Major bass playing styles - slap, tap, finger and pick
Whether it is slap bass, tapping, fingerstyle or plectrum playing, let me know your favorite bass style.
This lens showcases some of the world's most renowned bass players, from Larry Graham, the inventor of electric slap bass, to Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Look out for Mark King, Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten, also, each geniuses in their own right!
So, what are these bass playing styles?
Contents at a Glance
Table of Contents
Just slap, or tap the link to get there quicker!
Playing Electric Bass
Knowing which notes to play!
This page is all about styles of playing electric bass, and for slap bass it is better to use a bass with frets. I'm not going to tell you which notes to play, but you'll find with your own practice and experience that certain styles tend to favor common note patterns.
For example, in the slap style, it is very useful to thumb a note and then 'pop' the octave of that note - extremely popular and produces a great effect. A lot of the very mellow tapping stylists play close to the body of the bass - the high notes - which is also a wonderfully melodic way of playing.
Whatever style - or styles - you employ on bass, your starting points are the scales and common chords. If you know your way around these, you'll be able to add musical interest to your basslines, and of course, play notes that fit nicely with what everyone else in your band is playing!
So good luck in exploring the bass styles and I hope you find your style.
Slap Bass
also known as 'thumpin and pluckin'
Larry Graham
The father of funky slap bass

Slap bass is generally characterised by striking the strings with the thumb of the right hand, using the left hand to fret notes, hammer on, or add percussive muted slaps. The fingers of the right hand are used for 'popping' or 'snapping' usually the D and G strings against the fretboard.
Slap bass is a very percussive style. It's invention (on electric bass) has been credited to Larry Graham, of funk bands Sly & the Family Stone, and Graham Central Station, allegedly improvising on an occasion when their band was left without a drummer! Larry Graham refers to the technique as "thumpin' and pluckin'".
Hear Larry's Slap
Larry Graham and Graham Central Station
Slap bass courtesy of Mark King of Level 42
Example of slap bass
For more Mark King
Info, trivia and loads of music
-
Mark King (aka Thunderthumbs)
-
All about the drummer turned bass player, and singing frontman of Level 42. The king of slap bass, Mark King. Mark joined Mike Lindup, and Phil and Boon Gould in 1979, forming Level 42. Over the last 30 years, the band has seen many line up changes...
And here's a really interesting slap bass tutorial
Other bassists who slap
In addition to Larry Graham and Mark King, other bassists known for using the slap style include: Stanley Clarke, Bootsy Collins, Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, Louis Johnson, Stu Hamm, Les Claypool and Flea.
Some other great examples of the style
Slap Bass links
- Level 42
- More information about Mark King & Level 42.
- Slap bass on Wiki
- Contains an excellent list of bass players known for their use of the slap technique.
- Slap It!
- Tony Oppenheim's 'Slap it!' website, with audio samples & musical notation with tab.
- GazzBass
- A great site with some cool clips of Gary Denyer's own compositions and his take on some Level 42 basslines.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Featuring Flea, who uses an aggressive rock version of slap.
- The Basics of Slap Bass
- An article about the basic methods of playing slap bass.
- Advanced Slap Bass Techniques
- The follow-up article from 'Basics of Slap Bass' covering special slap techniques from double popping and double thumbing, to the fast left-hand slap triplets and more.
Slap bass books
Learn to slap bass yourself
Tapping on Bass
Tapping
Tapping on the bass produces a very mellow and melodic sound. The notes are not plucked in the conventional sense, but result from hammering on with both left and right hands on the fretboard.
Examples of the Tapping technique
Tapping links
- Victor Wooten
- Victor's official website.
- Bass guitar on Wiki
- A general bass page on Wikipedia containing a section on the tapping style.
Tapping bass stuff
Fingerstyle Playing
Fingerstyle
Fingerstyle is one of the most common ways of playing bass, and is pretty self-explanatory. The notes are played by plucking with the fingers of the right hand.
Examples of Fingerstyle playing
Stanley Clarke, "Schooldays" At Northsea Jazz Festival
Stanley Clarke performs Thu, June 21st, 2007, 7:30pm Fairfield Theatre Company's StageOne Fairfield Theatre Company 70 Sanford St. [across from Metro North Station] Fairfield, CT (203) 259-1036 http://www.fairfieldtheatre.org info@fairfieldtheatre.org
Runtime: 537
57419 views
82 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Walking bass
The fingerstyle of jazz & blues
A commonly employed version of fingerstyle play is called walking bass. It's usually associated with jazz and blues, but can be found in other styles of music.
Unlike a lot of slap bass, especially that used in the funk style, walking bass is usually unsyncopated, and consists of quarter-notes (or four-feel in jazz terminology).
The sound of a walking bassline is generally ever-changing rather than a simple riff following chord progression. The walking line can use scale tones, arpeggios and passing tones, and provides an undulating melody that rises and falls in tone over several bars.
Fingerstyle bass stuff
Playing with a Pick (Plectrum)
Pickplaying
Using a pick or plectrum
Pickplaying involves the use - obviously - of a pick (or plectrum) and is used commonly in the punk and rock styles.
Phil Havella Demonstrates the "Starpic" Bass plectrum.
Phil Havella from the "Best Music Shop" In Jindalle, Brisbane Demonstrating the Bass Plectrum by "Starpics Australia"...Makers of the worlds finest Guitar and Bass Plectrums.
curated content from YouTube
Pickplaying stuff
And here are some great 'mixed' style clips
Stanley Clarke playing slap and fingerstyle.
Stanley Clarke / Steve Gadd - My Greatest Hits
Some of the best groove you will ever hear.
curated content from YouTube
Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller & Victor Wooten.
WOW! Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten
More from TrueFire (guitar lessons, guitar videos) - http://su.pr/2YAuC1 Stanley Clarke http://www.stanleyclarke.com, Marcus Miller, http://www.marcusmiller.com, Victor Wooten http://www.victorwooten.com. From Bass Player http://www.BassPlayer.tv and
curated content from YouTube
Featured bass lenses
Other bassists on Squidoo
-
Mark King (aka Thunderthumbs)
-
All about the drummer turned bass player, and singing frontman of Level 42. The king of slap bass, Mark King. Mark joined Mike Lindup, and Phil and Boon Gould in 1979, forming Level 42. Over the last 30 years, the band has seen many line up changes...
-
Marcus Miller
-
Marcus Miller is one of the busiest musicians/bassists out there, having participated in over 400 albums so far. Marcus has performed with many music heavyweights spanning various styles, including Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, McCoy...
-
Stanley Clarke
-
Exploding into the jazz world in 1971, Stanley was a lanky teenager from the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He arrived in New York City and immediately landed jobs with famous bandleaders such as: Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henders...
-
Victor Wooten
-
Victor Wooten redefines the word musician. Regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor is known for his solo recordings and tours, and as a member of the Grammy-winning supergroup, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones. He i...
-
Best Bass Players
-
Who is the greatest bass player? Vote for your favorites, or add a new one to the list below. From the editors at notreble.com, the site for bass players.
Thanks for your interest!
Why not write a review at
Isle of Squid?
Fancy having a go?
Try out this book & CD
What do you think?
-
Reply
- AmandaSomers AmandaSomers Oct 30, 2009 @ 7:57 am
- nice lens and great videos to support it...
-
Reply
- Good-Music Good-Music Jun 12, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
- Wonderful lens, although I am learning to play the guitar I love all these bass players, especially Stanley Clarke, he is a true master.
-
Reply
- ArtSiren ArtSiren May 31, 2009 @ 11:55 am | in reply to Drum-And-Drummer
- Thanks DandD! The Wooten lens isn't one of mine, but I'm more than happy to feature relevant lenses here if they relate to great bass players! :)
-
Reply
- Drum-And-Drummer Drum-And-Drummer May 31, 2009 @ 8:38 am
- Beautiful lens! As soon as I finish 5-starrin' and favin' you and what-not, I'm going to go check out your Victor Wooten lens. He's my all-time favorite! Very tasty stuff here... I'm excited I found you!
-
Reply
- spirituality spirituality Apr 22, 2009 @ 10:18 am
- blessed by a squidangel :)
- Load More



























