Slap Bass The Ultimate Guide
Instruction on slapping, popping, left-hand integration, dead notes, and more dangerous techniques; a dedicated groove for each new technique; grooving with a drum machine; funk history – the hallowed grooves of the Funk Triumvirate; slow demos; tips on sound; creating your own grooves; and much more! Includes a booklet with notation and tab for all examples.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good Introduction for Slap Bass
This DVD cleared up alot of problems I was having trying to learn this style. After viewing this DVD many times, I feel I have a solid foundation in which to build on. I am by no means a super slap funk player, but I do have mucho more confidence going into grooves that require this style as a result of studying this DVD. I highly recommend it.
5 Stars Most concise, useful, and cheap intro to basic to high intermediate level slap bass
If all instruction material was as solid as this, I would have 50-100 books/DVDs in all (for bass, guitar, mandolin), not a 1000 or more.
There is enough easily usable information here to build your technique from scratch to as serviceable as any normal contemporary bass player’s slap technique needs to be in typical playing situations. Only if you play in a solo or a bass-dominant musical context, would you need anything more.
Of course, once you fall in love with the possibilities of playing slap & pop (and tap etc.), you WILL need more. At that point you should get Stuart Clayton’s ULTIMATE SLAP BASS, which actually is as complete a guide on any style on any instrument ever written (I otter know, coz I’ve invested more money in instruction material than any other human). Still, Clayton’s book might be overwhelming because of its thoroughness; Ed’s DVD has the essentials and intermediate stuff, but there’s a load of them in here and the booklet is generous by DVD standards.
The only 3rd slap instruction you will perhaps need is the Hal Leonard book FUNK BASS by Chris Kringel as that gives you some real famous songs to learn. Of course, you can later progress to Victor Wooten’s and Primus’s transcriptions. In any case, for less than 20 buckaroos, this DVD provides the maximum wham for the whampum!
Not considered: Double thumbing, chord playing, and strumming. Of course, no tapping either; although in performance at a high level, tapping is often interspersed into slap technique.
4 Stars Great Learning Tool
This DVD is great for learning funk/slap base. I just plug some headphones into my amp, put the DVD in my computer, and I can practice all the base lines without disturbing my roommates. Ed Friedland is a very well spoken and patient teacher. In the excercises he first plays them and then plays them again at half or quarter-speed so you can catch on. I’m having a blast learning some of these techniques. The DVD is very easy to navigate. My only gripe would be that he only plays grooves that are kind of old-sounding funk lines, which is fine, but it would be nice if he strayed a little from the formulaic stuff. It’s realy not much of a gripe though. Love the DVD.
4 Stars Great for slap improvement!
If you wan’t to quickly improve your slap technique, this is for you!
This DVD will help you master basic techniques like slapping and popping as well as more advanced techniques like left hand slap and other cool funk techniques.
The DVD is well done, easy of use, you can jump from exercise to exercise quickly and follow the ”teacher” with your booklet.
This is truly a great buy for anyone who wants to improve his slap bass techniques.
4 Stars Good for beginners
It is useful for beginners. It is not intended for experienced players, but I think it describes the basic techniques for beginers very well. Do not expect it will rocet your slap playing, but if you are just starting, it will give you very solid basic knowledge.
