How to Play a Single Slap Boogie Woogie on Bass

If you have always wanted to learn how to play single slap boogie-woogie music on your string bass or bass guitar; it's fun and easy to do. After you've mastered this technique, you can learn other things, like how to do double or triple slaps, too. Then, you can play the boogie-woogie with your favorite recordings or even join a band.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bass guitar
• String bass

1. Learn to play the boogie-woogie in the key of D by playing the following succession of notes: D, F sharp, A, B, C, B, A, F sharp. Repeat this line twice before proceeding to the next set of notes.

2. Start the second line by playing this configuration of notes: G, B, D, E, F, E, D, E, D, F sharp, A, B, C, B, A, F sharp. Only play this line once before moving on to the next one.

3. Finish this lesson by strumming these notes: A, C sharp, E, F sharp, G, B, D, E, D, F sharp, A, B, C, B, A, F sharp. Just like in Step 2, you only have to play this line once.

4. Practice playing your boogie-woogie music a few times until you feel comfortable playing it without looking at the notes.

5. Learn the single slap on your string bass or bass guitar by pulling one string and then quickly releasing it. The slap happens when the string hits (or slaps) the neck of your instrument. Practice this again until you get the feel for how to do it.

6. Add the single slap technique to your boogie-woogie music by slapping each note away from the neck of your instrument and then going on to the next note. Practice this several times until you can do it effortlessly. Play along with your favorite boogie-woogie recording to help you improve your technique.

Tips & Warnings

• Listen to recordings of guitarists and bassists who use this technique

Resources

• Go to Studybass to learn a boogie-woogie string bass exercise.

[maddengodfather]

on 3/15/2009 I actually find slapping the strings with my thumb works better, but still very good