The BassBuzz 2 Week SLAP Challenge

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Wow. I feel like level five is way too fast for me at 132 bpm, although the line is easy enough to understand.

Is it okay to slow down the tempo for the first recording? Because I’m all over the place otherwise.

Slap Challenge Level 5 2023 10 22 15 14 27

And here’s day three on Level 1. I have so many problems muting with my fingers (and not the thumb) on the left hand and hitting consistently with my right hand. Still, a lot of fun to practise. My suspicion is that standing up would be better because the strap would work better.

Slap Challenge Level 5 No mic 2023-11-05 20-49-04
The end result… :laughing: I had so much fun, but very little time to practice. I’ll write what I learned down below.

Slap Challenge Level 5 mic d 2023 11 05 20 42 34

Slap Challenge Level 5 75percent speed 2023 11 02 20 48 46

Slaptacular Stories
Sooo, on day one I thought, “not too bad, I got this.” Looking back, I am surprised how wonky and slow I played. Now, I feel like 132 bpm is still too fast for me to cleanly play the line. But I’m almost there.

Breaking down the line into five levels was both helpful and a challenge of its own. Each level helps practice certain things, for sure. I particularly liked L3 because it repeats the structure and gives me time to breathe in bar 4.

I fell like L2 is the most critical step, because the muting really becomes an issue here. Looking back I would spend more time here.

Other things I learned, which are super-cool:

  • Recording videos helps with good posture. And, you keep track of your progress!
  • OneDrive embedding “sax” at the moment.
  • Slapping is too much fun.
  • The pop noise can get to you if you have your amp to one side like me - dial down the volume, folks!
  • I make kissy faces when I concentrate - I’ve been single for a year now, it shows. :wink:
  • Challenges are a great community event.
  • I love my bass … and…
  • Maybe a J bass would sound nicer and less squawky for slapping.
  • I’m well set up for the 50 Songs Challenge now. :eyes:

Love you guys! :hugs:

Cheers,
Antonio

PS: The line is a lot of fun!

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So here it is, my before video.
I didn’t see the Josh’s video. Just read the tab and try it like a hundred times (no, seriously).
I managed to record it just before the “I’m throwing the f$% bass through the window” impulse dominated my mind. But it was close, very close. That’s why in the video there’s only one iteration.
Obviously this is not an interesting video for anybody. I did it to set a cornerstone in my B2B personal path.
Thank you.

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Your video isn’t posted. But, I know how you were feeling. I think I was working on it for at least 45 minutes and it was after midnight too, I was trying to get it done. Very frustrating, but I think that was the point, maybe.

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If not for you I wouldn’t have noticed that the video was not uploaded.
I’ve edited the post.
And yes, my way of getting through these kind of situations is giving it a try and then taking a rest to try it again, just a minute after.
Like in the movie ‘Whiplash’, there’s a moment where the more effort you put, the more of an obstacle your own body and mind become.
And then, when you go for it again after some rest you discover that inadvertedly something inside you has been working on it.
And that is so cool.

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ugh, I will have to try this when my wrist and thumb are better. sigh.

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Hopping a bit late on the bandwagon, but here’s my take on Level 5.
I tried it several times before hitting record just to get it under my fingers, not sure if it’s cheating on not… :sweat_smile:
Anyway my technique is still quite sloppy, so here’s hoping this challenge will do wonders!

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although the fretless is a damn nice artistic choice for a slap groove, it does lack the percussive part of a ‘normal’ slap groove.
Sounds good anyway, but, if you want to hear how badass you are becoming on slap, a fretted bass might serve you better, up to you of course, sounds great as is.

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Thanks John I know you’re 100% right. There is something wrong with me, I’m obsessed with this Squier and don’t want to pick anything else up for even 15 minutes. But at the end of the 2 weeks I’ll record both and compare.

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What’s the outlook?? Man, these kinds of injuries suck big time! Hang in there!

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Thanks for asking!

In week 3 of PT out of 6 (7 actually as I’m away one week).
Things are progressing but slowly, and I’m not 100% confident the “organic” approach will work in the long run but we shall see.
Conserving most hand use for work and house stuff but feeling better enough to give a little playing a shot this weekend and see the effect.

The PT folks are awesome. All they do is work on hands. Every time I go in and explain how things are, or what hurts when, they make a tweak or try something that really helps. I was saying that keyboard/mouse work was the most painful, and they slapped some tape around my thumb and immediate huge improvement. The brace is no longer needed.

So, baby steps.

image
image3024×4032 3.15 MB

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Wow, sounds pretty serious! How did you get your injury? Either way, hope you’ll get well soon!

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Well, I didn’t. Not an acute thing.
Maybe.
Did a bit of crushing 3 years ago, fully recovered.
6 months or so ago had pain in same area and worse when playing sax. Got worse. Rested. Tried again. Got worse. So stopped and been trying to heal. Nothing acutely wrong that they can find yet although I suspect it’s left over crap plus overuse.
Keyboard mouse phone sax bass driving blah blah.
Yeah 50s!!!

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Sounds good, Dan. And it looks like your having a good time too!

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Looks like your practice is paying off. I like how fluid your left hand looks on the hammer ons. How do you feel about the muting?

Cheers,
Antonio

PS: I recorded Level 3 today - and it is … well. I’ll keep practicing. It was more of a “how the heck does OBS and Kdenlive work” anyway. :smiley:

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Thanks Paul, I am having fun with it for sure, you know I still didn’t buy those Alesis drums yet, so slapping is the closest I get to that for now.

Thanks Antonio, well the wrap around thumb thing is working well for the E string, but I struggle to mute the open A string, especially when it is followed by the open D string hammer on.

Nice work, You use Kdenlive! Me too, not an expert on it, but it does a nice job of syncing audio and video on my covers.

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What got me with Kdenlive was that all the tracks were grouped and it took me a blog and two YT videos to figure that out. Hey, it’s open source and works pretty well! :slight_smile:

Today, I struggled with muting the E-string.

Also, I made slower backing tracks (50, 62.5, and 75%). I think that’ll help me.

The will to slap is strong, yet the fingers twist so wrong. :wink:

I find it remarkable that although I wish I could watch my right hand more, my left hand demands all the attention. @JoshFossgreen, what do you think about practicing only the right hand string crossing, e.g. by muting the left all the time, then including the left hand?

Cheers, thanks for the jam, and keep practicing,
Antonio

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Great idea! Basically exactly what we do in Beginner to Badass - sort the plucking and string crossing, then add the notes. Not a strategy you always need, but any time there’s too much going on that’s one good way to break it down.

Anyone else have slap challenge questions?

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Since you asked… I noticed that when I do the Slap Pluck Slap Pluck part with the octaves I’m not getting a good rebound with my thumb as it sits there waiting for the see saw action so those slaps are muted with the thumb. Any advice?

Also any other tips you wanna throw my way are appreciated @JoshFossgreen
Thanks!

video from last nights practice

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I would say move your hand up a bit so your thumb is hitting just at or just a scootch below the heel of the neck. You are trying to bounce off a much ‘softer’ part of the string???

That said…man this is sounding GREAT @Paul_9207 !!! woot woot

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thanks John. Yes, I’ve noticed that too, and then I’ll hit up higher then my hand droops back down to the pickup. but I have’t paid attention to the muting issue while up there. I’ll have to check on that tonight.

Thank you!!

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