For the Funk players who do not

[JAUQO III-X]

Thump/pluck,slap/pop do you consider that funk? and if not,why?

[Mongo Slade]

I have always felt that funk was a musical approach, not an application of technique. More about where to put the notes and the space between than how you make them.
Just my opinion.

Peace

[Jumbotron]

I consider those techniques. They can obviously be used to play funk, but don't have to be. Same as fingerstyle in that regard.

[dmusic148]

+1 to the above. Rocco is funky. Jaco was funky. Jauqo IS funky.
Some players get real funky with a pick. That's been my personal latest effort. Whatever works.

[jimc]

Originally Posted by dmusic148

Some players get real funky with a pick.

Check out Bobby Vega for this!

[EggnogJunkie]

While listening to my "100% Funk" CD, I realized that a lot of the bass in those tracks.... isn't slapped. So... there you have it. Funk is a feeling, not a technique, apparently.

[JAUQO III-X]

For the record. I'm not trying to start a one technique is better than the other or slapping isn't true funk thread. I'm just asking a legitimate question.


I personally utilize various techniques in my appliocation of funk.



And thanks for the shout out DM.

[cassanova]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Thump/pluck,slap/pop do you consider that funk? and if not,why?

No I don't consider it funk. They are techniques and the way you apply them is what makes it funk.

[Mongo Slade]

I like the thread, the knowledge gained by the asking of the question, and the OP's intent. Conversation teaches.

Peace

[copreus]

Originally Posted by Mongo Slade

I have always felt that funk was a musical approach, not an application of technique. More about where to put the notes and the space between than how you make them.

+1
E-x-a-c-t-l-y!
pax!

[Dr Funk]

I must say I consider "funk" to be a shared feel, way more sophisticated and complex than a groove alone. I myself use all techniques available to me to get the funk out. As Lucky Peterson once told me "Doc, funk grows in the space between the notes". It's all funky is what I'm trying to say, and it's way deeper than technique. No better feeling for me than looking out at a crowd and seeing heads moving with the bassline.

[smeet]

I think questions like this are best considered from the listener's perspective. The listener doesn't care if the bassist is slapping, or even if there is a bass player in the band. If it sounds like funk, then it *is* funk.

[Crabby]

Its all about the gear......haha

[smeet]

Originally Posted by Crabby

Its all about the gear......haha

Well, we all know that's true, but you have to play it cool and talk about "music" and "it's in the hands" or some such nonsense, because next to having the coolest gear, looking good on the interwebz is what it's all about...

[Les Izmor]

Funk transcends technique as lots are saying already.

My personal favorite "funk" inspirations come from bass players who didn't/don't use slap type techniques. Early James Brown w/Fred Thomas on bass, The Meters' George Porter, early Bootsy.... all super funky without slapping or popping.

I also agree that funk is a feeling, like the blues. There is some stuff that has all the outward appearance of being "funky", but just isn't.

I've spent most of my 20 years of bass playing trying to find my voice while honoring the funk. I don't slap.

[jmain]

It's a state of mind and of music. Like folks have said, I also feel those are techniques. I like slap, finger and even picked funk. Gotta be a little lumps in the gravy, man.

[bass12]

Name one James Brown song from the sixties or seventies that features slap bass. There you have it. Funk is stripped-down R&B, with the emphasis on the whole band (and singer) as rhythm section. In funk, rhythm - not melody or harmony - is king. Can you imagine "The Payback" slapped? Ughhh.

[jmain]

James is the Godfather, but's there more funk out there. Fingers, thumb pluck, thumb with a slap...it's a state of music and of mind. Don't hate slap b/c you've heard it too much in GC. There's more than a share of slap funk out there, along with fingerstyle.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by bass12

...Funk is stripped-down R&B, with the emphasis on the whole band (and singer) as rhythm section...

Funk is not always stripped down. No one in pop was more elaborate than EWF, and Chic was not far behind.

I have gone through periods where I did not thump. During the early eighties, when I was a very serious Bernard Edwards disciple, I actually lost the callouses on my thumb!

The main reason I can see for not using a given technique is that a player feels that he or she has an identity, or sound that would be diluted if certain techniques were used. For example, Verdine White, Paul Jackson, and Rocco Prestia, probably felt they would have been giving up there own styles if they had plunged deep into slapping. Bobby Vega kept his pick and learned to slap like crazy too!

[Mark Wilson]

When I was younger, I considered Funk a Slap based thing.
THEN i discovered Tower Of Power, realised how Funky Jaco could play, and Verdine White!