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Advanced Slap Bass Study #3

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This piece is a challenging slap bass study played using a drop-D tuning.This study makes use of a wide range of techniques, including chord strumming, double popping, fretting hand slaps, machine gun triplets and more. If you want to look at these elements in more detail, you’ll find full courses devoted to them in the Intermediate and Advanced slap bass courses on this site.

Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF transcription and the audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).

This course contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above.

1. Advanced Slap Bass Study #3 Play-Through

This video is a demonstration of the piece, performed on a 1966 Fender Jazz bass.

2. A Section

In this video I’ll be breaking down the main theme of this piece, which opens the track at letter A. The line from this section features strummed chords, tenths and double popping figures, so there’s a lot to get your teeth into. This lesson covers bars 1 – 8 in the accompanying transcription.

3. B Section

This video covers the melody section, which can be found at letter B. The bass plays the melody line along with the synth here. Precise articulation is crucial here as the line makes use of many hammer-ons, pull-offs and vibrato. There are also some descending sliding figures played with the thumb that were inspired by the way Marcus Miller performs melodic parts with the slap technique. This lesson covers bars 9 – 24 in the transcription.

4. C Section

In this lesson we’ll be working through the C section. This part of the track has a slightly more conventional slap bass part, although it also contains more strummed parts, as well as some double popping triplet licks and some artificial harmonics played using the tapping technique. This lesson covers bars 25 – 36 in the accompanying transcription.

5. E Section

This lesson covers the repeating two-bar bass groove that is played beneath the piano solo at letter E. This video covers bars 45 – 46 in the transcription.

6. F Section

In this video we’ll be working through the first half of the bass solo at letter F. Although the solo is complex, it begins in a relatively simple way, gradually building in complexity. This first half of the solo concludes with some sixteenth note machine gun triplet figures and another Marcus Miller-inspired melodic line slapped on the G-string. This lesson covers bars 47 – 54 in the transcription.

7. G Section

In this video we’ll be covering the second half of the bass solo. This part of the solo is based around a repeated melodic idea, which is paired with some more complex fills. This lesson covers bars 55 – 62 in the accompanying transcription.

8. H Section

In this video we’ll be working through the H section. Structurally, this is the same as the C section, although the bass plays a Victor Wooten-inspired open string hammer-on line throughout the final four bars. This section is followed by a repeat of the main theme, at letter I. This lesson covers bars 63 – 74 in the transcription.

9. I Section

In this video we’ll be looking at the final playing of the main theme, found at letter I in the transcription. This part is played in the same way as before, although there is a complicated triplet fill in the final bars to discuss. This lesson covers bars 75 – 83.