Slap & Pop Technique for Guitar: Private Lessons Series

I bought this book because I wanted to dive into the world of slap/pop guitar. I love funky sounds, and the first thing I did was put in the CD to listen to a few of the examples I would later sit down to learn. I was blown away --this was exactly what I wanted to learn, and I couldn't wait grab a guitar and get to practicing!Therein lies the problem: The technique is not discussed outside of explaining the special notation used (IE: The letter "T" under a note means to "slap," and the letter "P" under a note means to "pop."). The author also describes the slap technique as "striking the string with your right hand thumb" --this is all the clarification you're given, aside from the suggestion of keeping your right arm parallel with the strings. Really, the discussion (if you even want to call it that) of the technique involved (slap, pop, tapping, left hand slap, index strumming, and right thumb nail-strumming) takes up less than half a page.I figured that the exercises would be geared to slowly build the technique, but they really just throw you into the deep end right off the bat. I must have sat and practiced exercise #1 for 30 minutes before just closing the book. The CD is no help, either, because the guy is hauling at 100% speed the whole time. This technique could really benefit from a half-speed example. Any guitar teacher worth their salt will tell you that if you can't play something clean at slow speeds, you'll be a complete mess if you try to speed it up. Techniques such as slap/pop have to be developed and really practiced before you can start implementing them.So, I angrily put this book away (like most of the reviewers here). I didn't let it deter me from pursuing the technique, though, and I found that Chris Buono's "Funk Fission" course really helps put everything in perspective and is great and bringing it all together. It discusses, in detail, all the techniques involved in this book that the author so graciously dedicated less than half a page to.Armed with the technique under my belt, I re-visited this book to find a wealth of awesome ideas that I was ready to dig into. There's 52 examples, and most of them are great, with little-to-no filler. This book is about building your slap/pop vocabulary, and is most definitely NOT recommended for beginners or players new to the style/technique. There definitely should be some sort of label suggesting that, I feel. On the book, it simply states "52 licks and lessons" which leads you to believe you're going to be taught material, rather than simply being presented with it.There's only 16 pages out of the 23 page total that have actual content on it, so there's really no excuse when similarly-priced books have so much more content and explanation. Another Musician's Institute book, "Acoustic Artistry" is only 50 cents more than this book (at the time of reviewing), and has almost 100 pages that includes pictures, structured lessons that build and combine on techniques being presented (which slapping happens to be one of them), and very detailed explanations on what you're doing and why you're doing it. A more accurate title for this book would be "52 Slap and Pop licks," and would be better priced for under $10.Pros:- 52 licks- Interesting ideas presented over the whole book- The examples sound really, really goodCons:- Misleading title- No half-speed examples- Very little explanation- Very little content with only 16 pages of exercises- Priced a bit too high when compared to similar books (even from the same company) with more content

Belkadi brought us some new ideas to play the guitar with slap bass techniques; it sounds really colorful! I do have fun with the ex. of the book! However, I think this book is fit for intermediate or advanced guitar players, either. It 's too difficult for beginner to follow: firstly, the tempo of demo tracks are too fast , and the contents of the book 'd make the learners/readers confused since the technical ex. should be on page 1 instead of page 35, i think. I' d sincerely say: every learner should master all the Technical Ex. from Ch.5 and then starts Ch.1, U'd get something! Otherwise, U' ll be disappointed.So, I just give it four stars.

Spectacular and well written....do you want to slap and pop and stand out from all the others? This book is for you....do you want your sense of Rhythm to improve?? THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!!

I purchased this book in December 2005 and really enjoyed it. I practiced the patterns and applied them to my playing, and I copped the riffs that I liked best. I use slap-pop all the time live when I gig, and believe me when I say that it freaks people out in a good way. In April 2006, work and college brought me to LA and I looked the author up. We set up a jam at Musicians Institute and I had a blast. Jean Marc is truly one of the best and most verstatile musicians I've ever met, and even though I only ended up jamming with the man 3 times, I learned a months worth about music and improvisation. If other people thought the lessons were vague, then I don't know how else to say this: I read the music notation and then I played it. That's how books like this work. Besides, even if you can't read music, use the tab and listen to the CD to make sure you're playing it right. This technique is deceptively simple. Long story short: Jean Marcs book on Slap-pop is pretty freakin' rad and I reccommend it to anyone wanting to go a little outside the norm. There's even a few touchstyle lessons in the book. What's not to love?

Yes he's fast! No he doesn't "explain" it all. But there's both tab and a CD. So just practice and eventually you'll get it! What were you knuckleheads expecting? Someone to actually play it for you? For those of you with a brain and some playing abilities, this book will definitely open up some new avenues.

It's not a coincidence that everyone on amazon hates this book.The author doesn't explain the technique AT ALL. It's more like a game of follow the leader, which is impossible.I wanted to learn proper technique and this book has NOTHING. Even the riffs he has in the book are repetitive and uninspiring.I emailed the author asking him to help me out a little and perhaps give me some tips but he failed to reply.This guy just wrote a book for the heck of it. He didn't take into consideration that he's acutally supposed to be TEACHING you. He just shows you.I learnt more slap technique from trying on my own and watching Tim Reynolds do some slap live.WORST BOOK EVER - RIP OFF

I made the mistake of buying this and the authors classical themes books. The cd that came with the classical themes book was sampled! This guy didnt even play it. This author is a joke.

I read the previous reviewers opinion on this book and bought it anyway, having finished it all I can say isit is a short book on using slapping techniques on guitar (electric or acoustic) I found the rhythms interesting and some of the grooves challenging and some rather more easy ( I am a advanced player into all styles from rock to blues and jazz + some classical) I thingk the grooves might be usefull if you are an acoustic guitarist and want some ideas for writing and composing as there are no real pieces of music in this book.

The book is thoroughly obscene. There are some exercises starting from a difficult level. The book doesn't explain you HOW to play. Just scores. Tha audio tracks are too fast. Useless. Don't buy it.

Très bonne méthode.