Spank The Plank

The low, rootsy twang prevalent in funk music is called ‘slap bass' - a tricky, sometimes divisive guitar technique involving whacking the bass strings with your thumb.

Comedian Mitch Benn charts its progression from the upright double basses of the 1930s, through Elvis Presley to the high energy rock of bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Primus.

Talking to players like Yolanda Charles, Mark King and Guy Pratt, and musicologist Sid Griffin, Mitch discovers how the bass guitar emerged from back of the stage to the front, and into the bright lights of disco and '70s funk.

But Mitch is going to do more than talk about slap bass.

He's going to learn how to do it and in preparation for a very discerning audience at the legendary Wunjo's Bass and Keyboard Shop in London's Denmark Street.

Producer: Kevin Core

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.

Mitch Benn investigates the history of slap bass - and even tries to learn the technique.