"The Larry Graham Shuffle"

[MammaryVest]

I just can't seem to nail Larry's signature driving 8th bass super fun time funk extravaganza. For an example listen to "Stand" and Pino does it super slow on D'Angelo's "feel like makin' love" How do you nail it? What are some other songs for me to try?

[ryco]

Sounds like he is really accenting the off beats (1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &). He almost treats the up beats (1,2,3,4) like dead notes.

He does this on "Everyday People" too. The guy is a groove masta!

[daffy]

Originally Posted by ryco

Sounds like he is really accenting the off beats (1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &). He almost treats the up beats (1,2,3,4) like dead notes.

He does this on "Everyday People" too. The guy is a groove masta!

I think that's exactly what he does do from memory. Lift your left hand on the beat to do a dead/mute note, and fret the note properly on the &. Effect is a short-long shuffle with the pulses on the &'s.

I used this technique to really drive the chorus on one of the songs we do without knowing where it came from till recently, but I finger instead of slap the notes - Larry mostly slapped these.