Description
Simple Steps To Slap Bass Volume 1
The Ultimate Step-By-Step Slap Bass Method For Bass Guitar
Click Here For Full Course Info PDF
‘I can’t say enough about Simple Steps To Slap Bass. Best money I ever spent on anything music wise!’ Kevin Masih – USA
‘I never had any kind of slap technique, so I purchased the Simple Steps to Slap Bass and I’m amazed at the improvement.’ Dave Imbarrato – USA
‘Simple Steps To Slap Bass is astonishing and really changed my approach to this technique. I saw a huge leap in my bass playing!’ Fernando Maspero – Argentina
‘At first, I wondered why every lesson was so easy to take. Then I realized that was what made the course so great.’ Thierry – France
Check out more reviews of the course in the Reviews tab above!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Simple Steps To Slap Bass Course?
The Simple Steps To Slap Bass Course is a complete, step-by-step method for mastering the slap bass style from the absolute basics of the ‘thumb slap’ all the way through to advanced techniques such as machine gun triplets, double thumbing and flamenco rolls.
What level of player is the course aimed at?
This first volume is aimed at players new to the slap technique or that may have some experience but finding difficulty progressing to that next level.
What Will I Learn?
After finishing the course you will have acquired the following skills and knowledge:
- A solid foundation in Slap Bass technique
- A cleanup of your overall playing utilizing the Home Position principles
- A solid grounding in funk 16th note rhythms
- Many original slap riffs written specifically for this course
How Long Are The Lessons?
The lesson length’s vary but the complete course is over 12 hours in length.
How is the course presented? Do I Download Anything?
The course is hosted on the Talkingbass website so there are no video files to download. There is a lesson material zip file for each module containing a Course Workbook and any relevant practice tracks.
Can I see the Lesson Index?
Yes, you can. Here is a list of every lesson:
Volume 1 – The Basics
- Lesson #1 – Course Introduction
- Lesson #2 – Thumb Basics
- Lesson #3 – Choking
- Lesson #4 – Short Notes
- Lesson #5 – Fretted Notes
- Lesson #6 – Short Fretted Notes
- Lesson #7 – Duration Exercises
- Lesson #8 – 8th Note Rhythms
- Lesson #9 – Bass Drum Rhythms
- Lesson #10 – Chord Progressions
- Lesson #11 – Using Multiple Fingers
- Lesson #12 – String Crossing
- Lesson #13 – Riffs
- Lesson #14 – Five Slap Riffs
- Lesson #15 – Popping
- Lesson #16 – Octaves
- Lesson #17 – Octaves Combined
- Lesson #18 – Open String Octaves
- Lesson #19 – Slapping Drum Patterns
- Lesson #20 – Five Slap Pop Riffs
- Lesson #21 – 16th Note Rhythms #1
- Lesson #22 – 16th Note Rhythms #2
- Lesson #23 – 16th Note Rhythms #3
- Lesson #24 – Applying 16th Note Rhythms
- Lesson #25 – Five 16th Note Slap Riffs
Steven Rullo –
I really enjoyed the course. Even if you have no interest in the slap technique, the course will help you improve your muting and rhythm skills.
Bart Roels –
Thank you TalkingBass
Almost halfway course. Been playing bass for aprox 30 years and still new things and technique appears. Slapping is new for me, was looking for new challenge. Mark is a great teacher and explains everything in a simple way. I am sure to take more courses in the future. Thank you TalkingBass !!
Barney Kister –
Another solid class working from simple fundamentals to build up to lines and groves. Especially liked the section introducing 16th notes and how those lessen can and are applied to bass lines. One are think could be expanded is the thumb slap/thumping technique addressing both the method of bouncing off the string or pushing the thumb thru the string. I taught myself to slap and popping the bass in the late 70’s and put away music for a long time, so 40 something years later and the slap with the bounce was not working for me. I kept playing around and found if I slapped thru the string, I got the sound I was looking for and was better able to keep hitting where I wanted my thumb to land. I kind of thought I was doing it wrong until I saw a Victor Wooten video and he was slapping the strings the way I found naturally. That made all the difference for me. Again the content builds on itself like Mark’s other classes and over the course you put the parts together and it works. Looking forward to cracking open the 2nd Slap course but before I do plan on working the 15 bass lines that are shared in this course to perfection.
Daniele Alessandro Colletti –
Great course to start step by step. Mark’s teaching is simple and very effective.
Pete Kiley –
I finished simple steps to slap bass some time ago, until I found this course I was spinning my wheels trying to learn to slap,it seemed my technique was all wrong.But the way Mark breaks the lessons in small pieces,and couples that with easy to understand and comprehend teaching style i was off and running and am now almost halfway through vol 2
Vincent Lee (verified owner) –
I am new to slap bass, and it seem after the first few lesson of practicing with the video. I am able to get the percussive sound now, I think is the step by step technique from Mark does help me a lot. The exercises can be boring but going through them everyday, I can see the difference in my playing, Thanks Mark
Bob Zasio –
This one is a bit tricky for me to review. I had already been playing for several years and knew how to slap, but I wanted to develop my technique further and wasn’t sure if I should start with volume 1 or 2. Everything in volume 1 ended up being review for me, but it was still good to go through, and for those just starting out with slap it’s important to start slow.
Gary Riso (verified owner) –
Great fundamentals course. Being primarily a rock player who occasionally plays around with slap licks, this course has me on track to learn the proper technique for slapping. Whether I use it or not, I can see where I’ll understand it better.
Isaac Yee (verified owner) –
I loved the step by step approach that Mark uses to teach Slap Bass. It was something that I tried learning from various youtube videos but could never really get a hang of it. This pace of this lesson and the practices kept me motivated and interested throughout. While the exercises were simple, my slapping and popping gradually sounded better and better and became effortless. I found that suddenly my right hand could slap and pop the right strings at the right time without my consciousness. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn slap bass. Looking forward to starting on Volume 2!
Elkmar Winter –
Great course and a decent step by step approach to slap bass playing.
It is recommendable for both, newcomer and also to redefine everything you know already.
Thumbs up and action!
Claudio Eluchans –
Following this very accurate guided path through the basics of Slap, paying attention and focusing each time on every little exercise and details, allowed me both to practice, have fun and clean up the technique a lot… So much that I surprised myself on how clean and melodic I can sound beating hard a bass! 😜
Great work!
Frank Paul (verified owner) –
This is a really great course, and Mark has done a superlative job designing and delivering it, for a number of reasons I can think of: 1) For beginners, even people picking up their very first instrument without necessarily possessing oodles of reading skills, the content is totally accessible, and Mark explains every last detail of every aspect of the technique cleary understood; 2) Conversely, for more experienced players (and I would include myself in that category) who feel a need to “get back to the basics” in terms of foundational technique, this is a truly great resource – I found myself correcting a bunch of bad habits I had picked up along the way (such as “choking” aka muting, which I had always done less efficiently); 3) The course beautifully reflects the concept of progressive learning, i.e. you master one simple skill, get that under your fingers, then move on to the next which builds upon it, and in no time you would have to realize you have gained a lot of technique – without feeling inundated or intimidated; 4) Unlike the old days, where you might have a book only, or maybe book + CD if you were lucky, the multi-modal format of how these lessons is really great, combining a good balance of notation, video presentation, audio clips, etc. I find that watching Mark’s video segments feels as close as I can get to having a live, one-on-one lesson with a teacher in the same room as me. All in all, I would strongly recommend this course to anyone branching out into slap technique, regardless of prior experience level with bass playing in general. I can’t wait to see what goodies await in level 2 of this course!
Antti –
I used to play bass in several metal bands back in the days (20+ years ago). After years of not too much of activity I wanted to start playing again more seriously, and to learn new skills along the way. Slapping was one thing I never really mastered so it was about time to dig in deeper. I was looking for a course and bumped into Mark’s YouTube channel. His style of teaching hit me right away so I decided to try the course out. And I have to say I like every second of it. I’ve just finished Volume 1 and will continue to Volume 2 next while frequently coming back to the slap riff exercises from Volume 1 to hone my new skills.
Celia B –
Now I’ve completed the first volume of the Slap Bass course, I wanted to do a review to encourage people to get the course, because it has been really great. Most of the lessons are short (less than 30 mins) so I was able to work through at least one on each day I practised. I prefered to practice along with the videos because as well as teaching you how to do the technique, Mark coaches you through the exercises and you can play along with him, building up speed till you can play along with the drum track. Most of the time I couldn’t keep up when Mark played with the drum track but I can easily go back to lessons and keep practising until I get there. I started as a complete beginner and I had to go through some pain (in my fingers and ears) and persevere when I felt like giving up because I just wasn’t getting it and it didn’t sound like it was supposed to. But Mark has an encouraging style of teaching and I’m glad I kept going with it because I have made a lot of progress in the end. Another thing I like about this course is the teaching on 16th note rhythms which is useful for learning other styles and techniques, for example fingerstyle and plectrum, as well as slap. A lot of the exercises are written out underneath the video in music notation and tablature, which is useful if you’re able to read music (or learning how to).
Marcel van Maasdam –
This course is truly a must for developing slap bass style, playing it the right way from the start. I really like the way that next to the techniques, the typicall slap bass rhytms are getting explained so clearly, with an immediate application in practical use. Fantastic. This helps me a lot in playing those funky baselines I love to play so much. And play that funky music right! Now that i have the various techniques and rhytms ‘under my thumb”, it is much more easier to pick up those lines and, as a bonus, I already notice a much more accurate timing as well. Thanks Mark! On to level 2 for me! And who knows, maybe level 42 is in reach after all, and sooner then I first imagined.
Rob Shackleton –
As a complete beginner to the slap style I really needed “simple steps”, and this course fitted the bill for me perfectly. Mark starts right at the beginning and beaks it down into well explained easy to follow stages, which gradually build up good technique from a solid foundation. Having worked my way steadily through the course I’m pleased with the cool stuff I can now play. Thoroughly enjoyed the learning process. Now on to Volume 2.
Celia B –
The TalkingBass Slap Bass course is without doubt the best course I have come across for learning this technique (I speak as a member of several other bass learning sites). The lessons provide a detailed explanation of technique in easy to manage steps with practice exercises and backing tracks. I know that I’ve made progress with this course because I’m on my 3rd time going through it and I can see myself that I’m getting better and developing muscle memory for the techniques – if I ever use material from other sites, I notice that I’m playing as Mark has taught and other teachers have left out important details which Mark provides. I love Mark’s teaching style and I’m never bored repeating lessons, instead I get more out of it and I notice things I missed before, so I’m gradually building up expertise. I’m really very happy with this course and can’t recommend it highly enough.
Tobias Thomas –
Having started as a guitar player as a kid and then playing bass for some years in a rock band I never got in touch with slapping. I do like the sound of slapping and tried a little myself. Since I like Mark’s youtube video’s a lot I decided to try Mark’s slapping course.
This really helped! It is a step by step guide and new things are introduced one at a time in simple steps. I particularly enjoy the “5 xxx riffs” lessons. The given riffs help to practice what was just learned in the previous lessons and sound really great. So it is fun to practice them over and over again – and in the end that’s the only way to learn new stuff.
The course also helps to get interesting 16th rhythms under your fingers.
So far I finished course 1 and am at the beginning of course 2 and still exited.
Thanks Mark!
Mick Tomazou –
This is a great course to get you started playing slap without all of those bad habits that you pick up from less accomplished players. Mark delivers the information clearly and concisely, guaranteed that you’ll make excellent progress using the TalkingBass library.
Richard White Sr (verified owner) –
Hello everyone! I have been playing bass for many years but I recently decided to learn how to play slap and pop style! I have always loved funk and I actually played in a DC go – go band many years ago, although I did very little slapping. So once I decided to learn I went online and after trying many different sites I found TalkingBass.net!!! I spent a few months on the free lessons alone and my skill level went up so fast! But I must say that I really followed Mark’s advice and took it slow. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent just working on my rest stroke slap! And learning to stay in the “home position” was a huge help! So I finally bought the slap bass lesson pack and I can tell you that it was money well spent! I kind of breezed through the first half and after about halfway through the second half I saw that I had rushed myself and needed to start over. And that’s where I’m at now, going through the basics and really taking my time. Mark’s style of teaching makes it easy to follow and he doesn’t push you to do everything “his” way , he tells you to find what works best for you – on some of the things. Some of the fundamentals are just that and there’s only one way to play them correctly. So,I can’t recommend TalkingBass enough!!! If you’re a beginner,or an advanced bass player – you can benefit greatly from Mark and TalkingBass!!!