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Sam's Slap Bass Exercise #1

by Samuel Fernandez (132)

Pages: 1 Suggested Tempo: 260

Here's a good finger exersice for those still trying to get coordinated. The rests are all muted notes that you slap while having your left hand silence the strings. Have your middle finger on G on the (E) string. This hand position works best for this exercise and it'll allow you to use all your fingers with very little shifting around. If your hands are too small, don't fret, you can still work around it by using your index finger instead and just shift one fret up to do the pull off with your middle to index fingers.

The first beat that goes from G to A on the (E) string is a hammer-on, while on beat 3 there is pull-off that goes from F to E on the (D) string. On the up beat of 4 there is a hammer-on that goes from C to D on the (A) string to the second measure and then slap on that D on the (A) string. From there you'll follow up to a slide that goes from C to D on the (G) string. That's basically it. You have your hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides all in one groove.

You can also add in your own flavor by putting in a vibrato when you hit that quarter note on the 3rd beat on the second measure. To get a good vibrato first practice it by pressing on G on the 12th fret of the (G) string and just shake the hell out of it without moving into the other frets. When you get the idea of how it should sound like then try it on the lower register. It's harder to get a good vibrato sound on the electric bass on the lower register, but you can do it and works great on slow songs or spacious songs where it can be heard.

Keep in mind that this is a 16th note groove. I had to make it as an 8th here because they don't have 32 notes or dotted 16th notes. So, play it in double time as soon as you work out the fingerings and rhythms. Enjoy!
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