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Fretting Hand Slaps

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Fretting hand slaps are percussive ghost notes that are performed by striking the strings with the fingers of the fretting hand. This is essentially a more forceful version of the way in which you might lightly touch a string to stop it from ringing.

Fretting hand slaps have been used by many bass players over the years but were widely popularised by UK bassist Mark King (Level 42). Originally a drummer, King approached the bass in a similar way, combining regular thumb slaps and finger pops with fretting hand slaps to build up complex sixteenth note-based slap grooves. It is also possible to play pitched notes with the fretting hand using the same technique. This will also be covered in some of the exercises in this course.

You can learn more about fretting hand slaps in the Slap Bass – Intermediate Level video course, which you can find HERE. Don't forget to hit the Download Resources button above to receive the PDF worksheet and audio files that accompany these lessons!

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

Exercise #31

If you’ve never played bass grooves that incorporate fretting hand slaps before, this exercise is a good place to start.

Exercise #32

Fretting hand slaps are relatively simple to play following an open string. They can also be used to followed fretted notes, as shown in this exercise.

Exercise #33

This is a more complex line in which fretting hand slaps have been used in combination with thumb slaps, finger pops and hammer-ons. The result is an almost continuous sixteenth note line.

Exercise #34

This is another line based in E, a key that works particularly well for lines that use fretting hand slaps.

Exercise #35

This exercise makes more extensive use of pitched fretting hand slaps.

Exercise #36

This is a complex line that requires the fretting hand to perform ghost notes and pitched notes.

Exercise #37

This exercise uses many of the ideas that have been found in previous exercises, but at a higher tempo.

Exercise #38

This is a more difficult line that uses fretting hand slaps in conjunction with fretted notes.

Exercise #39

This is a continuous sixteenth note line in the key of A minor. Fretting hand slaps are used extensively to plug the gaps in between the pitched notes and maintain the sixteenth note pulse.

Exercise #40

This up-tempo line in G minor recalls Flea’s playing in the early days of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Exercise #41

In addition to the fretting hand slaps, this line also features a long pull-off/hammer-on figure in the first and third bars. The popped double stop at the end of the fourth bar is a nod to Stuart Hamm, who has used this idea often in his playing.