Afro-Cuban Slap Bass Lines

Learn to play slap bass in seven popular Afro-Cuban styles: Cha Cha Cha, Son Montuno, Songo, Timba, Afro-Cuban 6/8, Latin Jazz, and Latin Jazz in 7.

Afro-Cuban music has always relied on the bass beat to captures the music's unique rhythms and articulations. Whether you read tablature or traditional notation, you will quickly learn how to expand your vocabulary, helping you become a more versatile bass player.

Playing the proper bass rhythms is critical to meeting the demands of Afro Cuban's groove. This methodical guide will help you learn and internalize each style's basic rhythms, master the slap articulations that are so critical to achieving the right sound and feel, and then use all these techniques in the larger context of the music itself.

Slap bass techniques you will learn include:

• Thumb (Slap)
• Thumb Up
• Dead Note
• Pull Off
• Hammer On
• Pull-Hammer
• Slide
• Lift

The included CD features bass-guitar legend Oscar Stagnaro demonstrating each technique. Listen to the full performance tracks, and then hook up with Oscar's band using the play-along tracks.

About the Author

Grammy-winning bassist Oscar Stagnaro is considered one of today's top players and a pioneer of bass education. An Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, where he helped to found the Latin bass studies program, Oscar continues to record and tour extensively. He has played with many music greats, including Paquito D'Rivera, Tiger Okoshi, Bob Mintzer, Freddy Hubbard, Claudio Roditi, as well as the Boston Pops. He is also the co-author of Latin Bass Book.