Slap Like Mark King? Stuart Clayton Nails the Slap Bass Line on “Almost There”
“Almost There” was released on Level 42’s debut album in 1981 and has been a mainstay of the band’s live set ever since.
Stuart Clayton shared this video of his cover of the tune, which helps see Mark King’s genius first-hand.
“The bassline for this song is predominantly built around a slap bass groove that features a key ingredient in Mark’s playing – fretting hand slaps,” Stuart shared. “In addition to this main part, there are also some complex fingerstyle grooves to get your teeth into, as well as strummed chords and manipulated harmonics.”
Stuart has a full video course for the tune on Bassline Publishing.
Corey Brown is the founder of No Treble and serves in an advisory role. He’s also Head of Editorial at Muse Group. Learn more about Corey on his website and LinkedIn.
Mark King NEVER gets the props he deserves. I totally stole my slap style from him. I never liked the songs but my oh my what a slapper !