Best book/DVD for bringing your slap to the next level

[thefunkelastic]

Hey guys,

I've been playing bass a decent bit now, a year or so, though most people can't tell that because I practice every day as much as possible,

anyways, my slap technique leaves something to be desired, it's relatively solid, and I can play basic funk stuff like RHCP's Cover of Higher Ground and Hair by Larry Graham but I'd really like to have a much better grasp of slap, I'd like to master it to the level of being able to play most primus and marcus miller tunes,

what book will provide me with the type of exercises that with many many man hours of practice will help me get to that level?

thanks for the advice,

-Funk

[Chrispurchase]

i haven't looked at it but i've heard nothing but good things about Slap It

[Michael Campbel]

Originally Posted by thefunkelastic

what book will provide me with the type of exercises that with many many man hours of practice will help me get to that level?

If I can hijack your thread for a moment to ask YOUR adivce - as a brand new bass player, what did you do to get to the FIRST level? ("the next level" for me is a ways off yet.. =)

I've also only heard great things about "Slap It!", though I of course have no first hand knowledge. It's on my "someday" list. http://www.slapit.com/, amazon, etc. all have it.

[thefunkelastic]

Originally Posted by Michael Campbel

If I can hijack your thread for a moment to ask YOUR adivce - as a brand new bass player, what did you do to get to the FIRST level? ("the next level" for me is a ways off yet.. =)

I've also only heard great things about "Slap It!", though I of course have no first hand knowledge. It's on my "someday" list. http://www.slapit.com/, amazon, etc. all have it.

Well, many may not consider me at "the first level" yet, I consider myself at it because if need be I can construct a working slap line, though nothing too complicated on the fly. And I can play most basic funk songs,

I'll check out slapit btw,

[daffy]

Anthony Vitti's books are all awesome, and really quite challenging. He is also a huge Marcus Miller fan, so his style, and the style of the book, is very melodic and quite similar to Marcus. I also have Slap It and it's a great book, but the combo with Vitti's stuff is killer.

If you are looking for slap technique then go for the Slap Bass Bible and Slap Soloing, but don't ignore the Hip hop and Funk workbooks as well.

I have all his books and could not recommend them more highly.

You can buy them direct off his web site too - DaaDoo Music. Actually from memory the site has sample pages/mp3's so you can go and check it out first.

[dulouz]

"Slap Bass Workout" by Jim Stinnett. Great for working on endurance and consistency. http://www.jimstinnett.com/books.html

[gre107]

Take the Slap Bass courses at Musicdojo.com with Anthony Wellington (Vic Wootens bass player). Anthony is great!

Peace,

Gerry

[stuart clayton]

If you'll indulge me with an utterly shameless plug, I wrote a book called 'Ultimate Slap Bass' a couple of years back which has been really well received. You can check it out, and read testimonials on www.basslinepublishing.com. You can buy the book there, but www.bassbooks.com might be cheaper for you if you're in the states. Any questions, please let me know!

Cheers
Stuart

[tswd]

The exercises in Slap It! are awesome. If you have the time (which it sounds like you do) to force yourself to get each and every exercise down well before proceeding, the amount of stuff in that book is pretty amazing. There really isn't much that it doesn't cover.

Another important thing is that the lessons are actually fun to play. I listened to the CD that comes with it and thought "Yea, it'd be cool to be able to play that." I tried a couple other instructional books and, after listening to the CD, thought "Wow, why would anybody want to play like that???" So, yea. Start with Slap It! and go from there.