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My fellow bassists,

I've seen a lot of requests for this topic and I'm not surprised! Muting is one of the most important elements of a great slap bass line, and also one of the most overlooked. It may not be the most exciting thing to practise, but I promise if you can master this, you'll actually have a lot more fun playing slap bass!

And whether you have aspirations of becoming a professional studio or live bassist, or you just want to make your slap sound more clear and punchy, mastering this art is a must.

In this lesson I show you the four main methods of muting that I see pro bassists use, many of which I use myself, and give you an exercise that helps you practise each one of them in turn. By mastering each of these four methods, you'll be able to control your notes in pretty much any context you can imagine.

You can find the full practice video at a variety of tempos at video #95.1

Thanks so much for coming here and practising, as always let me know if you have any questions or comments and I'll make sure to respond ASAP.

Have a great day and I'll see you in the next lesson!

Charles

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Comments

Ryan Bardy

Hi Charles! Brand new member here. I am struggling with the slap technique on any string higher than the lowest one. I am not getting the same volume/punch on the higher strings. What video would you recommend for me to work on this? Thanks in advance, love your stuff!

Charles Berthoud

It’s normal to have less volume when you slap on the D and G, and the solution is to slap through the string rather than bounce off. The fact that you’re getting less volume on the a string too makes me wonder if your action (string height) is too high. A lot of the slap volume comes from the string hitting the frets, meaning if your strings are too high you have to whack them really hard to push them down far enough. If that’s the case, check out beginner tapping lesson 2 - the tips I provide for adjusting your action apply to slap as well. Hope that helps!

groovyjen

Love this! Learning so much from you. Thanks!