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Beginner Level Exercise Area

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In this final section of the Beginner Slap Bass course, we'll looking at some new slap and pop grooves that combine everything that we've covered in the previous courses. This will include fretting hand muting, ghost notes, hammer-ons, pull-offs and trills.

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

This course is 1 HOUR and 10 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. Introduction and Exercise #1

In this video we'll briefly talk over the content of the course. We'll then work through Exercise #1, which is a disco/funk line inspired by Stuart Zender, the original bassist with Jamiroquai.

2. Exercise #2

This exercise has a quicker tempo, and makes fairly extensive use of glissandos (slides).

3. Exercise #3

This exercise has a real bounce to it and can be used to refine your fretting hand muting - staccato notes are important to the feel here.

4. Exercise #4

This is a classic funk line that uses most of the techniques that we have covered in this Beginner Slap Bass course.

5. Exercise #5

This exercise is a busy groove that is based around the G Mixolydian mode, but which also makes reference to the blues scale.

6. Exercise #6

This exercise may look a bit frantic, but the slower tempo and extensive use of pull-offs makes this line easier to play than it looks. This line also requires some bends.

7. Exercise #7

This exercise features the same figure at the beginning of the first, second and third bars. This opening figure is followed by some different fills in the upper register of the bass.

8. Exercise #8

This exercise features a descending series of hammer-ons popped on the G-string. These hammer-ons are played against the open A-string, which is slapped at the beginning of each beat.

9. Exercise #9

This exercise features a lot of semiquaver ghost notes, which are used to fill in the gaps and add rhythmic excitement to the line.

10. Exercise #10

This groove features a lot of space - many of the notes that are played are heavily syncopated. Be careful with your timing on this exercise, it needs to be accurate.

11. Exercise #11

This is an energetic exercise that exclusively uses the G major pentatonic scale: G-A-B-D-E-G.

12. Exercise #12

This exercise uses the A minor pentatonic scale: A-C-D-E-G-A. The fill in the fourth bar is a busier version of the classic slap fill from the disco classic 'Car Wash'.

13. Exercise #13

This exercise uses the G Mixolydian mode: G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G. A double hammer-on is played in the fourth bar: the string is slapped once, then two consecutive hammer-ons are played.

14. Exercise #14

This busy exercise is built on the D Dorian mode: D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D. Note how colourful the B is when it arrives in the second bar - this is one of the most important notes in the mode.

15. Exercise #15

This busy line in E features a lot of hammer-ons. Lines such as this one work really well on the bass - it's easy to get back to the open E-string from any point in the riff.

16. Exercise #16

This busy line recalls Mark King's playing with Level 42 and is built on the B major pentatonic scale: B-C#-D#-F#-G#-B. The thumb is used as a rhythmic device here, bouncing between popped notes.

17. Exercise #17

This exercise is reminiscent of early nineties Red Hot Chili Peppers. The line here is based on the G blues scale and can be played quite aggressively.

18. Exercise #18

This exercise is a hyperactive groove over an E7 chord. The same two-beat figure is used to open the first three bars.

19. Exercise #19

This exercise is built on the A Dorian mode: A-B-C-D-E-F#-G-A. Harmonically, it's a simple line, but ghost notes are used to add rhythmic interest.