Help me! For I am Funkless! - Page 2

ahhelpme · #21 07-07-2005, 02:56 PM

listen and try to perfect covers from cream, the who ( the real me), black sabbath ( Fairies wear boots), just fairly groovy stuff, Ive found that by learning proper groove as best as you can first, does help you to evolve your funky skills, dunno why but it worked with me, the rest is up to you, practice and improvise on some covers.

Groundloop · #22 07-07-2005, 07:43 PM

Playing with a funk minded drummer is a fantastic way to learn to groove. My drummer and I will often spontaneously play a round of 'How far to the back of the beat can we play?'. Always fun for all.
Except for the guitarists.

Using "Space" ie: not playing, as mentioned before, is a very effective groove tool. In my experience people that have to play all the time usually don't have good internal time.

And remember, slap is a technique, funk is a style. If you slap and pop your way through Bach's "Cello Prelude in G" and stick to the score, it'll still be a Classical piece.

Sean Baumann · #23 07-09-2005, 09:31 AM

I don't care what anybody says, anybody can learn to groove. Some people will have the natural ability, and others will have to work extra hard, but anybody can become a groove monster.

I used to get VERY frustrated with my ability, and through I would never "get it." This was up until very recently. Sure, I could groove a simple 8th note rhythm, but when it came to subdividing into 16ths and playing funk, I was/am horrible.

Over the last several weeks I have really been focusing. I've been picking a tune, learning it on my CD-BT1 slowed down. The key then is to turn off the playback, and play with a metronome alone! Listen very carefully to yourself and the click. Make sure the placement of the notes and the space feels right. It' s not about what IS right, it's about what FEELS right to you. If it makes you want to move, shake, tap, bob, etc, then you know you are grooving. For extra credit, record yourself with the click, and give it a listen. Recording don't lie

Do this for awhile, and your rhythm and groove skills will improve! Mine are! Sure, I have a long way to go, but I already feel more comfortable.

Also, a plug for a great book. Check out Ed Friedland's Bass Grooves. It is really helping me with internalizing rhythm.

Vysous · #24 07-09-2005, 10:30 AM

As in blues, its all about playing with heart... NO brain! just don't think at beeing groovy, just BE groovy... Jump into that music, let it flow from your hands... Btw.> try to listen to as many recordings as you can, its VERY useful for learning how to play....

Groovecenter · #25 07-09-2005, 11:21 AM

Not to sound like a wet blanket but this whole "You must feel it, don't think!" idea is BS. DO more than feel, go out and learn. Feeling it is something you can do much more effectively after you understand. Your brain has to learn what the groove is, and to me grooves stand out especially because of a specific things. Then and only then can you start to let go of the thinking aspect of the music and begin to do it second nature, or "feel" as some call it.

- Articulation: accents, legato vs. Staccato, muting ability, phrasing. Listen to how the great funk bassists specify note values, accent certain notes to add to the feel of the music. A simple exercise to do is one I picked up from a bassplayer magazine- play a group of 16th notes at a slow tempo, and every grouping gets one different note accented. First grouping 1, second 2, etc.

-Tone: fairly obvious but find a tone that you like first off, that sits in a mix and allows for definition, there's no point in cutting a note off and practicing your articulation if your big fat tubby bass tone ends up making you sound like you're chugging out 8ths with a pick.

This is by no means a be all end all post, Im just trying to give you a little help beyond "learn to feel it." Listening is a good strategy, but listen all the time, and sing parts with accents and all. When you hear a line you like, get it in your head completely and do your best to replicate the feel (read: accents, note value, rest value, timing) to the best of your ability.

Sean Baumann · #26 07-09-2005, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groovecenter

This is by no means a be all end all post, Im just trying to give you a little help beyond "learn to feel it." Listening is a good strategy, but listen all the time, and sing parts with accents and all. When you hear a line you like, get it in your head completely and do your best to replicate the feel (read: accents, note value, rest value, timing) to the best of your ability.

To me, feel means that you can reproduce the proper rhythm and accents (you have a good point there). Feel doesn't mean just making junk up, it means learning what makes a groove groove. For me, that usually means note placement and leaving room for the drums. Feel doesn't mean turn off your brain, but it does mean listen and make sure what you are playing fits.

gsys · #27 07-09-2005, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abaguer

You want to sound funky? Use the most widely ignored ingredient in bass playing. Space. You'll be amazed at the results.

This is the most important thing. Funk is something that's implicated more than articulated. That goes for both finger and slap techniques.

Phil Smith · #28 07-11-2005, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Ryst

You can't give somebody funk, they have it or they don't.

There is some truth to this. I believe it's a function of what you are accustomed to listening to from birth on up to and beyond the point that you begin playing. Doesn't mean you can't immerse yourself TOTALLY in the genre and become a funky mofo but it does mean that those players that grow up on a steady diet of funk and relate to it i.e. by listening, feeling and dancing to it will have more of a funky sensibility than someone that hasn't.

Why do you think a cat like Bootsy Collins is funky? Answer: It's the medium in which he was raised and he also gigged with James Brown.

abaguer · #29 07-11-2005, 12:41 AM

Yup, by space I mean't not only silence (playing less notes and treating silence as a note in itself) but also the length of the note. Like if you play a quarter note on the one holding it right up until the snare comes in on two so the snare is by itself. Drummers love when guys do this.

Stingraymund · #30 07-11-2005, 02:27 PM

I would strongly recommend opening up your musical tastes to different genres. Learning the funk can only be acheived by listening to the funk, and I'm not talking bout RHCP here (even Flea would agree to that).

On the 4th of July I went to my college friend's house, where he had a BBQ/jam session. One of his co-workers plays guitar but apparently the only style of music he knows is classic rock. Bummer. I was jamming on this improvised funk tune witht he drummer and all this guy could do was pound our power chords in the same key as my bassline. I was trying to tell him to play higher up on the fretboard but I guess that doesn't make sense to him.
Luckily, there was another guitar player in the house that knew all soers of music, and it was more fun playing with him, but damn, I just can't stand it when you have people with very limited musical tastes and skills.

It's one thing to be a newbie, sure...everyone was a newbie at one point. I'm sure though that this guy has been playing for more than 5 yrs.