progression with slap it! my personal Vlog

Soverntear · #1 02-10-2011, 08:39 PM

Thanks for stopping in. So I'm planning on using this as a sort of daily journal of my progress through slap it. Today will start with questions about some of the basics of slap I'm having trouble with and starting tomorrow I'm going to lay it out on the line with youtube videos which will be posted daily for your impartation and critique.

The only rule here:
I want this to be a center of learning and helpful criticism, your more then welcome to say I suck. Just please say why and what you think I could work on. This is two fold, obviously this will directly help me in perfecting my slap technique. Second I'm sure allot of the mistakes I make are similar to allot of other slap newbies mistakes who might not be as willing to show it VIA youtube.

My personal goal Is not only to improve my own technique but also allow other new comers to slap to see what positive instruction and structured practice towards a goal in slap can achieve. Above all else I would like to see people having fun and enjoying themselves while learning more about a style which has gotten allot of us to choose bass in the first place.

Alright now lets get in to some basic questions. I can post a video tonight if it will help with people answering the questions.

When reading a chart of 4/4 16th open E notes. would you mute in between each note? if so how would you do it? would it be right hand palm muting or left hand sting muting? if not, please explain.

What percentage of your time do you devote to slap? how much time would you suggest a new learner to spend on slap?

Last, how do you strike you string for slap? personally I try to go through the sting downwards and stop atop the other string. how high do you raise your thumb before coming back down to strike?

Edit: First video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE5B6QmxG1Y

makkE · #2 02-11-2011, 06:53 AM

I'd say let the left hand do the muting whenever possible when you slap. Frees your right to concentrate on thumb/pluck only.

I strike "through" the string too, gets you a fatter tone. Rule of thumb: Lift up just as much as possible. I would suggest not thinking about it at the beginning though. Concentrate on getting a good sound and hitting it right all the time first (hard enough :P).

Slap is hard work at first, but over time, you should automatically get more relaxed doing it, then you can concentrate on the finer points.

How much time you devote to it is your choice actually, as long as you don't overdo it and injure yourself. You will definately need some patience to get your fingers used to the basics in the beginning. I'm learning it more on the side, my main focus in tchnique is other things.

gmahoog · #3 02-11-2011, 08:31 AM

I started going through "slap It" a couple of months ago. I think the open string exercises are really important. For me, it's a lot harder getting a good tone hitting open notes than it is fretted notes.

Right now I've been working on excercises 41-52. These correspond to CD tracks 27-35. (Some of the excercises aren't on the CD.) I know them now without looking at the book after working on them for about a month. I'm not going to move on until I get the tone I want.

As far as your 16th note question, I hit them without any muting. I do mute if there is a rest between the notes, usually with my palm.

I'm looking forward to seeing your videos.

dogofgod · #4 02-11-2011, 08:34 AM

Slap it is great. Tony is on this website every now and then. Great book. The excersizes at the end are a real trip.

Soverntear · #5 02-11-2011, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dogofgod

Slap it is great. Tony is on this website every now and then. Great book. The excersizes at the end are a real trip.

Really??? whats his member name? I need to ask him a couiple things just to avoid offending him. IE what i can talk about/show/play online form his books. I don't wanna infringe his copyrite or show to much.

Soverntear · #6 02-11-2011, 11:03 AM

first video added, enjoy

Soverntear · #7 02-11-2011, 09:32 PM

Evening guys and gals. here we have video 2. it's pretty basic just me displaying my technique.

a couple quick questions. Is there any way to get the video to display on the thread? i tried the embed link with no luck. Also, would your guys/gals prefer to have the questions asked in the thread in or my videos? Lastly anyone know of a free, easy to use windows video editing software? i've got pretty luck so far with single takes but something tells me thats going to be allot harder to do once the videos get longer and more detailed.

video 2 Technique pt1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjeNy6jv_ms

makkE · #8 02-12-2011, 03:19 AM

Dunno, what can I say, looks just right so far.
If I were you, I wouldn't worry much about double thumping yet.

I think you should ask your questions in the thread and video descriptions, unless you have a very specific question that needs immediate demonstration in the video.

Your video quality is rather bad, especially the fps - lots of blur, might make it hard to see finer aspects in your technique.

Here's some free software you can use to cut scenes together and de/encode stuff:
http://www.virtualdub.org/

Soverntear · #9 02-12-2011, 07:50 AM

Makke,

Thanks for the input, good to know my technique is looking alright. one vote for thread based questions so far. I'm debating on the comments box due to wanting people to come to the thread instead of comments on youtube. allot easier to keep it in one place.

Now video quality, my webcam is kinda crap. I will see what i can do yo get a better FPS rate. maybe reducing the pixels will help. it's a logitech communicate stx if that helps. I'm recording through the logitech software if thaty makes any difference.

thanks for the tip on virtualdub. It's gonna make my life a lot easier. Alright so for todays episode what would you guys like to see? I'm thinking about running through both open string exercises to show my running note and muting technique.

EDIT: alright so turns out my settings were making me run at 5 frames per second. after some adjusting ive it up to 14 fps which should be a noticeable improvement

Quote:

Originally Posted by makkE

Dunno, what can I say, looks just right so far.
If I were you, I wouldn't worry much about double thumping yet.

I think you should ask your questions in the thread and video descriptions, unless you have a very specific question that needs immediate demonstration in the video.

Your video quality is rather bad, especially the fps - lots of blur, might make it hard to see finer aspects in your technique.

Here's some free software you can use to cut scenes together and de/encode stuff:
http://www.virtualdub.org/

Soverntear · #10 02-12-2011, 01:55 PM

Here we have video 3. day time is great i can use my amp in videos. but there is a bad side as well. how can i get a usable sound from my amp to my cam? it came out kinda quiet in this video, this cold also be me getting over camera shyness as well.

I kept the exercise short due to being unsure of copyright laws anyone know how much of an exercise i can show? I would really like to have more playing in my future videos so this will be needed.

how many videos per subject/exercise would you guys suggest? I really want to do this daily, It's gotten me so motivated to pick up my bass. But i also want to keep it interesting for viewers.

I'm thinking about expanding adding a song per week or so. any suggestions so some good songs to start with? what about some songs that will highlight the future subjects (hammerons, slides,etc)?

Edit:

forgot my link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS2rNqdZCfs

Again thanks for all the input

makkE · #11 02-12-2011, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soverntear

Here we have video 4.

Can't see it. Have I missed #3 as well ?

Soverntear · #12 02-12-2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by makkE

Can't see it. Have I missed #3 as well ?

thanks for pointing that out /facepalm added link and corrected my mistype

BuffaloBass · #13 02-13-2011, 04:58 PM

??? Copyright infringements? Dude, just play. It's instructional.

Why dont you go and cop the bassline for Slide by Slave. I dont think they'll sue you for playing it. It has many techniques in it.

Musicdojo has THE slap bass course BTW, by Ant Wellington.

Soverntear · #14 02-13-2011, 05:18 PM

I'm in the middle of correspondence with Tony himself right now about the legal side of things. Even if there is no legal infringements I'd rather get the word from the author.

Some odd reason I don't view songs the same as instructional material. Songs im cool with posting covers up. No idea just seems different to me. I just checked out Slide by Slave, damn fine suggestion. Expect to see it covered in a episode this week.

As for musicdojo, right now i don't have a spare $150 just laying around. your more then welcome to buy it for me. But somehow i don't see that happening. What i do have is Slap it!, a web cam and a community of people who know so much more then myself.

A general update, there might not be a video tonight. I would like to see what Tony has to say before i go with my plan for episode 4.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuffaloBass

??? Copyright infringements? Dude, just play. It's instructional.

Why dont you go and cop the bassline for Slide by Slave. I dont think they'll sue you for playing it. It has many techniques in it.

Musicdojo has THE slap bass course BTW, by Ant Wellington.

JimmyM · #15 02-13-2011, 05:54 PM

as long as you credit tony for writing what you're playing, i doubt he'll object.

JimmyM · #16 02-13-2011, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soverntear

When reading a chart of 4/4 16th open E notes. would you mute in between each note? if so how would you do it? would it be right hand palm muting or left hand sting muting? if not, please explain.

What percentage of your time do you devote to slap? how much time would you suggest a new learner to spend on slap?

Last, how do you strike you string for slap? personally I try to go through the sting downwards and stop atop the other string. how high do you raise your thumb before coming back down to strike?

Edit: First video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE5B6QmxG1Y

1. i wouldn't mute at all unless the notes had staccato dots over them, which they wouldn't for 16th notes.

2. about 10%. your amount of time may vary with how much you like to slap.

3. i hit my thumb like i'm hitting a drum. i come down hard on the string and let my thumb bounce off. generally i do it a couple inches above the string.

Soverntear · #17 02-13-2011, 06:05 PM

JimmyM thanks for chiming in. correct me if I'm wrong here but staccato dots would mean the note has a shorter value?

I have been finding im at about 50-50 with slap time right now. I really want to amp my skill up so i can post more content to the vlog.

what would you say are the pros and cons of your technique VS the technique I'm using. Also your technique VS double thumb?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

1. i wouldn't mute at all unless the notes had staccato dots over them, which they wouldn't for 16th notes.

2. about 10%. your amount of time may vary with how much you like to slap.

3. i hit my thumb like i'm hitting a drum. i come down hard on the string and let my thumb bounce off. generally i do it a couple inches above the string.

**BullHorn** · #18 02-13-2011, 06:16 PM

I think you should concentrate on practicing rather than making vlogs.

Soverntear · #19 02-13-2011, 06:22 PM

This is true, but i can do both. I'm trying to work up to 2 hours a day right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BullHorn

I think you should concentrate on practicing rather than making vlogs.

JimmyM · #20 02-13-2011, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soverntear

JimmyM thanks for chiming in. correct me if I'm wrong here but staccato dots would mean the note has a shorter value?

I have been finding im at about 50-50 with slap time right now. I really want to amp my skill up so i can post more content to the vlog.

what would you say are the pros and cons of your technique VS the technique I'm using. Also your technique VS double thumb?

staccato dots mean hit it and stop it immediately. but unless 16th notes are at 30 bpm, there's not really any need to notate staccato on them.

i have no idea what the pros and cons are of my technique vs. yours because i never tried yours. i just naturally started doing it that way and never stopped.