Slap bass
A bass technique producing a percussive sound by slapping or pulling the strings.
What it means
Slap bass is a way of playing double bass and electric bass in which the strings are not plucked gently but slapped or pulled. This produces a sharp, percussive sound that emphasizes the rhythm further.
On the electric bass this includes “slapping” with the thumb striking the low strings and “popping,” in which a high string is pulled up with the index or middle finger and snaps against the fingerboard.
Musical use
Slapping is especially common in funk and disco, but also in pop, rock, and fusion, where it gives bass lines a dry, rhythmically driving character. Larry Graham is often named as a pioneer of the technique on the electric bass.
Its roots reach further back: on the double bass similar playing was already used in early jazz and in rockabilly, where the strings are snapped forcefully back against the fingerboard.
Slap bass should be distinguished from ordinary fingerstyle, in which the strings are plucked with the fingertips, and from playing with a pick.
Performance practice
First practice a relaxed thumb stroke from the wrist and pull the high strings evenly. Too forceful a stroke tires you and damages the bass over time, so: sound and rhythm first, force only as much as necessary.