Tear 2 Groove! the strings Instead, strum witha ment to aminimum, scratching. Fornow, keep alltheat- ‘The next step is toisolate and brisk snap. Try to sound as if —-Sincemostfunkmusic isbased tacks even—no accents. play each of the sixteenth-notes yourestriking the strings simul- ona sixteenth-note subdivision, ‘Todevelop good internal time, within a beat. Once you've ma: taneously. ‘welll begin by scratching muted practice with a metronome or a tered this basic skill youll have the ‘Thefrettinghand.Youcontrol __sixteenth-notes (Ex. la).Fach beat drummachine.Ifyouhavethelat- technical base to play any si articulation and detemnine the du- consistsofaltematingdownstrokes tet, program thebasicelghth-note_teenth-note syncopation, ration of each note orchord with and upstrokes, Damp the strings _ pattem in Ex. Ib. This beatallows ‘Asyou work through Ex 2, start your fettinghand. The key/isef- with yourftetinghandand,using you to play straight orswingsix- _atabout70 bpm and gradually in ficiency so keep fretboard move. thetechnique outlined above start__teenths and wont ge in your way. _crease your speed. Fr these exam Ex to fe Ib myRVRVY RY Ry LTT Fm counstoke eat Vewsice “oun a Ber Eg Bed eg PLY oe, = = SSS Ex 3b 9 Fe 30 Rony MOMEIEDY ARDMORE FRU OY XVII Y CHV) Feo Ea FLOOR VAORCOR VEX CIEXYples, well use the mother ofall funk chords—E8. The frst an third si- teenth-notes (the downbeat and upbeat, respectively) are down- strokes, Startby scratching the mut- edsicteenths and then, once youre locked into the meter, add the chord on the appropriate beat. ‘The second and fourth six- teenths are upstrokes. At fist, they can be alittle tricky to play. Keep ‘your picking-hand motion even. Bxaggerating the atacks can throw olf your time, [Now lets fonge these sixteenth note patterns into cool rhythm graqves, starting with Ex. a, Move {down two frets to D9 for EX. 3b. ‘When you first practice these ‘grooves, continually seratch the sivings, subdividing each beat into foursixteenth-notes. Thislets you hear and feel the chord accents ‘against the meter. Once you're comfortable wth this ry "Moating your picking hand above the sings during kx. 5 6 e muted beats. Some- ly seratehed part sounds great (a la Al McKay of arth, Wind & Fire), but many ‘mest’ not appropriate (Prine) Develop both techniques. AAjoy to the ears, a swing teenth orhip hop feels tough to describe. Create this feel by delay- ing the second and fourth six- ‘eenth-notes within each beat. Es- sentially keep your downstrokes the same, but slightly delay your upsttokes. The amount of swing. varies from groove to groove. Scratch Ex. da with a sing fel nce you nalit float your picking hand on the muted sixteenths. Move up one fret to F9for Ex. 4b. ‘This one sounds great with a swing feel, Again, first scratch and then bx.7 float the muted sixteenths. Examples and 6are two more shore rhythmic phrases for your groove approval. For now, stay with the dominant Sth voicing. Play these—and all following exam- ples—first straight and then with a swing feel there’ no attack on the Ahall-step slide ad your pickinghand on t 7 is a litle tricky. Since co downbeat atthe beginning ofthe bar, you can ‘easily ose beat one. Asa tribute to Hendris—a hellaciously funky shythm player—welll use £729. lds motion toa static guitar part (Ex. ). Float the second ‘ixteenth-note while your freting hand slides up one fret. ls essen- tial to slide in ‘enough pressure on the strings to sustain the chord through the side. Practice this technique on Ex. 9, and then drop down to Cand use the slide in Ex. 10. Revisit, grooves we've explored earlier in this lesson and enhance them with yeand maintain Bly my yo omy omy yo omy om (si eeeaeeeed SPALL LET EAS CEES sere co Rh yee YAY oo myAy voy \n evo POMOMee MV V mymy 8 ofp 9 nomen D: O} 89 89 wo OF, fF 10 Gg ce AWA Vee om omy MUM Vee Yom omy = SS SS De oto 5 - me be ze ETOAC) PWOM Oe Y V A © PIL od 1-800 +222 «3399 See poge 120 FEBRUARY 1996 GUITAR PLAYER 125Tear 2 Groove! ahalé-step slide, asin Examples 11, swingon itTo make Ex. 16sound —_toplay funk,you simply musthave _itfun, keep itloose, and always go 12, and 13, like an early Prince groove, play his 20All-Time Greatest Htsorthe with the groove. a Chords. To getagriponfunk, with a touch of swing and dont Star Timebox-set. After James, pick youneed to memorize the dom- scratch the muted sixteenth. ‘up greatest-hits collections from, oss Bolton teaches funk gular inant chord voieings in Ex. 14 Get bigeears. sone thing to Sly & The Family Stone, Parlia-_atGILT Hesrecorded with the Beach ‘Most are located on the higher analyze funktechnique;itsanoth- ment, Funkadelic,and Barth, Wind Baysaned performed with members strings Voiced oolow,achordcan er to cop funk’ feel. Thekeyis to &Fite. In Yo'Face—acool ive-CD of Tower Of Paweer and Earth, Wind get lost or sound muddy when listen to those who define the collection on Rhino—provides a _& Fire, His video Funk Rhythm Gul- heard withother instruments. siyle—theinnovators nottheim-_greatintoducton to arstsfom triable fim Veo Prore- Ex. 15 is inspired by an early, ‘ators. Funk music began inthe —_ funk’s golden age. ‘sions, Bax 3463, Manhattan Beach, Kool TheGangtune,Putalitle “60swithjamesBrown. you want -Funkisparty music, somake CA 90265; (310) 376-2671 x12 Ff rfp co oo MUVe MY Voomy om Y ers chris x13 ae MapMaDA Secor ere xa G7 G7 or og 2 PTC wep 4," x pai EEL ao f E < 1-800 -222 +3399 ‘ee page 120 kis a7 Fr a7 7 Fer G7 os ° 7 we TPP Zearasezeeaes * BESET , at PII Z EE ELL ot B16 oo Fe or Gr eype2) oo Ps te : Ronee # vayny ¥ aie E.. 26 GUITAR LAYER FEBRUARY 1996