAM Is exemplary’ techniques recommended over any leas comprehensive ‘course even by a “name’ player. No Kidding.” ‘The fofowing example ss PakersB OeceeoyOniea.b Triple Pluck BS a eT se= ai Hammered-On Octave Patterns with Dead Notes “The following octave palterns combine etoss-sring hammering with dead notes. You wil than the octave patierns with only the crnss-string hainmering included. find they have avery different feel el 1? ese Tarerd es== = fat = pute rate ot THT PTRTR TATE Teoy are gre PTH fe 4 eft < 7 = =a eee THRPTTHPT TMP we OT HP TT PRT TH PT TWA - THIPTHTPTHEP TMT P Tht ep Tar to tor TH Te Fumped (MATT Wer ter Tot nae rte rer PPT Introduction to Slap-Bass Studies From this point on yau will find dozens of short patierns (Hicks) which will help further develop your feel for slap-bass playing ‘Theenercises eomtine in progressive order sn that as you meve through them your technique should improve, Be sure you have nuitered ench enc before moving on. This takes a lot of practice and pallenes, Have fun with eee liek, Once you are able torplay them as writen, change them around 10 Fit your own style of playing. Try them in different keys 1 also sugges that you start a notebook of bass lines. As you learn this mterial, try 10 come vp with your ewn bass lines. Mf you make up a line at you Tike. write it down. Over 8 period of ime yuan collect lots f good ideas whieb you otherwise might have Fargoricn. In addition, wiiting out your own lines will inprove your sight-reading. ability. : Thope yousvill enjoy the lines 1 have ineluded in the book. They are selection of the best bass ines from my persanal musis notebook. Wihalever you do DON'T STOP PRACTICING! : — 4 |He Dead Notes Bead notes, asthey arc related to slap-bass playing. can be defined as nntes which adja the shythniic content of the rosie but hhave no distinguishable pitch, They arc created hy sinking a siting wit the fingers of either hand while holding the string muce This creates 2 perewisive sound4sligk) which is very mucha part of the slip-bass sound. Since these notes have no pitch they are notated diflerenly than regular notes, In this book you will find dead notes notated in the following manner: 35 === ——$_$_ ——=—I dead notes noiaied ; T Ewe As Dar Gate 7 = > Notice that cach of the dead noes cnr respands wilh a string an the bass. This is to indicate on which string a dead oor is played (he, ia dead pete i weiien one nate, ci leger ling below the staf it indicates Ihatthe ea sone fe played om the E nrg Sp set TH oT Te ireia fore toe Pt raten 3 i? a } © honk you witl see only fnue ditferent oa. Octave Exercises a | One of the mast carimonty used figures in slap-bass playing is the octave pattern. This is because ociave pattesns combine basic harmonic movement with a'strong rhythmic foundation, In other words, whey help keep everyone “in-the-paxket.” i Sinee octave lines are sa simple, many players take thers for granted. In order ta be played properly, they must be practiced: tw Example 2 Tt e r r tr e T e T e T ’ T r v ® — 4 SSS SP fe TR PTE Ceri rer tre ter pr tr ett rere PemL a. LLL i i i fo whee 15 baad z Examplet oF AT RPT Pe TAT PTT . ba Sep HEP CHTeT RTP are ree Turd atom 1 tert THT rt To rant (etree So = s al Example? e er ey ro, De TH rorr te rrrnrata roe LHPT IH PH TH