Does anyone feel the slapping technique can be overdone?

[MartinGibsonFan]

There's two types of slapping technique on the guitar.

Slapping the strings and slapping the sound board.

The former is more musical and tolerated than the latter.

MGF

[DukeX]

The only time it bothers me is when someone does it.

[geewhiz]

When done well and placed appropriately I like it.

But it seems to have become trendy to do that "pock" thing, and yes, it is really overdone sometimes.

I catch myself doing it sometimes. We were doing some acoustic trio gigs with a percussionist and he gave me hell for it - "Hey, stay offa my snare!". So I became more aware of it of course and stopped doing it....at times making sure to throw in a couple over-accentuated POCKS as I looked back at him . We have fun when we play. Or that is, when we played.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

Riverdance wouldn't be Riverdance without percussive technique

MGF

No, we are talking about guitar percussive technique.



Bob

[ascotia]

Percussion fits great into songs such as More Than Words by Extreme. In my opinion, it's best used as a subtle compliment to the melody rather than the focal point of any given piece. While it can definitely be overdone, it can also be unfairly written off by purists who won't open their minds to it.

I say if adding a percussive element sounds good, do it!

[Birchtop]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

There's two types of slapping technique on the guitar.

Slapping the strings and slapping the sound board.

The former is more musical and tolerated than the latter.

MGF

This, and sparingly at that.

[mcduffnw]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Tastefully and sparingly done it is fine:::: BUT
Not only "can" but is routinely overdone, by many players . Not only in tedious successive song after song after song situations but ,,,, IMO even when done repetitively and constantly in the same song it grows quickly tedious and gimmicky.

YES^^^!!!

My feelings exactly and well said KevWind.

Also...any kind of speed lick playing, either fingerstyle or flatpicked, gets equally as old, equally as quickly for me as the Tap-N-Slap style.

Bluegrass Flatpicking, among the young up and coming players is rapidly degrading into a speed picking war, with musicality going out the window.

For me...less Art Tatum...more Bill Evans


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[redir]

IMHO if it's not flamenco then it's over done

[MartinGibsonFan]

Originally Posted by redir

IMHO if it's not flamenco then it's over done

Good point

[CuidadoCaliente]

I like the way that Gabriela Quintero "slaps".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMpGjox3TBs

[MartinGibsonFan]

Originally Posted by CuidadoCaliente

I like the way that Gabriela Quintero "slaps".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMpGjox3TBs

I like that percussive technique, it's not that blatant and goes along with the genre (Flamenco)

It's when the percussive technique is the star of the stage when it turns me off.

Remember, the acoustic guitar is a percussive instrument to begin with, so to have some beat coming through in the music ain't a bad thing.

MGF

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Cecil6243

I'm new to the slapping percussive technique and not sure I like it in some arrangements. Anybody else feel like it can be overdone?

Oh, absolutely. To me it gets tiresome pretty quickly if it’s being used continuously.

Back when I was still playing in bars I had an Ibanez triple effect board: reverb, delay and distortion. (I still own it - it’s a dandy little unit.) The effects can be run separately or in any combination.

My rule of thumb was that I could use each effect once per set. I counted a combination of two or more pedals as a separate effect.

Anyway, my feeling was that they shouldn’t be overused. Limiting myself to once per set helped keep them fresh.

Unless the person using the slapping technique is a true musical genius, it’s a good idea to keep that technique in reserve most of the time, bringing it out when it adds to the song in a genuinely musical way. I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be used more than once per set, but some discretion is a good idea.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Andromeda]

Personally I can’t stand this technique.

[donlyn]

Does anyone feel the slapping technique can be overdone?

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

Unless done sparingly (VERY SPARINGLY) the slapping technique probably only belongs in a Celtic version of a song.

Percussive technique on the strings (as opposed to the sound board) is much more tolerated by myself.

Here's an arrangement, guitar played in a laptop position with a percussive technique that I could tolerate.



MGF

Depends on what is meant by 'slapping'.

For simplicity, I will use it to refer to any percussive effect caused by contact with the guitar body. Maybe a stomp box would be better and less intrusive. String percussion is another matter.

I quoted the submitted Samuel Orson video because I find it very musical and unique. He is tapping with both hands in addition to fretting with the left hand and combining a percussive picking effect with something that reminds me of a hammered dulcimer mechanic and tone effect. I would have liked to hear him play purely acoustic, but I have the feeling that electric contributes greatly to his approach.

I wonder what it would sound like if he played a 12 string. Hmmm.

Don
.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Ask Larry and Curly...

Heck that was more like painful!