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Strumming

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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.

You can learn more about the strumming technique 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 #69

This exercise reflects a C7 tonality, with the first and third bars beginning with this chord strummed in the upper register. As this chord is strummed using a sixteenth note rhythm, you’ll need to use upstrokes as well as downstrokes.

Exercise #70

This energetic line begins with a strummed A major chord.

Exercise #71

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.

Exercise #72

This line combines double stop tenths (which are plucked with the thumb and first finger) with strummed open string double stops and chords.

Exercise #73

This exercise requires you to be comfortable alternating between strummed chords and strummed ghost notes. Be careful of the heavily syncopated rhythms used here.

Exercise #74

This menacing groove features strummed power chords in the second and fourth bars.