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Slappers v/s Pizzicatters by Igor Saavedra
The idea for this short article came to my mind after noticing a clear trend in relation to “popularity” that is very noticeable when it comes to comparing both bass audiences in relation with top bass solo instrumentalists.
The bassists that base their interpretation on the slapping technique, which we’ll obviously be calling “Slappers”, are in average way more popular than the bassists that base their technique on the pizzicato technique or “Pizzicatters”. Just take a look to the Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts and mostly to the Facebook pages and you will notice the obvious trend.
Human nature has always had the tendency to automatically refute any statement, so I just please ask you not to focus on the “exceptions”, like bassists from super famous bands, bassists that are dead and became legends, the guy who played Bass for 155 uninterrupted hours, the super-sexy model that plays bass, the guy who played bass on the moon, etc. (smile).
Why slappers are way more popular then? Well, I have two theories….
1 – Slapping is a technique that was born within the electric bass context, and we have to thank Mr. Larry Graham for that, so it becomes natural that the bassists that have mastered that technique are much more easily embraced by the bass community because we consciously or unconsciously feel that this “sound texture” is encrypted on our bass DNA. It’s a fundamental part of who we are and for that very same reason gives us a sense of identity.
2 – Slap is founded and based on rhythm, before any other music component, and as I’ve always said, the essence of our instrument is exactly that… “The Rhythm” which, for the bass is way more essential than harmony and melody, so that kind of technique (Slap) keeps the player addressing exactly what the vast mayority of the bass lovers and bassists are consciously or unconsciously looking for.
What can we learn from this situation then?
First of all, a real artist has to do what he has to do despite the fact of the popularity factor. BUT, besides the need for eating and having a place to sleep, any real artist has also the need for an audience to be able to share and communicate that art; I’m sure each of us clearly know which is our very own “minimum audience critical mass”, and is clear for me that the one for a pop bass star is way higher than the one a Jazz bassist needs (smile).
My humble suggestion, just saying, is that you do not depend on dedicating your life as a bassist to slapping, so to become more popular, but you must do that with rhythm! I encourage you to take care of business as soon as you can in relation to that department and try playing your hot pizzicato, your complex tapping, your fast arpeggios, your clean chords, etc., and make it flow like if you were playing any great slap groove, if you know what I mean. This has nothing to do with “funkyfying” everything you play, the music style is completely unrelevant on this matter, we are just talking about the rhythm/groove essentials here, like steadiness, precision, fluidity, coordination and balance between silence and sound.
Bottom line, even though the slapping technique has been structural and fundamental on the developing of our instrument and vice versa, the real success of that technique and the bassists that have mastered it, in my opinion, has been based on the rhythm aspect associated with it in the first place, and secondly on “it’s cool sound”. So apply that basic and fundamental concept to your interpretation and you’ll start noticing many differences in your bass playing, your bass career and why not, in your public relations as a bassist!
See you on the next…
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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