Thumbslap

[robogone]

Thanks for the video Greg. You play more over the frets than I do - I like to play just past the end of the fretboard. I think I need more practice really, so I just need to keep at it!

[Gregjazz]

Really once you get the technique down really well, it's not difficult at all to play on different areas of the strings to get certain tones. Like I said, I prefer the slaps to be closer to the middle of the string for a deeper tone, and the pops to be closer to the bridge for a brighter sound.

[ugo]

i slap over the very end of the fingerboard, but yeah...you get different tones depending on where you slap. it all just depends on what you dig. i also tend to do a lot of popping.

i go for the perpendicular slap with my thumb pointing down, but thats really only because its how i learned, and how i felt comfortable holding my hand and bass. i dont hold my bass high enough to do perpendicular with my thumb pointing up. i never worked on the parallel positioning or the wooten techniques because that hand position didnt feel comfortable to me and because i had become too lazy to woodshed by the time i saw footage of wooten playing. you can probably do more with the parallel though. the only added extra for the perpendicular slap is that you can slap chords.

...and then you get guys like doug wimbish who also slaps with his fingertips too, not just his thumb.