littleknowitall

It shouldn't, I entirely agree. Flea openly admits he knows no theory, immediately putting him from a progressive musicians perspective behind bassists such as victor wooten, jaco pastorius, who have strived for perfection and at the same time from a technical perspective isn't much of a player either, he writes very simplistic slap lines which he plays very well. He's a sturdy bassist in a great band, as a stage man his presence is electrifying and he's tight as a drum which makes him a great bassist but it hardly puts him in the running for greatest technical bassist. And if anyone wants to argue that his writing skills are what are most important and seperate him from the rest....they really don't, like i said simplistic riffs played fast. Just plain...good, don't get me wrong, bass lines. I think what I'm trying to say here is he's no jaco pastorius by any account. However, bass in it's natural form takes a very percussive roll, and it's place has always coincided with the drums in music. In funk that can mean slap but it would be wrong to assume you need to slap to create funk bass lines as my friend here has pointed out. however, no harm in using a technique when appropriate, when you need that percussive edge, or a harsher sort of tone, a harder feel, and generally when you want to play more agressive or write a bass pattern that needs the technique in order to be played, slapping and popping, double plucking, triple plicking, and the large range of percussive sounds that coencide with those techniques can very much come in handy. I think I've lost myself here now so I'm going to stop, peace.