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Beginning Slap Bass with MarloweDK {Review}
iPhone/iPad App Price: $9.99
If you’ve ever cruised the internet looking for cool bass riffs and/or lessons, then chances are quite good that you have run across Thomas Rissel – although you may not know him by that name. Thomas has developed a comprehensive bass instruction website under the guise of MarloweDK – his instructional videos are extremely popular on YouTube.
Download and Setup
After borrowing my younger daughter’s iPad, I was able to easily download and setup the app for use. This program is for beginners, as the title clearly states, and is divided into three sections:
- Basic Tutorial
- Choose a Lick
- Technique Library
Basic Tutorial
In this video MarlowDK provides instruction and insight on how to properly strike the bass with your thumb. I really like the approach he takes as an instructor. The presentation is relaxed, informative and full of practical advice you can actually use. My only gripe, and it is quite minor, is that I think he could include some more material on plucking, popping, and how he gets that great tone. I often think video instructors talk to much, but MarloweDK is one of the few that I would gladly spend the time to hear his advice!
Choose a Lick
This is a collection of 25 licks with names great names like “Thumpin’ Octave”s, “Hammer That Groove”, and “Pluck Duck”. These licks cover a broad selection of different feels. Each selection includes four video: a real time video, a slow version, a focus on the left hand and a focus on the right hand. Several different options are also available within the Licks section. Selecting the metronome icon accesses what appears to be a midi version of the lick, where the user can then change count-in parameters, add an accent to the 1st beat of the bar, adjust the tempo, and vary the volumes of the bass, drum and click tracks. Selecting an eyeglasses icon allows the user to choose between standard musical notation, a fret board view or access to some written notes from MarloweDK. Another cool feature for the beginning player is the addition of a scrolling “now” line that travels across the staff view while the lick is playing allowing a novice reader to readily follow the notation in time with the music.
Technique Library
This is a collection of 15 techniques that are demonstrated on video with separate views of the left and right hands and a written explanation and discussion of each technique. Some of the techniques covered are: Muting, Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, Vibrato, and Shakes.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, Beginning Slap Bass is a valuable learning tool for the beginning and possibly even the intermediate level slap bass player. I am also impressed with MarloweDK’s musicianship and obvious talent as a music educator. For more information check out Play Bass Now or search for it on iTunes.
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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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