Introduction Welcome to the world of funk rhythm guitar! This style of guitar playing is a must for any serious musician wanting to improve his or her rhythm guitar skills. Generally, good funk players have learned their craft by taking down parts from recordings or directly from other players. Now, with this video we offer you a clear, concise method that not only provides all the basic techniques for beginners, but will also challenge the most experienced professional. Let's begin with some fundamentals: Right Hand Technique: Your right hand is the timekeeper. This hand is constantly moving in time with the music; two up and two downstrokes for each beat (one stroke for each 16th-note subdivision). There are some exceptions to this rule, however if you are new to this style remember that it is very rare that you would stop your right hand while playing a funk guitar part. Keep your arm and wrist loose. Never “fix” your wrist or hand to the guitar. Also avoid “dragging” yourpick across the strings. Instead, try to make it sound as if you are striking all of the ‘strings simultaneously. Example 1 shows the fundamental right-hand rhythm pattem: Ex. 1 mVABVAV VV VV downstroke Ve upstroke It's important that you memorize the location of the up and down strokes in the bar. They will always fall in the same place, unless indicated otherwise. With this in mind, up and down strokes will not be indicated in subsequent examples. Left Hand Technique: Your left hand controls the articulation of the notes or chord being played. The rhythm pattern, percussive scratches and duration of the notes are completely controlled by damp- ing or depressing the chord with your left-hand on the neck. However, this action should be very subtle so that your left-hand movement is kept to a minimum - be efficient!Synchronizing the Hands Isolating the Sixteenths: Being able to isolate the 16ths is probably the most important fundamental that you must develop as a funk guitarist. All of the rhythm parts in the video are derived from this basic skill. Remember to use steady, even strokes while simply “bouncing” your left hand on the appropriate 16th-note subdivision. Don't exaggerate the attack with your right hand. Use “tight,” short attacks on each of the 16ths and really try to “lock in” with the metronome or drum machine. Combining the Articulations: Now we'll combine all of the individual attacks into two short rhythm parts: Ex. 6 exe DeThe “Swing” Feel ‘A swing or “hip-hop feel is difficult to describe in musical terms. The feel is accomplished by delaying the second and fourth 16th of each beat. It's not really possible to musically notate this fee! because the amount of swing can vary from one groove to another. In terms of actually playing a swing feel, your downstroke will remain essentially the same, but the upstroke should be slightly delayed. Ex. 8 Seno] Ex. 9 = tabicictaton 7 A Fe = Bo : Playing Longer Tones Now we'll combine longer tones together with the shorter attacks. To play long tones, your right hand should still move in the constant 16th-note pattern that we've established as our foundation. However, instead of actually striking the notes, we'll float over the strings allowing them to ring. Many guitar players have a tendency to stop their right-hand when playing these longer tones. This is a bad habit because it interrupts the physical flow of your right-hand which in turn can throw off your time feel. The example below demonstrates the difference between the constant scratch and this “floating” right hand. Ex. 10 incorporates this technique into a simple one-bar rhythm part. Short Tones Long TonosHalf-Step Slide The half-step slide is a very common device used in funk rhythm m9 Eo cycle (second 16th note) of these patterns while the left-hand guitar playing. Notice that your right-hand must float on the up- 6 eo articulates the slide. It's very important to play the slide in time with your left-hand keeping pressure on the fretboard so that the eS chord sustains throughout the slide. Examples 11 through 13 iii demonstrate variations on a simple one-beat slide pattem. Feel free to either scratch or float the right-hand on beats 2 and 4 (indicated as ghost notes): (9 Eo (9 EoCombining the Techniques Here are four short rhythm patterns that combine all four 16th-note attacks with a half-step slide in either a straight or swing feel: Eo oy ce Ex. 14 [Sana 9 co em co Ex. 15 [Beart Ex. 16 Brant om Ee a eo Ex. 17 [Brant] FeChords Much has been written on the subject of chords - far more than we could possibly hope to cover on this video. However, what we will do is take a look at some of the more commonly used chord shapes in funk music. Specifically, these are dominant and minor chords. You'll notice that funk guitar chord inversions typically occur on the top four or five strings because the lower strings tend to get lost in the mix. Be sure to practice these inversions in different keys. Dominant Voicings The term “dominant” applies to the family of chords consisting of a major triad and a low- ered seventh (root, 3rd, Sth, fiatted 7th). Some of the following chord shapes also contain “extensions” such as the 9th and 13th. Examples 20 through 22 will help you apply the chord shapes (which may be unfamiliar at this point). or ez sr so Ex. 18 aie } ety 10h Ex. 19 [Bamsvin cab] ee age Grroar azeus $ Ex. 22 eS ep aE £ x ¥ ¥ Ee Tricks with Dominant Chords We can isolate just a few notes out of these chords to create some interesting sounds. Examples 23 and 24 approach the “tritone” interval (3rd and flatted 7th of a dominant chord) from a half-step below: [steht] cro Eo (yes Ex. 23 Sra and Sing (19) Eo (a9 E9 Ex. 24Minor Voicings The minor chord shapes in this section are very similar to the dominant chord shapes on page 6. The only difference is that the 3rd has been lowered (root, flatted 3rd, 5th). The major sixth (or 13th) interval in examples 27 and 28 is very typical of “old school funk” (ie. early James Brown). [Sara Gm mie Gmi? Qi G mie mi7 Ex. 28 gio eee $= Gm? Gmié Gmi7 Gmi7 GmieGmi7 Highercctave =[Sraint ] Gm? Ex. Example 30 is typical of an Earth, Wind & Fire rhythm guitar part. Notice that the scratches are very pronounced all the way through this example. Sealant Gm b Ex. 30 mi Example 31 requires a “shake” on the last chord. Lay your first finger down on the 8th fret across the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings. Using your thumb for leverage on the back of the neck, push and pull on the strings ina‘fan- MYR VY | (my)m ¥ ning” motion (a.k.a. B.B. King vibrato). Technically, the "shake" in this example will extend the last 16th of each bar into the begining of the next measure (be sure to float your right hand for the first two 16ths of each bar). © @ Omi Ex. 31 (my) 410 Single-Note Parts Playing single-note lines is another way to embellish a rhythm track. Coming up with an effective line can be a real challenge, as well as a test of musical maturity. Single-note parts are generally quite short and use very few notes. Muted / Open Picking “Muted” picking (a.k.a. “bubble picking” due to it’s percolating sound) requires a strong picking motion, while at the same time muting slightly with the palm of your right-hand next to the bridge. “Open” picking simply means that you allow the notes to ring as you play. Ex. 32 Straight sre Ami Ex. 33 St and Sing GMa?Skank ‘Skank parts are the most aggressive of the single-note lines. This harsh, percussive style really cuts through when the band gets going. tis also the most difficult style to master because it requires that you isolate a single note while simultaneously muting the adjacent strings with your left-hand. The resutt is a strong, solid tone along with the percussive attack of two or more strings scratched with the right-hand.Ex. 39 Putting it all together... Now we'll combine chords and single-note lines to create some very interesting rhythm guitar parts. Note: Up to this point scratches have been indicated to help you understand the break- down of each beat. More specifically, the scratch indications defined the location for each up and down stroke (as outlined in Example 1). Now we'll move into standard notation where scratches are replaced with the appropriate rest values. It's important that you make this transition. Hopefully the previous examples will help you visualize where the scratches should fall. Feel free to rewrite the parts with scratches if necessary. Ds pe Di pa —B Double-Stops The term “double-stop” simply refers to playing two notes at the same time. The tech- niques for playing double-stop parts are basically the same as playing single-note lines: the most important of which is to keep your pick moving! When coming up with your own double-stop parts it helps to have a good harmonic understanding of the fretboard. Seach] Bm Ex. 43 Example 44 is a “New Orleans”-styie shuftle part (a la “The Meters”). This example moves around a lot and would be considered a “featured part” rather than supportive rhythm- section line. It combines double-stops with a muted single-note line at the end of bar two. Even though scratches are not indicated, feel free to scratch on the 16th-note subdivsions (wherever it feels right) in place of the rests. In this example | tend to scratch the last two 16ths of bar one, and the third 16th in the first beat of bar two. ami FMa?14 Playing and listening to funk guitar will make you appreciate the “Art of the Groove.” To really understand what makes a track “groove” you need to become an intelligent listener. Listen to all the instruments on the track - not just the guitar. Does the track swing or is it straight? If it does swing, is it just a little or a lot? Often on a single track you will find that some players swing, and some don’t! Listen for subtleties in the time feel. Is the band playing ahead of or behind the beat? Most of the time we listen to music for fun, but as a musician you need to learn what to listen for. You can leam as much from listening as you can from playing. 16th-Note Triplet The 16th-note triplet is an easy way to add some flash to your playing. In the following example we've put the 16th-note triplet at the end of the bar. Notice that after playing the triplet you're left playing an upstroke at the beginning of the next bar. This interruption of the 16th-note strumming pattem can be corrected by suspending your right-hand on the second 16th and retuming to a downstroke on the third 16th. Saar] Ee Lowe E24 Ex. 46 e AVAVAL VY mMYRYRVY AYR AYR rast] Ge rsa Fo Fe Ex. 4715 Applying the Techniques In this section we'll combine some of the previous examples to show how they might be used together in song form. Section [A] of Ex. 48 is based on Ex. 28 (in D minor instead of G minor). The [B] section is Ex. 41, however in the last bar of this section we've added an AS chord as a “tumaround’ (a tumaround is simply a short passage that leads back to the beginning of a song). A] om ome mi? Dmi Dame Dmi716 In this piece, section [A] is based on Ex. 38 with an A minor triad added at the end of each two-bar phrase. The [B] section is based on Ex. 14 (in D9 rather than E9). The ‘turn- around” passage ends with a 16th-note triplet on the second half of beat 3, leading into beat 4. A) Ami [B] 0° amps pe (a9) 2 Ami17 Conclusion The examples in this video are primarily based on traditional funk parts. While much care was taken to be as complete as possible, there is no substitute for listening and becoming familiar with the artists who define the style. Your own repertoire of creative rhythm guitar parts can best be developed by having a solid frame of reference. Hopefully, after working through this method, your desire to explore the world of groove music is stronger than ever. With this in mind, | have put together a short discography of some suggested listening (in no particular order): James Brown 20 Greatest Hits, Star Time (Box sel), both on Polydor. {tall starts right here. No funk Collection would be considered worthy unless it contained one of these discs. Sly and the Family Stone Anthology, Greatest Hits, both on Epic. Loose, fun party music. Sly was and Continues to be a big influence on other artists. Parliament/Funkadelie Tear off the Roof (Double CD, Greatest Hits collection), Polygram. Like Siy, the vibe is loose and crazy. This music isn’ for everybody, but some of the grooves are amazing, ‘Tower of Power In the Slot, Urban Renewal, Back to Oakland, all on Warner Bros. This is “sophist- ‘cated’ funk. These recordings have ital super intricate rhythm section grooves, ineredible horn parts and great ballads. It doasn't get much better than this. Eerth, Wind & Fire All’ Al, |Am, Gratitude and The Best of Earth wind & Fire, Vol. 1, all on Columbia, Everything writen for Tower of Power applios to this band as well. By the mid seventies these guys set ‘a standard for other bands to live up to. Al McKay's rhythm guilar playing is simply biliat. Average White Band: Best of 1974-80, Rhino. This disc is ful of great rhythm guitar ideas. W's also.a {good example of some great arrangements for two guitars Rufus: Stompin’ at the Savoy, Warner Bros. ‘Chaka Khan: What ‘Cha Gonna Do For Me, Wamer Bros. Both of these selections feature amazing guitar work by David Willams; in my opinion, one of the best rhythm guftarsts working today. Prince: Hits/B-Sides (3 disc set; especially dise'#2), Wamer Bros. While most people are aware of his music, many don't realize what an outstanding rhythm guitarist he i, This is by no means a complete list, but it represents a good cross-section of the major artists. There is also a multi-disc series entitled fn Yo’ Face (Rhino Records; discs in this series are sold separately) that features great tracks from many different artists. Also, a “greatest hits” package from any of the following bands would be worth your consideration: Kool & the Gang (early years), Cameo, Ohio Players, Con-Funk-Shun, Graham Central Station, Bar-Kays. It’s truly been a pleasure sharing my love for this style of music with you. Good luck on your musical journey! Ross Bolton; 4 ‘sive attack achived by muting the stingte) vith your lefehand wie atacking the stings) the frst action ofthis book (up {o Example 40), seratchos may also be viowod ae fythmic to help show the rudimentary Structure of ins, “place-hoders in the notation with your right-hand. Notco ‘srahing single-note part. In ‘Vibrato ("shake") that no disincton is made ightsresorved Bendto-andstem between seralehing chords and opt. Infangers are labo under the la. indicated pich eseons. Af with Ross Bolton Produced by David Schaub Bend (push") Pay ne note inated ten Bendeitera ule stp oral Slopes nated right ©1095 by Video P zy fam ean ingemen Piay tho t2t py ret, then ‘lid nto the thahigher ole noxtnoto indicate Funk Rhythm Guitar Unauthorizod reproduction ina {ine staff graphically represents the six strings of the guitar, with the top line indicating the highest sounding string (high E string). A number on a line of tablature designates the fret al which the note is played (0 indicates an open string), wath ating Play tho ist note, then hammer nto fingor The six: Gating, Hammer ‘th fot Notation System Tablature: groove-rnasier ROSS BOLTON prescnis one ‘of the most comprehensive programs aver Geveloped on the art and tes Rhythm Guitar. Ross’ st has developed a clear, con and techniques at the heart of the uni sound. After laying down the note playing Teneo conte contemporary rhythm guitar part Slyles ol James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince. and many others siyle been so thoughtfully organized and presented, “Ross? instruction has been generating a lot of excitement hore at Ml. His method has proven itself time and again for our students, and now finally translated fo video... truly an amazing piece of wor - Tom Bartlette, Director of Education, ‘Musicians Institute “if you're spellbound but mystified by funk guitar, you'll dig this video. Not only can Bolton play greasy grooves, he’s able fo break out funk’s elements ancl explain how they mesh.” + Guitar Player Magazine Proved & Directed by Dave Schaub Program Lang