FOLLOW US ON:
0 Cart £0.00

Fretting Hand Slaps

< BACK Subscribe Now Subscriber Login

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.

If you require additional help with any of the techniques used here, the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription cost) should prove useful:

Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF worksheet and audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only). The worksheet is available with TAB and without, for those who wish to give their reading skills a workout.

This course is 51 MINUTES long and 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. Fretting hand slaps are indicated with ‘LH’.

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 are used in combination with slaps, pops and hammer-ons. The result is an almost continuous sixteenth note line.

Exercise #34

This is another line based in E minor. Open string keys such as this work particularly well for lines that make use of fretting hand slaps.

Exercise #35

This exercise makes more extensive use of pitched fretting hand slaps. These are performed in a similar way to fretting hand ghost note slaps.

Exercise #36

This is a complex line that requires the fretting hand to perform ghost notes and pitched notes. The result is an almost continuous sixteenth note line.

Exercise #37

This exercise uses many of the ideas that have been found in previous exercises, but at a higher tempo. A double stop is used in the fourth bar of the line.

Exercise #38

This is a more difficult line that uses fretting hand slaps in conjunction with fretted notes. The line in the fourth bar requires you to pop then slap on the same string.

Exercise #39

This is a continuous sixteenth note line in A minor. Fretting hand slaps are used 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. Note that each of the first three bars is exactly the same.

Exercise #41

As well as fretting hand slaps, this line also features a long pull-off/hammer-on figure. The popped double stop at the end of the fourth bar is a nod to Stuart Hamm.