Strumming chords on the bass can be very effective, and certainly works well in conjunction with the slap bass technique. There are many bassists who incorporate strumming into their slap playing, including Stanley Clarke, Les Claypool, Mark King, Victor Wooten, Flea and Michael Manring.
Chords are strummed with the fingers of the fretting hand. When doing so, you’ll want to be sure that you are striking the strings with the fingernails - this will result in a nice, strong attack. To be truly effective with chord strumming you’ll need to comfortable with playing upstrokes as well as downstrokes, catching the strings on the way back after a downstroke.
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 37 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
This exercise reflects a C7 tonality, with the first and third bars beginning with this chord strummed in the upper register. You’ll need to use up and downstrokes here.
This energetic line begins with a strummed A major chord. This chord is essentially an open string tenth, with the fifth of the chord added on top.
This exercise makes use of the E Phrygian mode (E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E) and uses strummed power chords in the first and third bars.
This line combines double stop tenths (which are plucked with the thumb and first finger) with strummed open string double stops and chords.
This exercise requires you to be comfortable alternating between strummed chords and strummed ghost notes. Be careful of the heavily syncopated rhythms used here.
This menacing groove features strummed power chords in the second and fourth bars. When playing these, be sure that you are muting the E and G-strings effectively.