I've been trying to do this for a couple weeks and it finally just clicked. I'm sure some of it was practice, but no small part was the excellent explanation of this video. Thanks!
Ah that's awesome! I'm glad that you found it useful, its quite a hard technique to get down, but it's super fun and you can use it pretty much anywhere afterwards
I started learning guitar about 3- 4 months ago.. now I appreciate a skilled guitarist when I see one not only enjoy the music.. wish me luck guys it is going go be a long ride
I just wanted to tell you a HUGE thank you because this tutorial IMMEDIATELY worked for me. I’ve been trying to do this on and off for weeks and no tutorial was able to be as in-depth and informative as yours
Hi Jackson. Yeah its an unbelievable sound in my opinion. For sure, for me, its the most important technique I ever learnt. Its something that you continue to refine for years but once you have the basics down it still sounds great
Thank you, I've been playing for 2 3 months now and I wanted to learn this, it's hard but I already know the slap so hopefully I'll learn the flick too 😭the flicks fine but only flicking 2 strings hardddd
Hi Ben. I'm trying to only slap-flick a few of the strings, not all of them, but I'm having difficulty. Is there some technique that will make slap-flicking certain strings much easier? Thanks
Hi Arnav. Its just a practice thing really. The movement is the same, just smaller. The more you practice it the more confident and stable it will become. Thanks, Ben
When slapping and picking, is the flick supposed to only strum the high 4 strings or is the flick supposed to strum all 6 strings? I noticed that when I slap and pick, the top 2 strings get muted by my thumb slapping. Is this ok? Or should the flick hit as many strings as possible? Great tutorial btw. Thank you.
im using the classical guitar but with metal strings and i know a normal slap😂but doing both (slap+flick) at the same time kinda hard..well i wnna ask, do we really need to slap the string till it hit the neck/fret of the guitar to make the sound when doin slap+flick?
Hi Shehjaar. I would practice it for about 5 mins each time you practice. Any more and it will become boring haha. Its also something you can practice without a guitar, so you can throw in 30 seconds while waiting for the kettle to boil or something. I used to practice the slap/flick technique while I was on the bus for example. Thanks, Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar When I slap the 6th string and play the chord with my middle finger, some of the strings get muted all the time. What should I do about that?
I really like fingerstyles but most tabs arrangement I see has this technique. How long does it take to master? Also, any tips on how to aim because I only want to hit a certain strings but I can’t aim so I hit the other strings. 😭😅
Hi buddy. Sorry for the late reply. It's a bit of a cop out answer but it takes as long as it takes! The best thing to do is try and do 10 mins of the technique a day and after a few weeks you'll get it down. With all of these takes it's little and often rather than doing long sessions of it
@@BenWrightGuitar How to do you play individual note while slapping at the same time? Do you always play that individual note by flicking it while slapping at the same time?
Ah I see. Yes it's always by doing a flick. If you want to just have one note sound out you have to do a small, accurate flick. It's the same technique, just more difficult!
Hi Cameron. I've never played with metal fingerpicks so not 100% sure. But I guess it would be, all I would think is that you would need your fingers slightly further away from the strings and probably do slightly smaller movements. Cheers Ben
Hi Jiahao. The muting comes a little bit from the thumb pad when you're doing the slap. But really its about being as accurate as possible with the flicking finger. Cheers, Ben
well, you slap with your thumb and instead of picking, you flick the strings with your fingers. it's really hard trying to get just 1 string I hate my life
I'm finally starting to get the hang of this technique, but one problem I'm having is when I slap the low E string, mostly when it's open, the slap is a bit harsh, even when tapping it as light as possible. I'm using Elixir nanoweb light strings, so maybe this technique isn't suited for that weight? But I have heard at least one other person play with these same strings and they didn't get this sound (what size are you using if you don't mind me asking?). It happens on both acoustics I have which I k ow are set up correctly, so I'm sure it's not the guitars. It's like there's just not enough tension when it's open, and it's really only an issue with the low E, but I'm not quite sure why I have heard another person playing slap style with the same strings and they weren't getting what I can describe as sort of a high "clashing" sound, even with as fast and light of a "slap" as possible, so it ends up not being too pleasant to hear. I would definitely appreciate if you happened to have any input on this matter. Thanks for sharing as well
Hi buddy. I use those exact strings so its not a string problem. I vary between .9s and .10s. Without hearing the noise its a bit difficult to tell. My guess is you want to use more of your thumb pad (towards the palm) rather than you're actual thumb. This dulls the slap. I'd play around with that and see if the sound improves. If you want to send a video as well feel free. Hope this helps, Ben
Hi Maxence. How do you find slapping and strumming all the strings at the same time? You need to be really comfortable at that before you start trying to aim for a single string. It is possible to do it, but its a process of gradually making your flick smaller and more accurate. Thanks, Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar I can do that but it doesn't sound as good as yours I slap and pick the high e strign will this work? Or will this develop a bad Habbit
It takes time, so don't worry about that too much. As in slap the bass and pick the high e string upward? It won't develop a bad habit, just work on a different technique. It's normally much harder for most people though and not very commonly used for that reason. Can you make the just the high e sound by doing just the flick? Rest your hand on the strings where you are slapping and just practice making the e string ring out on its own
Hi Ben, I have question, you have to flick the third finger off your thumb to get the sound yes? HOw can I simultaneously flick from the thumb and slap the thumb donw at the same time? Or do you flick off the thumb then slsp the thumb down?
Gillian Mccoy Hi Gillian. You flick out of the palm of your hand rather than off your thumb. As you get more comfortable you don't need to curl the fingers as much. Thumb and fingers are making separate movements. Thanks for watching!
I haven't seen that video. I've always been taught and taught it as flicking your finger out from your palm. However Paul is a great instructor, so I'm sure his way is also an effective way of getting the technique down
Hi bud. It just takes some time to refine the movement. The more you practise it will become easier. If you start by initially flicking any strings (hold a chord in the left hand) to get used to the movement. Then when that feels comfortable, start aiming for a more specific string set. Thanks, Ben
Depends if you want the full mute. If you want a slap with no strings sounding out use the palm. But for this technique it's just the thumb so that you don't mute the strings
Hi Alisa. Skip to 5:00, I talk about it there. But its the same technique, you just make the flick motion shorter so you only play one string. Thanks, Ben
Why is this too hard? I've been playing for 9 months and I play some intermediate fingerstyle songs. But I was never able to play slap-songs. How can I learn this.
Hi bud. This is quite an advanced technique. If you've only been playing for about 9 months you're probably going to find it difficult. How often do you practice a day?
Its just a matter of time and practice. Take it really slowly and break it down into small sections to practice. E.g. Just the slap, then the slap whilst hitting any strings
If you want to request a guitar tutorial head over to my Patreon page here - www.patreon.com/benwrightguitar
I've been trying to do this for a couple weeks and it finally just clicked. I'm sure some of it was practice, but no small part was the excellent explanation of this video. Thanks!
Ah that's awesome! I'm glad that you found it useful, its quite a hard technique to get down, but it's super fun and you can use it pretty much anywhere afterwards
I started learning guitar about 3- 4 months ago.. now I appreciate a skilled guitarist when I see one not only enjoy the music.. wish me luck guys it is going go be a long ride
Good luck buddy. It's a tough technique that takes time to learn so make sure not to rush it. Ben
I just wanted to tell you a HUGE thank you because this tutorial IMMEDIATELY worked for me. I’ve been trying to do this on and off for weeks and no tutorial was able to be as in-depth and informative as yours
This video helped me a lot! Thanks. There are not many resources as good for this technique
Thanks. Finally understand how some master accoustician played so well and sound so angelic. But to perfect it I might take years.
Hi Jackson. Yeah its an unbelievable sound in my opinion. For sure, for me, its the most important technique I ever learnt. Its something that you continue to refine for years but once you have the basics down it still sounds great
Thank you, I've been playing for 2 3 months now and I wanted to learn this, it's hard but I already know the slap so hopefully I'll learn the flick too 😭the flicks fine but only flicking 2 strings hardddd
I can hear Death Cab for Cutie, I will follow you into the dark in this 😍 Thank you for explaining. Your channel is brilliant! 👍🏻
Well demonstrated Sir.thanks
Thanks Imrith! Glad it was helpful
Great lesson
Thanks Aryan!
Very nicely explained - thanks for taking the time to post this.
This is good! You need more views.
Thanks man! That's the hope haha
This is awesome. Thank you so much. Straight to the point without any fluff around! Exactly what i was looking for.
Thanks Alex! Glad you found it helpful. Cheers, Ben
i liked it a lot thanks
Never in my life seen a guy show me a more detailed video than another guy
Hi Ben. I'm trying to only slap-flick a few of the strings, not all of them, but I'm having difficulty. Is there some technique that will make slap-flicking certain strings much easier? Thanks
Hi Arnav. Its just a practice thing really. The movement is the same, just smaller. The more you practice it the more confident and stable it will become. Thanks, Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar Thanks Ben for the advice. I'll try to practice this in the song I'm learning. :)
I'm learning the a-team ed sheeran song and this is included, I find it so hard tho
It is a tricky technique, but keep practicing and it will come. How long have you been playing?
Very useful .. Thanks for the video . I hope you get more subscribers 👍🏽🙏
Hi Shiva. Thanks very much, glad it helped. Cheers, Ben
why it looks so easy but my hand cant do it :'(
How long have you been playing guitar for?
@@BenWrightGuitar probably not long. Just here to tell you the video was great and I learned real quick
@@kushagrayadav1364 Thanks Kushagra, glad it helped and thanks for watching! Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar i had been playing for 8 months but i cant do it
@@Sidguru101 haha i am learning for 3 years and it took me so long to learn it
When slapping and picking, is the flick supposed to only strum the high 4 strings or is the flick supposed to strum all 6 strings? I noticed that when I slap and pick, the top 2 strings get muted by my thumb slapping. Is this ok? Or should the flick hit as many strings as possible? Great tutorial btw. Thank you.
The flick will only be on the higher strings. You need to use the bass string and/or A string to be able to get the snare drum sound from the guitar.
@@BenWrightGuitar Ok. Thank you!
Hi sir can you do a tutorial. About slapping and sliding at the same time? And also slapping and hammering at the same time. Thank you and advance
Hi Demson. If you would like a specific tutorial you can request them over at my Patreon page - www.patreon.com/benwrightguitar - Thanks, Ben
im using the classical guitar but with metal strings and i know a normal slap😂but doing both (slap+flick) at the same time kinda hard..well i wnna ask, do we really need to slap the string till it hit the neck/fret of the guitar to make the sound when doin slap+flick?
You do, but it doesn't have to hit it very hard. The strings are close enough to the frets that if you hit down on it you'll get the slap
For example on my slide guitar when you hit down on the strings there is no snare sound because there are no frets
Can you post another tutorial video about this technique please? more examples pls. TIA
How long should I practice just the flick daily to get the knack of it?
Hi Shehjaar. I would practice it for about 5 mins each time you practice. Any more and it will become boring haha. Its also something you can practice without a guitar, so you can throw in 30 seconds while waiting for the kettle to boil or something. I used to practice the slap/flick technique while I was on the bus for example. Thanks, Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar thanks a lot for taking the time to answer!
@@shehjaarmanwati3511 no problem
@@BenWrightGuitar When I slap the 6th string and play the chord with my middle finger, some of the strings get muted all the time. What should I do about that?
Which strings get muted? If it's E and A then you aren't supposed to hear them
I really like fingerstyles but most tabs arrangement I see has this technique. How long does it take to master? Also, any tips on how to aim because I only want to hit a certain strings but I can’t aim so I hit the other strings. 😭😅
Hi buddy. Sorry for the late reply. It's a bit of a cop out answer but it takes as long as it takes! The best thing to do is try and do 10 mins of the technique a day and after a few weeks you'll get it down. With all of these takes it's little and often rather than doing long sessions of it
When you slap and play individual notes at the same time. Do you flick the upper strings and pluck the lower?
Sorry I don't follow the question. Do you mean throughout the picking pattern or do I flick the upper strings and pluck the lower simultaneously?
@@BenWrightGuitar How to do you play individual note while slapping at the same time? Do you always play that individual note by flicking it while slapping at the same time?
Ah I see. Yes it's always by doing a flick. If you want to just have one note sound out you have to do a small, accurate flick. It's the same technique, just more difficult!
Ben Wright thank you very much!!!!
No problem
Is it possible to do the flick thing with metal fingerpicks? They keep catching on the strings but they sound so much better than fingernails
Hi Cameron. I've never played with metal fingerpicks so not 100% sure. But I guess it would be, all I would think is that you would need your fingers slightly further away from the strings and probably do slightly smaller movements. Cheers Ben
Is it harder to do on classical (nylon string) guitars? I don't have a western guitar for comparison.
Hi Christian. The technique is the same, its no harder, but the sound of the slap is pretty different. Cheers, Ben
How do you specifically just flick a string do you tend to mute the other strings or do you need to be very accurate with the flicking thanks
Hi Jiahao. The muting comes a little bit from the thumb pad when you're doing the slap. But really its about being as accurate as possible with the flicking finger. Cheers, Ben
So while fingerstyling, I slap the strings with my fingers instead of picking them??
The slapping still happens with the thumb
well, you slap with your thumb and instead of picking, you flick the strings with your fingers. it's really hard trying to get just 1 string I hate my life
I'm finally starting to get the hang of this technique, but one problem I'm having is when I slap the low E string, mostly when it's open, the slap is a bit harsh, even when tapping it as light as possible. I'm using Elixir nanoweb light strings, so maybe this technique isn't suited for that weight? But I have heard at least one other person play with these same strings and they didn't get this sound (what size are you using if you don't mind me asking?). It happens on both acoustics I have which I k ow are set up correctly, so I'm sure it's not the guitars. It's like there's just not enough tension when it's open, and it's really only an issue with the low E, but I'm not quite sure why I have heard another person playing slap style with the same strings and they weren't getting what I can describe as sort of a high "clashing" sound, even with as fast and light of a "slap" as possible, so it ends up not being too pleasant to hear. I would definitely appreciate if you happened to have any input on this matter. Thanks for sharing as well
Hi buddy. I use those exact strings so its not a string problem. I vary between .9s and .10s. Without hearing the noise its a bit difficult to tell. My guess is you want to use more of your thumb pad (towards the palm) rather than you're actual thumb. This dulls the slap. I'd play around with that and see if the sound improves. If you want to send a video as well feel free. Hope this helps, Ben
Is it possible to slap and pick only 1string I'am really struggling
Hi Maxence. How do you find slapping and strumming all the strings at the same time? You need to be really comfortable at that before you start trying to aim for a single string. It is possible to do it, but its a process of gradually making your flick smaller and more accurate. Thanks, Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar I can do that but it doesn't sound as good as yours I slap and pick the high e strign will this work?
Or will this develop a bad Habbit
It takes time, so don't worry about that too much. As in slap the bass and pick the high e string upward? It won't develop a bad habit, just work on a different technique. It's normally much harder for most people though and not very commonly used for that reason. Can you make the just the high e sound by doing just the flick? Rest your hand on the strings where you are slapping and just practice making the e string ring out on its own
@@BenWrightGuitar it works need some practice to master it, it really feels good to have a skill like this one in my arsenal thank you for the tip
@@Sidguru101 You're very welcome buddy
Hi Ben, I have question, you have to flick the third finger off your thumb to get the sound yes? HOw can I simultaneously flick from the thumb and slap the thumb donw at the same time? Or do you flick off the thumb then slsp the thumb down?
Gillian Mccoy Hi Gillian. You flick out of the palm of your hand rather than off your thumb. As you get more comfortable you don't need to curl the fingers as much. Thumb and fingers are making separate movements. Thanks for watching!
Ahh thanks!
i'm used to having my pinky anchored. Kinda hard to do this technique without lifting the pinky
some video say dont flick but twist. whats right?
What are you twisting?
@@BenWrightGuitar finger, per paul david's tutorial
I haven't seen that video. I've always been taught and taught it as flicking your finger out from your palm. However Paul is a great instructor, so I'm sure his way is also an effective way of getting the technique down
@@BenWrightGuitar yeah im going with the flick for now cus it's easier haha but I'll keep paul's method in mind too
i find it hard to precisely hitting one or two strings (g,b or e) while slapping the E string
Hi bud. It just takes some time to refine the movement. The more you practise it will become easier. If you start by initially flicking any strings (hold a chord in the left hand) to get used to the movement. Then when that feels comfortable, start aiming for a more specific string set. Thanks, Ben
@@BenWrightGuitar Thankk you for the advice
Is your palm meant to hit the strings aswell or not?
Depends if you want the full mute. If you want a slap with no strings sounding out use the palm. But for this technique it's just the thumb so that you don't mute the strings
What if i want to pick only *one* string and slap?
Hi Alisa. Skip to 5:00, I talk about it there. But its the same technique, you just make the flick motion shorter so you only play one string. Thanks, Ben
Why is this too hard? I've been playing for 9 months and I play some intermediate fingerstyle songs. But I was never able to play slap-songs. How can I learn this.
Hi bud. This is quite an advanced technique. If you've only been playing for about 9 months you're probably going to find it difficult. How often do you practice a day?
@@BenWrightGuitar It's almost done.
Man it is very tricky
i can’t slap?? like it’s silent.
Can you make the slap sound with your thumb when you aren't playing anything else? How long have you been playing guitar for?
My thumb feels dumb
Its just a matter of time and practice. Take it really slowly and break it down into small sections to practice. E.g. Just the slap, then the slap whilst hitting any strings