Who Is This Guy?

"Slap It" maybe was the book. http://www.slapit.com/


Great book if you want to learn the old style of slap.
i.e. no flea no claypool.

 

Holy Sh*t!! You buy that book and you become a 70's funk machine!! Look at the pic in Gruff Puppy's link.

 

Tony is a member here on talkbass. I don't know if he ever posted though...

 

He hasn't. (member profile) Too bad, really, he seems like a nice player.

 

I have worked my way through some of the book, it is a real great book. Again like I said it is more towards the 70/80's style of slap. Personally I prefer this style.

 

Slap it is by far the best book on learning how to slap that i ahve ever found.

I found thatr though that book definatly taught the old skool slap method, the skill in it can easily be applied to the newer stuff. Listen to vintage( first albums) Red Hot Chili Peppers, then listen to the cd that comes witht he book. That style was what flea mutated into how he played then, and it can help you too.

If thats what your going for?

Have fun with it, thats whats important.

Erin

 

My guess is he's played with a lot of people you've never heard of.

There are a lot of really killer players out there doing the weddings, bar mitzvahs and corporate functions plus recording radio and TV commercials, backing up local songwriters on demos, etc.

In fact that's what about 90% of all working players REALLY do. It aint all arenas, limos, champagne and hot tub sessions with supermodels.

If you check out instruction books, very few are written by "big name" players. I mean, who the heck did Mel Bay play with?

 

I think he's that guy who does the commercials for 2000 flushes.

 

I remember seeing a few posts by him recently (a few months ago) over at TBL (The Bottom Line). He wrote Slap-It back in his College days, and until recently had put bass playing on the back burner while concentrating on his day job (whatever that was). I think I remember him mentioning that he had been asked repeatedly by people to put out a "tab" version of the book, and that he was considering some type of follow-up.

P.S. I just did a quick search of the TBL Archives... Here's a copy of the original post by Tony...

------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 11:23:08 -0400
From: Tony Oppenheim <tony [at] slapit.com>
Subject: TAB version of Slap It! - [Yes] or [No]?

Folks,

First let me say that I know I'm not an active participant in this list,
so I feel a little weird just popping up and asking this question. I do
read the Bottom Line from time to time and enjoy much of what I read, and
I respect the groups opinion on topics related to bass.

To answer everyone's first question, I've been largely out of the music
business since 1985. I still play bass whenever I get the chance, but not
as a full time working player. The guy who wrote Slap It! WAS a working
player (fresh out of Berklee) and struggling to find good gigs in NYC.

For many years I've been busy in the Computer field doing programming and
consulting work for clients mostly in NYC, but also in other parts of the
world. (sounds boring, but it's been fun, lots of good toys)

Technology and family have led me back to the music biz, and I'm
currently involved (more as a producer than a player) in this project if
anyone is interested:

http://www.thatswhatkidsdo.com/

This is a musical theater project, not at all funky, but it is fun.

Ok, now back to the topic at hand...

I'm very interested in what you all think about this idea.

I get several requests a week for a TAB version of Slap It!

Generally when people have contacted me about a TAB version of the book I
have suggested that they take the opportunity to study standard musical
notation to gain access to the wealth of material available in that
format.

OK, so that's sort of a cop out, but I never saw the benefit of studying
TAB as opposed to standard musical notation. It seems to me, if you can
learn one, you should be able to learn the other, and there seems to be
so much more material available to someone who reads standard musical
notation.

That said, I've never used TAB myself, and clearly know very little about
it.

For instance, are TAB notation rules as strict as standard musical
notation?

Is it possible to convey all the same information in TAB? pitch, rhythm,
fingering?

Or is the TAB conveying just the fingering and pitch portion?

So, do you all think there should be a TAB version of Slap It! ?

If so, should it be a separate version or should there be just one
version available that has both notation systems? The book would
necessarily get bigger, so it would probably result in a higher price.

Wow, this message got much longer than I intended.

Thanks in advance for your feedback! I'll be going right to my publisher
with the results.

>>Tony

----------------------------------------------

...And here are some of the replies he received...

http://www.amstadt.com/tblarchive/VOL2001/300-399/bl314.html


Peace,

- Frank

 

And Pacman has a reply.
That blinky tabevil gets around.

It is a good book and like you said cassanova it is only nine dollars.
I have not seen a tab version but that is fine.

 

yeah, I play out of that book, its a great book, I actually only have like 2 pages left in it. I'm only 15 but i got so far through the book because i USED to be one of those kids that like just slaps. But not anymore. I am starting to play jazz now. Just leaned how to comp on MAjor/Minor 7th chords, V7th, Diminished &augmented, and 9th chords for what thats worth. Anyway, back to Oppenheim, he went to Berklee if anyone cares, that book came out in like '81 i think, yeah, anyway, i recommed it to anyone who wants to slap. If you get through that book, go down and play those licks in GC and you'll own the place