Slap help

[Joeonbass]

I'm teaching myself slap bass and I was going to get Slap It by Tony Oppenheim, is that the best book or is there a different one you would recommend?

Thanks.

[moro]

"Slap It!" is nice, but it's just a collection of excercises. He talks very little about the actual technique.

I've found Alexis Sklarevski's "The Slap Bass Program" DVD to be much more educational. Aside from actually talking about the nuts and bolts of how to slap, since it's a video, you can watch his hands and see what he's doing.

IMO, "Slap It!" is great for improving your chops once you've figured out the basics.

[trasser]

+1

[tZer]

I have not seen the DVD, but it sounds really cool.

I, on the other hand, found "Slap It!" to be a pretty direct route to going from "non-slapping" to "slapping" in very short order. And that was over 20 years ago when it came with a 45 rpm sound page...

Yes, kids, we used to actually have to put a needle down on a piece of vinyl and listen to music in a rather linear fasion in the old days. Uphill, both ways!

[moro]

Originally Posted by tZer

Yes, kids, we used to actually have to put a needle down on a piece of vinyl and listen to music in a rather linear fasion in the old days. Uphill, both ways!

Yeah, I remember rushing home with an LP in one hand, a blank cassette tape in the other, and recording the album to tape.

Anyway, another good (free) resource is the Bunny Brunel videos here:

http://www.cyberschoolofbass.com/lesson6/

Funny thing is, as far as technique, Sklarevsky and Brunel directly contradict each other. Use whatever works for you, I guess--I found Sklarevsky's method fits me better.