Slap It!

[corrosivemind19]

Hey, at lessons we began using Tony Oppenheims Slap It! book. Im over halfway through and I think its really helping my slap technique. I can't wait till i can do the whole thing.

Any thoughts on this book? anyone ever try it?

P.S The music is challenging to read so I just mimic the cd that came with it from ear.

[Dave Grossman]

Originally Posted by corrosivemind19

Hey, at lessons we began using Tony Oppenheims Slap It! book. Im over halfway through and I think its really helping my slap technique. I can't wait till i can do the whole thing.

Any thoughts on this book? anyone ever try it?

P.S The music is challenging to read so I just mimic the cd that came with it from ear.

I learned much of my slap technique from his original edition in the late 1980's early 1990's. He has a whole Slap It site now:
http://www.slapit.com/

It's a great book. I haven't really checked out the site too much but it looks cool.

- Dave

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

"Slap It!" is THE book. It was one of the key factors which built my slapping technique (which still needs improvement but that's not the book's fault) and also played a big role in molding my overall philosophy about the instrument. Maestro Oppenheim's commitment to excellence definitely can be felt in his work.

[chuck953688]

Buying that book is what made me finally get around to learning to read standard notation...the newest version includes tab too if you're not entirely certain on the standard notation.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by chuck953688

Buying that book is what made me finally get around to learning to read standard notation...the newest version includes tab too if you're not entirely certain on the standard notation.

Then I'll be looking for an older version

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by tplyons

Then I'll be looking for an older version

tplyons,

I feel you, when it comes to TAB.

I resisted doing a TAB version of Slap It! for many years. Mostly because as a bass teacher I found Slap It! to be a really good "carrot" to get my students to master standard notation. Since I felt, and still feel, this is of the upmost importance, I didn't want to do anything that would take that carrot away.

In recent years there have been so many slap bass books published with TAB that my publisher felt we had to respond. There were certain retailers that would not carry my book because it didn't have TAB. So ultimately it became a business decision. Ironically the one retailer that influenced my publisher the most has still not added the TAB version of Slap It! to their store. Argh! (it's on their web site though)

Last spring and summer we had to totally recreate the manuscript for Slap It! in order to update the book and add TAB. Slap It! was published so long ago that there was no electronic version of the manuscript, it had been typeset by hand using press type.

In the process I discovered that TAB could be very useful in conveying more exactly how I intended a passage to lay on the bass (i.e. do I play that E on the D string, A String or E String?). Fingerings in standard notation take care of much of the same info, but not as precisely. The combination of Standard Notation and TAB provided more information than either by itself. I was pleasantly surprised when I came to this realization.

Of course this is only true if the student learns how to understand both forms of notation.

One reason to get the new edition of Slap It! (rather than searching for an old one) is that TAB is not the only thing that was added to the book. The CD that comes with the new book also has 28 additional tracks. Many typo's in the old version were finally corrected, and we only introduced a few new ones! Lol!

One reader sent me a great suggestion for those who do not want to "lean" on the TAB. He used the easy release Painter's tape (it's that blue masking tape that painters use) to cover the TAB in his copy of the new book. He can pick the tape up and peek if he wants to, but it prevents him from scanning the TAB when he's trying to read the standard notation, and he says it doesn't damage the book.

I haven't tried this myself, so if you're going to try it, test it out in a small section first. Don't use regular masking tape unless you never want to remove it. The blue tape is made to release without damaging what's underneath.

Of course there are great musicians that never learned to read music, and many who read standard notation that have never used TAB. My feeling is that in an artistic and business endeavor as competitive as being a musician you should take every possible advantage. Anything that helps you grow as a player is good.

That said, in all my years as a professional bass player I was never handed a chart with TAB on it, so even though I've added TAB to Slap It! everyone should understand that I see it only as a teaching aid. Standard Notation (and I'll add Fake Book Notation, ala the Real Book) is still what a working player needs to be able to read with confidence.

Great ears don't hurt either!

Cheers!

Tony

[Gawd]

I recently got the new version of slap it! the other day. It's great.
The tab is a great addition, it allows you to see what position he plays the lines in. So now when I read certain grooves I see that he plays them in different positions than I did or would have.

[glivanos]

Originally Posted by Dave Grossman

I learned much of my slap technique from his original edition in the late 1980's early 1990's. He has a whole Slap It site now:
http://www.slapit.com/

It's a great book. I haven't really checked out the site too much but it looks cool.

- Dave

+1 So did I.

My version of Slap It came with the thin plastic vinyl record sheets (boy now I'm showing my age!!)

[audienceofone]

Originally Posted by Tony Oppenheim

tplyons,

I feel you, when it comes to TAB.

I resisted doing a TAB version of Slap It! for many years. Mostly because as a bass teacher I found Slap It! to be a really good "carrot" to get my students to master standard notation. Since I felt, and still feel, this is of the upmost importance, I didn't want to do anything that would take that carrot away.

In recent years there have been so many slap bass books published with TAB that my publisher felt we had to respond. There were certain retailers that would not carry my book because it didn't have TAB. So ultimately it became a business decision. Ironically the one retailer that influenced my publisher the most has still not added the TAB version of Slap It! to their store. Argh! (it's on their web site though)

Last spring and summer we had to totally recreate the manuscript for Slap It! in order to update the book and add TAB. Slap It! was published so long ago that there was no electronic version of the manuscript, it had been typeset by hand using press type.

In the process I discovered that TAB could be very useful in conveying more exactly how I intended a passage to lay on the bass (i.e. do I play that E on the D string, A String or E String?). Fingerings in standard notation take care of much of the same info, but not as precisely. The combination of Standard Notation and TAB provided more information than either by itself. I was pleasantly surprised when I came to this realization.

Of course this is only true if the student learns how to understand both forms of notation.

One reason to get the new edition of Slap It! (rather than searching for an old one) is that TAB is not the only thing that was added to the book. The CD that comes with the new book also has 28 additional tracks. Many typo's in the old version were finally corrected, and we only introduced a few new ones! Lol!

One reader sent me a great suggestion for those who do not want to "lean" on the TAB. He used the easy release Painter's tape (it's that blue masking tape that painters use) to cover the TAB in his copy of the new book. He can pick the tape up and peek if he wants to, but it prevents him from scanning the TAB when he's trying to read the standard notation, and he says it doesn't damage the book.

I haven't tried this myself, so if you're going to try it, test it out in a small section first. Don't use regular masking tape unless you never want to remove it. The blue tape is made to release without damaging what's underneath.

Of course there are great musicians that never learned to read music, and many who read standard notation that have never used TAB. My feeling is that in an artistic and business endeavor as competitive as being a musician you should take every possible advantage. Anything that helps you grow as a player is good.

That said, in all my years as a professional bass player I was never handed a chart with TAB on it, so even though I've added TAB to Slap It! everyone should understand that I see it only as a teaching aid. Standard Notation (and I'll add Fake Book Notation, ala the Real Book) is still what a working player needs to be able to read with confidence.

Great ears don't hurt either!

Cheers!

Tony

Hey Tony,
Does your book help with 5 string slap? I decided to learn on a 5 string rather than 4 so now I am trying to pickup up slap on a 5 and finding it is tougher than I thought although Bill "The Budha" Dickens makes it look like a piece of cake on his 7 string

[Tristan]

Wait, does the new one have BOTH tab and regular notation?

If so, who cares!

I have the old one... wicked book. worth every penny for sure.

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by audienceofone

Hey Tony,
Does your book help with 5 string slap? I decided to learn on a 5 string rather than 4 so now I am trying to pickup up slap on a 5 and finding it is tougher than I thought although Bill "The Budha" Dickens makes it look like a piece of cake on his 7 string

When I've seen Bill play, nothing he does looks easy to me! Lol!

The techniques covered in my book could be used on a 5 or 6 string, but the book was not written with this in mind, so there are no specific exercises for the added strings.

I've pretty much always played a 4 string bass (I did have a brief stint with a 5 string Alembic back when I was in college, but it had a high C string not a low B).

Just last week I dropped by a local Guitar Center just to see what it was like (I had never been to one of their stores before). While I was there I played a couple of 5 string Jazz basses. They weren't set up very well and they were tuned below pitch, but it was still interesting. A little confusing for an old 4 string player like me, but I can see the attraction.

BTW, do all Guitar Center stores keep rock music blasting throughout the store at all times, or was that just this store? It was very unpleasant. Not that I have anything against rock, but you couldn't hear anything except the "background" music.

I have to say it was one of the most depressing places I've been in a long time.

...anyway....

I know there is at least one slap bass book written specifically for 5 and 6 string basses.... Here's a link to it on Bassbooks.com:

http://www.bassbooks.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=563

I have no idea if this book is any good. I've never seen it, but maybe someone else here has it and can comment on it...

I hope this helps.

Cheers!

Tony

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by Tristan

Wait, does the new one have BOTH tab and regular notation?

Yes.

Originally Posted by Tristan

If so, who cares!

Lol! I don't know.... It does come with more recorded examples on the CD, but other than that (and some minor corrections) it's pretty much the same book.

Originally Posted by Tristan

I have the old one... wicked book. worth every penny for sure.

Thanks!

Tony

[caesarbass]

Slap it is THE SLAP BASS BOOK PERIOD!!! Thank you so much for this book Tony!!! I bought my first copy when it had the little black 45/record, it was replaced by a tape, then finally a CD. i just wanted to thank you and it's great to see you here at TalkBass!!!

[berkeleebass88]

I also got "Slap It!" when it had the vinyl records inside, back in the mid-80s. For me, this was THE book to learn slap. I shedded the exercises for hours at that time.

Highly recommended!

[Tony Oppenheim]

For those of you who have enjoyed Slap It! I hope you'll take a moment and check out the new material on my web site Slap It! Online.

When I was working on the new edition of Slap It! I ended up writing about 50 pages of new material that I'm now recording and publishing on my new site. I'm still writing new material as I go as well based on feedback from subscribers to the site.

For each slap bass example there is music in both standard and tab notation, and audio examples so that you can hear each example at two tempos with Bass and Drums, Bass Only and Drums only (for play along). Here's a link to the Demo page:

http://sio.slapit.com/demo.html

Thanks!

Tony

ps. To veiw the actual pages from the site you'll need Flash and a PDF veiwer plugin installed in your web browser. I have instructions on the site for how to get the necessary software (which is all free). Just check the FAQ page.

[Tony Oppenheim]

Originally Posted by caesarbass

Slap it is THE SLAP BASS BOOK PERIOD!!! Thank you so much for this book Tony!!! I bought my first copy when it had the little black 45/record, it was replaced by a tape, then finally a CD. i just wanted to thank you and it's great to see you here at TalkBass!!!

Thanks so much for your kind words about Slap It!.

I was very happy to discover TalkBass. It's an amazing resource.

I just wish it had been around when I was beginning my career. Hey, back then Bass players didn't even have their own magazine!

My book was originally reviewed in Guitar Player!

Lol!

Tony

[chuck953688]

Tony,
I never really got the chance to thank you in my first post, but wanted to for helping me improve my slap by leaps and bounds. Your book not only did this but was what finally got me to learn standard notation (I find tab convinient to use as a quick refresher or just for a quick readthrough, but got frustrated quickly by not having any timing indications in tab) but also convinced me that I needed a metronome...bad. Both have improved both my slap and fingerstyle more then I could have hoped for...not to mention that the CD that comes with the book could easily be added to my CD collection as something for listening instead of a learning tool.
Sorry for the long suck up, but I've never had the chance to thank someone who's helped me like you have who I've never met before....
*exhales*

[CamMcIntyre]

I've never been much of a slapper-i've done it only when asked as it's not my fav. thing to do. HOWEVER, with one of my teachers [Tom Mendel-dunno if anyone else here studies w/him], in our first lesson he said there are two books that would be great for me. Standing in the Shadows of Motown and Slap It. Keep in mind this is after me telling him "i'm not real into slap".

Well, i'm not that far into the book-maybe page 40 tops, but the book has kept my attention and instead of boring me due to lack of advancement or frustrating me due to extreme jumps in difficulty, the book introduces new elements at just the right pace. I still have to work on the material extensively in order to get it down, but it's not to the point where it feels hopeless.

take it easy.

[steve66]

You cant go wrong picking up a copy of Slap it for one of your bass buddies. It makes a great gift for any bass player. I bought a copy for my friend that introduced me to bass. He resisted playing slap bass for a long time and played Tony's slap it lines finger style. Now he a total slapper. We have this little competition going.

BTW, I am not affiliated with Slap it in anyway. I am working through the book and having fun doing it.

Anyway, I want to thank Tony and the other pros for gettng involved in the forum posts and his committment to the bass community. There arent many well knowns out there that use their real name in the posts. I am sure most of the community feels the same way.

[audienceofone]

Originally Posted by Tony Oppenheim

BTW, do all Guitar Center stores keep rock music blasting throughout the store at all times, or was that just this store? It was very unpleasant. Not that I have anything against rock, but you couldn't hear anything except the "background" music.

I have to say it was one of the most depressing places I've been in a long time.

Tony

I live in MN, and the 2 stores here I have been too have been very loud also, so I would say it is a corporate thing. While I like rock music etc, and I love shopping in the store (specially when I get a deal ) I would certainly agree that the music is over the top, and I am sure there are lots of others that shop there besided the hard core rocker.

I will check out that book! and yours

Todd