*&#@*&#!@*!! SLAP IT!

[MichaelScott]

Page 17 Exercise 7 measure 3.


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[slapslappopslap]

would you care to share what that is?? for people who dont have it?

[JimmyM]

Tony Oppenheim rocks! He's on here occasionally.

[labgnat]

Originally Posted by MichaelScott

Page 17 Exercise 7 measure 3.


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

well most of that book is quite tough so if that's the only one ur having problems with then dont' worry to much about it.

[MichaelScott]

The last three beats on the third measure are a string of 16 notes (That Tony plays flawlessly at 100 bpm quarter notes)

Starts of with a dead note on the A string.
Pop D on the G string and hammer to E.
Then thumb A and hammer to B on the D string.
Then Dead note on A string. POP A on the D string.
Play a dead note on A string again, and then thumb G and hammer to A on the D string and finish with a thumb to D on the A string.

I can play it at around 70 bpm but when I try to go faster I have problems Popping that A- hitting the deadnote- and then thumbing the D string again without my pointer finger getting all caught up in the G string.

While frusterating, Slap It! has to be the best instructional booklet I have ever seen. You need a teacher to walk you through it though. When I first looked at this exercise I thought it would be easy and I would be able to play it for my teacher this weekend but it looks like it will take a couple of weeks for me to get it up to speed (which is the usual) let alone play it cleanly. When I do get an exercise mastered I feel like I have conquered a mountain.

[moro]

Originally Posted by MichaelScott

Page 17 Exercise 7 measure 3.

What edition do you have? I have the fifth edition and that doesn't correspond to anything I have in my book.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by moro

that doesn't correspond to anything I have in my book.

Same here.

[MichaelScott]

Sorry guys there is no edition number marked any where on the book. I bought it a few years ago from Tony's site. It has 28 pages and a CD with 63 Selected samples ( +7 Bonus Tracks!) I'd scan the exercise but I'm sure that would violate some copyright laws. I am not really looking for advice how to play it- more just complaining and complimenting Tony on a great book that has brought my playing up many levels.

[Burg]

You can legally copy and reproduce something like 10% of a book's content. Well, in England at least.

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by MichaelScott

Page 17 Exercise 7 measure 3.


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Michael,

For folks with the newer editions of Slap It! (the ones that include TAB) that is Ex. 76 which now appears on page 30, and to make things even more confusing it's track 40 on the lastest CD, lol!.



I realize this comes late, but I just noticed this thread or I would have chimed in sooner. If there is any way I can help let me know.

Hopefully you're not stuck anymore, but if you are feel free to ask questions.

Cheers!

Tony

[MichaelScott]

Thanks Tony!

I played this slowly with a metronome till I finally got it and was able to increase the speed. I still don't sound as great as you do on the CD's but I am making progress.

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by MichaelScott

Thanks Tony!

I played this slowly with a metronome till I finally got it and was able to increase the speed. I still don't sound as great as you do on the CD's but I am making progress.

Michael,

That's the way to do it. There really is no short cut to building technique that I know of.

The most important practice technique that I've seen work for myself and my students (back when I was teaching all the time) was to practice very slowly. Practice slow enough that you can play perfectly. Never practice a new exercise faster than you can play it correctly. Otherwise you're practicing your mistakes, and all that happens is you get really good at playing the mistakes.

Obviously at some point you have to put what your playing into the context of a real tempo, but this should only happen once the ground work has been laid by practicing at much slower tempos where you are building muscle memory.

Especially keeping in mind that the purpose of a "studies" book like mine is to build technique.

The idea is that once you've mastered the techniques involved you'll be able to improvise your own slap parts without thinking about technique very much, if at all.

You have to put in the time consistantly, as you are doing, and just know that it will pay off.

Cheers!

Tony

[BullHorn]

Slap It! is really awesome. So far I only learned part of one of the example lessons on the site, but I really have trouble with the rest. I'll probably buy whatever he has to offer once I get better. Only been playing for a year.

[fcleff]

Tony, I just think that it is so cool that world-class players like yourself will check the boards and offer sage advice. That is such a help to all players and especially any younger players that might read. Thank you.

Slap has never been an oft used technique by me. I love it but don't use it much. Having said that, slap is also a technique that I have been working on of late. I first heard of your book by reading threads on this forum. I now plan to get it so that I may further my abilities as an all-around bassist.

Again, if you read this, much thanks.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Tony Oppenheim is The Man. "Slap It!" was not only my foundation on the slap style, but also a key component on building my overall philosophy on playing the instrument. I'm forever grateful for that.

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by BullHorn

Slap It! is really awesome. So far I only learned part of one of the example lessons on the site, but I really have trouble with the rest. I'll probably buy whatever he has to offer once I get better. Only been playing for a year.

Hey BullHorn,

Thanks for the kinds words about Slap It!

One important thing to keep in mind about the examples shown on the Slap It! book site... These are not beginning exercises.

They are meant to show where the book will take you, but they are not meant to be a starting point. The first example shown on the site appears more than half way thru the book and the 3rd one is the next to last exercise in the book.

There are dozens of exercises that lead up to the ones on the site, and without the foundation of learning the earlier exercises I would not be surprised if anyone had trouble with the 3 examples shown.

Cheers!

Tony

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by fcleff

Tony, I just think that it is so cool that world-class players like yourself will check the boards and offer sage advice. That is such a help to all players and especially any younger players that might read. Thank you.

fcleff,

Thank you for your message, I'm blushing, but also I have to add quickly that while there was a time, decades ago, when I aspired to become a world-class player, and I put in a serious amount of time on all aspects of my playing (not just slap) trying to get there, in my opinion I never did, and then about 1984 I was lured away from the music biz by the personal computer revolution and changed careers.

For a good 20 year stretch I was so busy with programming and consulting (and kids) that I hardly picked up my bass.

The last few years I've been getting more involved in music again, but more on the production end than as a player.

I have started playing bass again for fun, and as a result of working on the TAB edition of Slap It! last year (for which I had to relearn everything in the book in order to verify the TAB), I've started writing Slap Bass lines again.

Anyway, it's been long enough now that I think of the me that wrote Slap It! as almost another person. What was I thinking! Dropping out of school, moving to NYC, working on 48th St.

No wonder my parents were always so worried about me!

Lol!

Tony

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

Tony Oppenheim is The Man.

No way, You da Man!

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

"Slap It!" was not only my foundation on the slap style, but also a key component on building my overall philosophy on playing the instrument. I'm forever grateful for that.

Wow! Thanks!

Tony