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Free Bass Lesson

Slap solos.
Nearly all of the bass solo's I've heard have included some slap in them. In case you're new to bass, slap is where you make a fist and hit the string with your thumb. There are a few ways to incorporate scales into a slap solo. One, which is the most obvious, is to play a normal solo but slap it. A few others include left hand taps (not actually plucking the note but bringing your finger down and making a sound) and index finger/thumb pops (pulling the string up and letting go creating a twanging sound). These techniques will make the solo sound faster, but will require more skill to make them sound good.

Tremolo slap.
This next technique I don't know the name for, when I thought it up I didn’t know of anyone else who did it so I named it myself as tremolo slap. It is a slap technique but it gives the impression of a tremolo pick on guitar

Moving scales around.
The scales I gave as examples don't have to be played like I've shown them. These are just the basic majors and minors of notes. You can play around with these scales, try flattening the seventh of a minor scale for a bluesy sound, or flatten the seventh of a major scale for an even brighter sound. The possibility’s are only as limited as your imagination! Also, the scales don’t need to stay within these boundaries, you can move them up and down the fretboard as long as you stay within the notes of the scale. You can add accidentals to the solo but don't add too many as this will make it sound sloppy and in some cases may even put it in a different key! 

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