Hey Dave,

I just wanted to ask you what you think are some need to knows for a funk-jazz bassist. [yes will include improving]

Also, I've watched your videos and might I say you are one crazy jammer! Any help from you is appreciated.

Thanks Man!

Hey man, Glad you dug the youtube videos. Those videos are just short jams I broke into while I was in the WorkshopLive.com studio filming lessons for them. I didn’t realize that they would be posting them on You Tube. Had a known I would’ve probably prepared something. But it’s all-cool.

With regards to your question on need to knows for funk-jazz, let’s break this down a bit. If we take the two genres separately, Funk is a music that is all about the GROOVE. Many great funk tunes consist of only a few chords. Funk playing is about having your time together, playing In The Pocket, Locking in With The Drummer, many times playing sixteenth note rhythms, syncopation and through the music, convincing people to get up and move their bodies by playing some nasty irresistible grooves that make people feel good, dig the music and want to get up and dance. Funk Is Not A Music That Is Cerebral. By this I mean, your heart and soul tells the truth in this music. A bassist is going to concentrate on playing the nastiest groove thumping through their chest other than thinking about want scale to play over what chord. Not that you shouldn’t know what your doing, but don’t “think” about it too much. Rely on your music instincts, your musical spirit and don’t be too cerebral about the music. Listen to some of the early great funk bands such as Sly & The Family Stone, Parliament, James Brown, and many more. Listen to as much James Jamerson, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins as you can. When I first heard Jaco I was totally floored how %$^$&$*@# Funky he was with an impeccable 16th note feel. Rocco Prestia of Tower of Power, unbelievable stuff. Get this stuff in your ears, it’s really important. Now, about funk bass techniques.

Two commonly used techniques are fingerstyle funk and slap& pop. Jaco and Rocco Prestia are two of the nastiest bass players in terms of sixteenth note feel, muted notes and funkiness playing fingerstyle funk. Sure Jaco was more jazz influenced, but he crossed boundaries, genres and classification. He did what he did in any style he played.

Try to get your alternate fingers going in the right hand by practicing 16th notes exercises. Try to practice tapping out, or singing, or playing on your bass, 16th note syncopated funk rhythms from a book of syncopated and/funk rhytAlso try to get your left hand muting together. Muted notes are an integral part of funk bass playing. There is a chapter in my Complete Electric Bass Method series “Intermediate Book” that discusses pizzicato or Fingerstyle funk. Try playing or inventing cross string exercises, as the octave is a commonly used interval in funk bass playing. At first you may find playing octave and other large intervals with 16th note rhythms a little tricky. If you look at one of the You Tube videos where I am jamming I play a one-octave scale in octaves up the fingerboard with 16th note rhythms. They go by fast. Try playing four 16th notes by playing two 16ths on C (3rd fret A string) then two 16ths on the octave C (5th fret G string) and repeat this 16th note pattern while playing the C major scale up the fingerboard.

Slap & Pop is another fun technique used in funk playing. Again, listen to Larry Graham (the father of slap) and cop some of his lines such as the groove in his tune “The Jam”. After you’ve digested some Larry Graham and Bootsy Collins, then check out masters of today such as Marcus Miller, Marc King of Level 42, and of course Victor. There are many others whom may not be as well known but are worth checking out. There are many slap & pop books out there. I’ll put a plug in for mine “SLAP & POP BASS”. It discusses the techniques used in the slap & pop style and gives you plenty of grooves to play. The book is published by Alfred/NGW and can be found on most any online bookstore. You can read more about this book or any of my other books, on my website: daveoverthrow.com

With regards to Jazz, I’ll keep it brief for times sake. Unlike funk, in jazz your playing tunes that have a lot more chord changes than in Funk music (generally). The bassist assesses the following when playing the tune: What style is the tune (swing, Latin, fusion), what notes are in each chord, what scale is available over each chord, what notes will you play, where will you play them on the fingerboard, what rhythm will you play them with. That’s should give you an idea. The brain is more involved in this music like it or not. For this I suggest that you get your chords together (study harmony), get your scales together, learn your instrument well and work on learning a jazz tune a week. Hate to say it, but here comes another plug: I have a brand new book out that was released last week titled “THE TOTAL JAZZ BASSIST”. The title tells you what the focus of the book is. This book really helps you get it ALL together, from walking bass lines to improvising and tons more.

Now, the genre of Funk-Jazz: When I think of Funk Jazz I kind of think of fusion bassists such as Stanley Clarke, Jaco, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten (many fusion styles with Bela Fleck) and others. The guys I mentioned all can play in the style of jazz, the style of funk and they put it together. They have listened to and gotten in their ears both genres, play techniques of funk bass playing, use jazz harmony, funk and rock rhythms, great grooves, exciting improvisations and play killer music. To excel as a funk jazz bassist I would get hip to some jazz harmony to get your chords together, study funk rhythms, get your slap & pop together, try slapping over chord changes, practice fingerstyle funk exercises with large intervals using 16th notes. Listen to a bunch of cats. Just remember to play with your heart and what is true to you!

I hope this helps you a little and gives you some ideas. Let me know if you have any more questions. Good Luck, Keep Playing and
PEACE,
Dave

Wow Dave you went in a lot more detail that I thought. :D

I really appreciate what you've written. Yeah I've been liking Marcus Miller for sometime now. And those octave things I use when I play disco grooves.

Also I just had one other little question....how do you get that impeccable tone of yours? I'm so jealous of it. :p

Also thanks again for writing out this memoir of funk jazz. I'll be sure to get some of your books in the near future.

Thanks again,
Jimmy