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So, in the next section,
we're going to talk about slapping with the bow
and that's actually hitting your bow
on the string of your bass.
I wanna warn you guys
that I do that with carbon fibre bow
and this is really my gigging bow
and I take the responsibility
to do it but it will probably not break your bow
but it can harm a little bit
the finish of your bow
and so, take responsibility
and go easy at first to experiment
with the different sounds
and the different strength
at which you can hit your bass and your strings.
So, let me now give you a few words
about what is really, really useful
when playing bass line and arch
and those are some little rhythmic things
that we can add
and especially the slaps, what I call the slaps.
It's that sound,
so if I give you a little example.
So, I call that slap,
and that's probably not a very optimal term
but I think it's summarized really good the sound
you wanna do and how you want to make it
and how you want to make it impact your music.
It's just basically
the stick of the bow
hitting the string which after that hits the fingerboard.
You can have
different levels
and different sound depending on whether you're playing
on the B string
or the A or D
or even the small G here
which is a little less strong
but it's just basically that exactly the same thing
as doing that.
Sometimes you can want to play a ghost note as well
which is just hitting the string
with the hair or playing
the string without fingering it on the fingerboard.
We'll talk about it later.
Just for now, let's start with the basic slap.
So, it's the same thing than playing piece.
You do exactly the same thing
except that you do it with the bow.
So, once you've worked all your bow stroke
in all the direction,
don't think too much about your bowing
while you're bowing but think
about the slap in this case.
In that example, all my notes were played pulling.
You can do exactly the same thing
with all the note pushed.
You can put that slap over another place
of the beat.
I was playing two and four here
but you can play then on other beats,
for instance, the three.
And as the rhythm becomes larger,
in this case,
one, two, three, four,
one, two, three, four, one, two, three.
And that's the point where we add a few ghost note
to dress up a little bit that bass line,
so the skeleton is just one, two, three, four,
one, two, three.
You wanna use ghost note maybe on the four in this case.
Don't forget to use every direction
even for the ghost note.
The ghost note have a bow direction.
Pull, push.
We might want to build a more complex rhythm,
so maybe keep the basic after beat
and downbeat or up beat and down beat rule,
like have the bass on the downbeat
and the treble on the upbeat.
So, in this case, two, three, four
and add some ghosts over the eighth.
So, end of one.
one and two.
And after the two and the four,
so we have one and two and three and four.
In this case we just play one big bass
but you can start by changing them.
And as the ghost notes are played
with the exact same movement as the bowed note,
this is the same right-hand movement as this.
You can change and replace a few
of the ghost note which build your rhythmic skeleton.
You can change those ghost note
by real notes progressively,
for instance, one of the most easy to do
is repeat the first note,
so it's instead of,
you'll have.
But try to improvise with that
and then change the notes.
So, this is a very visible way to play that
but within maybe a two, four feel play,
it's really nice to add a little bit of slap.
For instance, let's get back
to a more jazz vibe with the two, four playing
like you would play All of Me in two, four.
Maybe.
And some few ghosts here and there.
Notice that it's with swing eights in this case.
This is really the skeleton.
And with even eighths.
And replacing the ghosts by real note.
The last device that might
really be very useful
is to be able to play a slap
and at the same time a note
and in this case, the note won't be very powerful,
for instance, instead of playing this.
Or instead of playing this.
You'll be playing kind of a mix of both.
It's not very powerful per se
but within a bass line,
it can help really give some melodic movement,
so try to have a note
and at the same time slap the string.
And that's kind of hard to do
but that really adds something melodically.
If I take a very basic slapped riff.
And if I want a note on the fourth beat.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four,
and I want that note and I want the slap
in the same time,
it will have a really efficient effect rhythmically.
Especially if you're making that note sound
a little longer than the other.
In this case, all our notes are eighth
and the four with the slap on it,
I made it a quarter note.
And you can experiment with other notes.
And now you can mix all that
and just try to play while having
a rhythmic skeleton going behind you.
One, two, three.
So, notice that in the middle
of all those syncopation and very short tones,
the slurs and the long notes,
especially with slides
are really a great thing
because they give a lot of roundness
to your whole playing.