Funk PLAY FUNK LIKE PAUL JACKSON JR ONTHE CD | —_ LA’ hottest funk sessioner has played with virtually every major '80s eacxs 509 and '90s artist, so he must be doing something right! Secs PLAY FUNK LIKE PAUL JACKSON JR GT RATING ul jets Je MODERATE ps eatin Wilt improve your: “Paul's main strength lies in his rhythmic single-note playing: he often favours licks that cut YouR orTuToR 8/00 swe { theres one person that sums up the essence of See p9 for more info tar playing within LAs stud @: SOUND ADVICE onal the G Paul Jackson Jr. As an A-list sideman for GREAT ‘80S TONE te has infiuenced the gular eae eae ees ae: a riythmic drive and melodic ick to telco ae eee pe Limetinctaeic ty angie Bey ee a rock solos, 80 100 were requests for Paul Jackson Jr-sty! Sete Be eer ees x rhythm guitar licks. SNe RER es: 2. ee ‘ook up rhythm guitar duties on numerous ‘80s and fiebecep mate aol/ abba nko alam . = ‘similar to funksters like Nile Rodgers) or used amps like 4 Roland JC-120.These day, Pal has his ovm signature Gibson (with F holes) and uses Rivers valve amps for hs ‘own jamtinged solos and ryehms. For che CO used ny Fender Fat Strat (postion fur) with moderate compression, a touch of stereo chorus and a touch of 1m EQ (lib) scooped out athe mixing desk The ‘90s American artists’ alburns and youll see him listed. A ot. Mick on, Lither Vandross, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Al Jarreau, Barbar nd, Madonna, Georg mn, Barl Klugh 4 George Duke have all used his talents; in particular you may like to check his playnut on Luther Vandros: ‘Never Too Much’ or “The Power Of Love’, Anita Baker's ‘Rapture’ of ‘No One In The Work, crit Pol ERY baer Tee Pa hei Bom ase aa Wo. hitney Houston's ‘Love Wil ve Day or (even) the rock hero lead lick on lackson's ‘Why You Wanna Trip O 80 Guitar Techniques may 2003WORKSHOP that is super tight with the song's groove. Then again, he is also good at ereating a guitar rf that acts a songs hook — his playing on Siedah Garrett's song ‘Kissing’ Js ust one example ofthis. n short, Paul rarely dominates a song he's been hired to play on, and he never overplays, So, for your funk fix this month, Ive created eight (mostly) single-note myth C minor licks that have a New Jack Swing (see box) style backing track: Thope some of Pauls chythm magic rubs off on you! Ml PAUL'S STYLE ‘To my mind, Paul's main strength ies in his rhythmic single-note playing In particular, he often. favours playing guitar leks that cut through ‘holes in the mix’ ‘where the other instruments are less busy or the vocalist takes a breath, For example, there's a tasty doublestop Jick during Luther Vandross's "Phe Power Of Love! ‘THIS IS FUNDAMENTALLY A TWO BAR IDEA that has the 2nd, 4th and 8th bars varied a common way of structuriy a rill. Tb sound convieing, et the notes and syncopations :memorised and then work at locking into the drum groove. A pointer ~ swing ehythims often mean 10th notes ‘snap’ more quickly toa bar's main beats, which can inerease the dlithculty factor. ‘This is mest obious with the G to Bh notes between beats and 2 bar and the doublestop slide in BAR 4, between beats and 4 dso JF d cm ‘of each AYR Yvvov mYAY voVVv. mVAY ven myRy ary. A avrg A Vinny] ‘May 2003 Guitar Techniques 81WORKSHOP EXAMPLE THIS IS QUITE: AN INSISTENT RIFF that clearly spells out the notes from a Cin? ‘chord (C Bs G Bs). Make sure to observe the picking directions, espectally for ty tricky one-note-per-steing ending of wach bat sessions should see you get the hang of it d=no JJ*1d cm copes eeete 33 5 FRR RVRYRVRY Re Pom RURYRVAVA Ee THIS IS A CLASSIC PAUL JACKSON JR LICK, which shows him tipping bis hat to funk legend, Jimmy Nolen (guitarist with James Brown), Based in € minor pentatonic, i slips na sweet A note to imply a dorian vibe (C dorian - CD Bb FG A 14) inthe first bar's doublestops before movin into the second bar's sinile notes. Although it des move at some pace, aim to add a stinging vibrato an the Ba note in BAR 2. Rivilim plavers do occasionally use vibrato, you know! d-m0 "1D cm xa EINE "THIS ONE ISN'T A MILLION MILES AWAY from the first exa uses a couple of pull: trademark techniques. nple, except it intoa strong beat - one of Paul's more subtler t=u0 Yd on 10-8 #10) RY omAVRY vovmYA AS RyOoY Ymyms 82 Guitar Teinigues MAY 2003,THIS ONE IS REMINISCENT OF SOME OP PAULS mote sequiencer-like single note Ticks that he has used to grace songs by Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross and George Duke. Keep the notes tight with medium palm muting (too much and the notes won't ‘cut through due to thei low register). The prominent doublestops at the end of BARS. and 4 act as ‘ils’ in te higher register imagine a vocalist drawing, breath here!) J-0 53°73 om PMS 1919-4011 wa ne @ as 101010. 191010107 10101 yy te Te 7 mye MYR oORYRY ORY PART OF PAULS TRADEMARK SOUND dur the mid/late 80s was the use of compression to even out his dynamies and sustain held notes better, Here the effect. makes the siding doublestops: sound more like they were done by a player using the pitch wheel (think Stevie Wonder!). Cool, eh? mihesiser ay 2003 Guitar Telugu 83WORKSHOP CRETE w mn SWITCHING BETWEEN BASS/GUITAR UNISON ideas and melodic lead fils is one of Jacksons strengths and this lek demonstrates tow he ma ‘octaves and snappy thirds. For those keen on detail, I'd draw your attention to how Paul often doesn't re-pick slides, relying instend on good fretting atthe end of ashe and a studio compressor to even out articulation dynamics, t-wo TS 0 this with chords, ab eb 910-1010 jot IS 1S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW HE MAY increase intensity for a songs outeo. Again observe the picking directions closely and aim ta make a smooth connection. between the two fretboard positions on the first and third repeats. Aru tasty sliding fourths ~ they're straight fi i guitar playing as Jaid out hy Curtis Mayfeldt us for those the textbook c 84 Guia Techies ay 2003,