Incredible video. Im a drummer and this is an instrument I’ve always loved and wish I could play. My dad is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and I love the old stuff. I have bern a fan of Willie Dixon, as long as I can remember and love just him and a piano. You guys amaze me and I thank you for the great music !
honestly, the most helpful video covering the subject of slapping I've ever seen. Like others already told, in only five minutes you teach more than others in half an hour. A great base for practicing.
Wow! totaly amazing. after practicing for about a week (been playing double bass for 1 year) i finally was able to both stand on the bass while slapping and lift it like a bassguitar and slap. thank you so much for this amazing video
Oscar Lejrin ha ha! It's quite an art! I have cracked lower bouts doing that, and fallen off and broken the neck in so doing. And to do an entire song kills your legs too!
thanks. I've been looking on TH-cam at double bass related stuff for a while now and your video is definitely the most informative. Again, thanks for your help!😊🖒
63 Impala Keep at it - it takes a while. But start off really slowly and it’ll just come with a bit of practice. If you try a gallop every day for a few weeks, it’ll suddenly appear in your playing. It’s a timing thing with the right hand that will suddenly click - it’s like an anti-clockwise circular motion when you get it.
I use D'addario Helicore Orchestral Bass Strings (3/4 Size Medium Tension plus a Matching Low B String) which hold tune better than gut strings & can really take a good plucking, especially since my Upright Bass is a 5 String made by Thomas & George Martin (4/4 Size).
Which of the three types do you use out of interest? Guts in my experience slip out of tune very frequently - for most of my playing I use Evah Pirazzi lightweight steels which are superb but not quite as playable as a gut for all the fancy stuff.
@@wesleystanton Helicore Orchestral Upright Strings (3/4 Size Medium Tension plus a Matching Low B String since my Upright Bass is a 5 String made by Thomas & George Martin). They have a Steel Rope Core so the tension is lower & easier on the fingers.
@@wesleystanton The Low B String on a 5 String Upright Bass just booms. Thomas & George Martin cleverly solved its playability problem by tweaking its setup.
Keith Casper Yes they painted them with a “wood” finish - they were made of aluminium so they wouldn’t warp while being exposed to salt and moisture on board ships. Both Pfretzschners and AlCoas were subjected to this treatment - but they look far cooler stripped back to bare metal to my eye 😃
Thanks - trick with the triple slap is keep going, however slow you do it to start with, and then it'll just click. Might take a few weeks, or longer, but once it's there, it stays :-)
honestly, that was amazing. I've been thinking about changing my instrument direction and learning a string instrument. I've allways admired double bass and wondered if it would be best to start with double bass or start with a bass guitar for the practicality of transporting it to lessons?
I started playing guitar - typical tuning for the bottom four strings on a guitar is E, A, D and G which is the same as on a double bass (or bass guitar for that matter, if they're the normal four-string kind), so fingering and scales on the guitar translated easily enough for the left hand. It took a bit longer to start getting fluent with the right-hand technique but like all instruments, persevere and it'll reap the rewards :-) I don't play the bass guitar - I probably could get the right kind of notes out of it if I used a pick or fingers. Those guys who slap and pop bass guitars are amazing but I've always had so much work from playing double bass I've never bothered with bass guitar. Quite a few good upright bass players I know are also accomplished on the bass guitar but I'm definitely not one of them!
Great videos! Any suggestions for a song that's almost entirely single slaps? My arm usually can't keep going that long! I could pluck or reduce the intensity of my playing, but that's not the sound I'm after.On another note, I notice that I'm mostly doing my triples with two slaps on the knuckle. I'll try to focus on training myself to do the palm slap more often. Thanks!
I can't think of a song entirely of single slaps - but you could take something like Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel and have a crack at playing that and use a single slap rather than Bill Black's pizzicato on the original.
Sounds cool!! I am impressed that you can demonstrate all in 5 minute video. I am just curious.. Have you tried these on the cello? Or do you think it is doable? The gap between the strings and the fingerboard is around 1cm (.4") for cello. Thanks!
Dream Soap Thanks for the kind comments. No, never tried it on a cello - I’m sure it could be done. But can you hear that churning noise? Luigi Boccherini is turning in his grave 😉
Hi Jimmy - your message went into spam for some reason and I've just been having a Christmas tidy up and found it. The bass is a Pfretzschner and was made sometime in the 1930s. The company, GA Pfretzschner, was based in Markneukirchen in Germany and made aluminium violas and cellos too, I believe. Most basses seemed to find their way to America (it's a superior instrument tonally to the American AlCoA, though you can fill an AlCoA with dynamite and detonate it and it'll still work whereas these basses are a bit more delicate). :-) They come up occasionally and I know where there are a couple - they are antiques now, so not cheap, but they are a real showpiece. Let me know if you want me to help you find one.
Using natural gut strings - they're expensive but they're far better than the cheaper artificial guts I've tried. Action is about 10mm high so as to get my fingers underneath. A lot of jazz players will have a very low action setting but to get the string to slap the finger-board for rockabilly you've got to have some room.
Hi Gary - thank you. These are genuine gut strings. The E has since been swapped for a silver-wound gut which gives it more punch. Regarding your feedback problem, try holding the bass between your knees when you play, or packing foam in the f-holes. It depends on so many different variables it’s hard to say without actually being where your set-up is.
Wes Stanton thank you Wes I have tried many things but will keep trying other things . Are you at the bass show this year? If so what day as I would like to come if you are doing a workshop? Cheers
gary knights Hi Gary - no plans to be but always happy to help out if you have any specific issues you need help with. Add me on Facebook and I’ll message you.
Would and could do with some lessons my right hand technique is lacking even though I have been playing for many years on electric only I can play gigs on the double but just lacking in variation etc
Good video, I have an old aluminum bass with wood neck so I know it's not Alcoa, I guess the German maker. Been in basement for years, woodgrain, the old dudes in good shape. need to research it a bit. Thx Larry
Craig Hurren guilty as charged! The G slipped out and I didn't notice until after I posted. I have already asked for forgiveness on this on the header notes in the video. Thanks for watching though.
The poor intonation comes from poor left-hand technique and an underdeveloped ear. As a stringed instrument player you have to constantly negotiate tuning. So it's not that his strings are out of tune--his playing is out of tune.
Not trying to hate. The video is informative for right hand technique. But I've noticed that a lot of rockabilly cats tend to develop their right hand and neglect any attempt at playing properly with the left. Besides causing bad intonation, this can lead to injuries, and it makes it difficult to play the full range of the instrument. Most of these guys only play up to 2nd or 3rd position, and even then with poor tuning.
Thanks for posting. I'm a slap player too and I love watching other players show things. This is a good quality instructional.
Solid Video, best break down of triple and drag technique on youtube...simple. Great tutorial!
Incredible video. Im a drummer and this is an instrument I’ve always loved and wish I could play. My dad is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and I love the old stuff. I have bern a fan of Willie Dixon, as long as I can remember and love just him and a piano. You guys amaze me and I thank you for the great music !
Huge smile on my face when you showed that quadruple slap. Great great video! I used to literally dream of play slap bass, i need to finally get one
honestly, the most helpful video covering the subject of slapping I've ever seen. Like others already told, in only five minutes you teach more than others in half an hour. A great base for practicing.
Wow! totaly amazing. after practicing for about a week (been playing double bass for 1 year) i finally was able to both stand on the bass while slapping and lift it like a bassguitar and slap. thank you so much for this amazing video
Oscar Lejrin ha ha! It's quite an art! I have cracked lower bouts doing that, and fallen off and broken the neck in so doing. And to do an entire song kills your legs too!
Wes Stanton yeah i know the feeling. i fell on stage..
thanks. I've been looking on TH-cam at double bass related stuff for a while now and your video is definitely the most informative. Again, thanks for your help!😊🖒
I LOVE this! If I had time to learn an instrument and could overcome my utter lack of musical talent this is where I'd go! 🍻😍
I don't even know u can do slap on double bass! Sounds cool!
I am a double bass player and am still learning, this is useful.
Praying you didn't attempt this with steels
Thanks for this man, very informative, sounds awesome too. That's a wicked looking bass ya got there as well.
Thank you for a great demonstration. Still trying to get the Gallop triplet.
63 Impala Keep at it - it takes a while. But start off really slowly and it’ll just come with a bit of practice. If you try a gallop every day for a few weeks, it’ll suddenly appear in your playing. It’s a timing thing with the right hand that will suddenly click - it’s like an anti-clockwise circular motion when you get it.
Working on my drag quad the last month. I feel your pain, lol.
Great vid explaining.
That was amazing man. You remind me of Bill Black, slappin away on the bass fiddle
Karl Beerman Thank you - I'll take that compliment any day!
Simple and concise. Well done!
Thanks! This is awesome. I'm getting more serious with slapping.
I use D'addario Helicore Orchestral Bass Strings (3/4 Size Medium Tension plus a Matching Low B String) which hold tune better than gut strings & can really take a good plucking, especially since my Upright Bass is a 5 String made by Thomas & George Martin (4/4 Size).
Which of the three types do you use out of interest? Guts in my experience slip out of tune very frequently - for most of my playing I use Evah Pirazzi lightweight steels which are superb but not quite as playable as a gut for all the fancy stuff.
@@wesleystanton Helicore Orchestral Upright Strings (3/4 Size Medium Tension plus a Matching Low B String since my Upright Bass is a 5 String made by Thomas & George Martin). They have a Steel Rope Core so the tension is lower & easier on the fingers.
@@wesleystanton Yeah I prefer using Steel Strings too because Gut strings can easily go out of tune & sometimes break.
@@wesleystanton Also Steel strings cost less than Gut strings, which for both of us is a Big Plus.
@@wesleystanton The Low B String on a 5 String Upright Bass just booms. Thomas & George Martin cleverly solved its playability problem by tweaking its setup.
Thank you for your video. In Portland Oregon, there was an Alcoa aluminum bass that looked just like that--originally it was painted "wood."
Keith Casper Yes they painted them with a “wood” finish - they were made of aluminium so they wouldn’t warp while being exposed to salt and moisture on board ships. Both Pfretzschners and AlCoas were subjected to this treatment - but they look far cooler stripped back to bare metal to my eye 😃
thanks brother, I'm going to buy a bass soon.
Wow!!! Fabulous lesson!!!
i have yet to learn to play the triple slap :P your bass sounds AWESOME!
Thanks - trick with the triple slap is keep going, however slow you do it to start with, and then it'll just click. Might take a few weeks, or longer, but once it's there, it stays :-)
honestly, that was amazing. I've been thinking about changing my instrument direction and learning a string instrument. I've allways admired double bass and wondered if it would be best to start with double bass or start with a bass guitar for the practicality of transporting it to lessons?
I started playing guitar - typical tuning for the bottom four strings on a guitar is E, A, D and G which is the same as on a double bass (or bass guitar for that matter, if they're the normal four-string kind), so fingering and scales on the guitar translated easily enough for the left hand. It took a bit longer to start getting fluent with the right-hand technique but like all instruments, persevere and it'll reap the rewards :-) I don't play the bass guitar - I probably could get the right kind of notes out of it if I used a pick or fingers. Those guys who slap and pop bass guitars are amazing but I've always had so much work from playing double bass I've never bothered with bass guitar. Quite a few good upright bass players I know are also accomplished on the bass guitar but I'm definitely not one of them!
thank you for your clear and helpfull video
Doumé essba my pleasure 😃
Great videos! Any suggestions for a song that's almost entirely single slaps? My arm usually can't keep going that long! I could pluck or reduce the intensity of my playing, but that's not the sound I'm after.On another note, I notice that I'm mostly doing my triples with two slaps on the knuckle. I'll try to focus on training myself to do the palm slap more often. Thanks!
I can't think of a song entirely of single slaps - but you could take something like Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel and have a crack at playing that and use a single slap rather than Bill Black's pizzicato on the original.
I've done another video of something simpler - th-cam.com/video/dDz0dv4lkt8/w-d-xo.html - that's Heartbreak Hotel which should be pretty easy to jam!
Thank you.... that was a great vid.😎👍
Great playing when you slap is it generally on the bridge sometimes when they're singing like her instincts Johnny Cash's Jackson song?
You wouldnt happen to be the bassist from the folly brothers would you? Great vid! Taught me alot.
Guilty as charged! Our band's TH-cam channel is th-cam.com/users/thefollybrothers
@@wesleystanton aha brilliant I'll check that one out saw you lot live in Warwick Square was awesome!
Volbeat's song "16 Dollars" and "Lonesome Rider" sent us here. They're a great band from Denmark.
Sick man sound wicked!! great tutorial
I've been wanting to learn but I'm too broke for a double bass, it sucks. This is the only instrument I'm interested in learning
there are decent enough basses for like 600 new, used less
Jazz guy here trying to learn to slap. Great video!
I do this w/ D'addario Helicore Orchestral Bass Strings cause they're much sturdier & have a good thumping sound
Sounds cool!! I am impressed that you can demonstrate all in 5 minute video. I am just curious.. Have you tried these on the cello? Or do you think it is doable? The gap between the strings and the fingerboard is around 1cm (.4") for cello. Thanks!
Dream Soap Thanks for the kind comments. No, never tried it on a cello - I’m sure it could be done. But can you hear that churning noise? Luigi Boccherini is turning in his grave 😉
Cool! Thanks! Happy New Year!
Man I really like your aluminum bass . Is it a vintage German made ? What year is it and where can I buy one!
Hi Jimmy - your message went into spam for some reason and I've just been having a Christmas tidy up and found it. The bass is a Pfretzschner and was made sometime in the 1930s. The company, GA Pfretzschner, was based in Markneukirchen in Germany and made aluminium violas and cellos too, I believe. Most basses seemed to find their way to America (it's a superior instrument tonally to the American AlCoA, though you can fill an AlCoA with dynamite and detonate it and it'll still work whereas these basses are a bit more delicate). :-) They come up occasionally and I know where there are a couple - they are antiques now, so not cheap, but they are a real showpiece. Let me know if you want me to help you find one.
good luck champ...
What kind of strings are you usings?
Chuck Stone These are natural guts. I’ve since swapped the E for a silver-wound Pirastro Eudoxa which gives more punch!
Hello Wes,
Is this an aluminium bass? Will you tell some more about this bass? Great one!
It's aluminum yes
AWESOME!!!
brilliant!😊
Thank you - I don't know about brilliant but I do my best!
What strings are you using ? How low is the action ? thnx.
Using natural gut strings - they're expensive but they're far better than the cheaper artificial guts I've tried. Action is about 10mm high so as to get my fingers underneath. A lot of jazz players will have a very low action setting but to get the string to slap the finger-board for rockabilly you've got to have some room.
Is that thing made of steel??
Marvin the Maniac Aluminium!
@@wesleystanton gotcha!
@@wesleystanton
Kewl...as cool as Wes Stanton!
Yeah 🤙. . 🤜🤛, 👍.
@@jesusgonzalez84 you're cool too
awsome!
So this is what made the percussive sounds on those Elvis Sun recordings
Yeah...But the technique is way older.
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Very cool!
Hi Wes great video what strings are you using please ? And can you help me I play in a loud band and I keep getting low end feedback any tips ?
Hi Gary - thank you. These are genuine gut strings. The E has since been swapped for a silver-wound gut which gives it more punch. Regarding your feedback problem, try holding the bass between your knees when you play, or packing foam in the f-holes. It depends on so many different variables it’s hard to say without actually being where your set-up is.
Wes Stanton thank you Wes I have tried many things but will keep trying other things . Are you at the bass show this year? If so what day as I would like to come if you are doing a workshop? Cheers
gary knights Hi Gary - no plans to be but always happy to help out if you have any specific issues you need help with. Add me on Facebook and I’ll message you.
Would and could do with some lessons my right hand technique is lacking even though I have been playing for many years on electric only I can play gigs on the double but just lacking in variation etc
Good video, I have an old aluminum bass with wood neck so I know it's not Alcoa, I guess the German maker. Been in basement for years, woodgrain, the old dudes in good shape. need to research it a bit. Thx Larry
THANKS PETER, A LOTTT
diggin it
Very nice.
0:52 bass slap
Thank you!
Awesum m8
Double bass - the only thing that justifies filming in portrait mode/banana grip!
Dušan Barlík I think you might be right!
It was a lot easier to follow seeing both hands.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
I learned more in a five minute video than a thirty minute video. lmao.
0:32 Bass
Just got a double bass cant wait to get better. I played electric bass my entire lifespan i am back @ level 0
Better than percussion
Great :-)
Please Russian subtitles
learn english please
❤️☠️❤️
Talker
Tune your bass please
Craig Hurren guilty as charged! The G slipped out and I didn't notice until after I posted. I have already asked for forgiveness on this on the header notes in the video. Thanks for watching though.
The poor intonation comes from poor left-hand technique and an underdeveloped ear. As a stringed instrument player you have to constantly negotiate tuning. So it's not that his strings are out of tune--his playing is out of tune.
Not trying to hate. The video is informative for right hand technique. But I've noticed that a lot of rockabilly cats tend to develop their right hand and neglect any attempt at playing properly with the left. Besides causing bad intonation, this can lead to injuries, and it makes it difficult to play the full range of the instrument. Most of these guys only play up to 2nd or 3rd position, and even then with poor tuning.
FOUR MIN AND 30 SECONDS TALKIN 30 SEKOND SNAPPING
henry spiritdrum 😂😂😂
you chat toooo much blaaa blaa blaaa
henry spiritdrum How very funny!