Making basslines 'funky'..

Fassa Albrecht · #1 01-15-2010, 10:12 PM

I listen to a lot of funk, funk basslines and other basslines along this tack, but when it comes to my own playing, I simply cannot make my basslines 'funky'.

Think Level 42 and THAT'S the sound I want.

Anyone care to help me out? Sorry if I'm being vague.

jonnyonbass · #2 01-15-2010, 10:37 PM

personally i don't consider level 42 to be that "funky" as far as stanky greasy funk grooves go. have you checked out much bootsy collins, james brown, or parliment funkadelic? The essential funk would have to be larry graham or the brothers johnson. if you listen to a lot of that, its hard not to be funky!!

cliffbass · #3 01-16-2010, 06:05 AM

your fingers make it funky not only the notes

Kipaste · #4 01-16-2010, 06:20 AM

I personally don't find level 42 funky at all either. But the super clean and sterile slap sound Mark King has comes very much from the basses he plays and of course fingers. If that's the sound you're after, then maybe get a status mark king bass..

Anyhow, funk is very much in the fingers and all about timing. Even a bar with just a couple of long notes played fingerstyle can be funky as hell. It's all about the touch. Start practicing simple stuff (bootsy's funk formula) and take it from there.

PlanetEarth · #5 01-16-2010, 12:40 PM

Level 42, funky??????

Hrmmm - not sure exactly what you're looking for but - dig on some James Brown, P-Funk, and without a doubt check out Me'Shell Ndgeocello.

It's a feel thing - there's no theory behind it.

-PE

Phil Smith · #6 01-16-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I listen to a lot of funk, funk basslines and other basslines along this tack, but when it comes to my own playing, I simply cannot make my basslines 'funky'.

Think Level 42 and THAT'S the sound I want.

Anyone care to help me out? Sorry if I'm being vague.

Listen to more funk, wash, rinse, repeat...

cire113 · #7 01-16-2010, 12:45 PM

i love the meters earthy funk sound

PBassFunk · #8 01-16-2010, 12:49 PM

If you want to get funky, cease and desist from listening to European music of any kind for a while. A LONG while. I mean, if you wanted to learn to play fugues on the harpsichord, would you go to Otis Redding?

Then check out all the guys listed above. Plus Paul Jackson with the Headhunters. And Rocco Prestia with Tower Of Power. And remember: three-fourths of funk is F-U-N.

Bruce Lindfield · #9 01-16-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I listen to a lot of funk, funk basslines and other basslines along this tack, but when it comes to my own playing, I simply cannot make my basslines 'funky'.

Think Level 42 and THAT'S the sound I want.

Anyone care to help me out? Sorry if I'm being vague.

Funk is very much about the drums as well as bass - if you haven't got a funky drummer - then forget it!

I can remember doing a Brazilian funk tune at Jazz Summer school and in class it was just not working - our drummer didn't get it!

Then when we played it in the evening Jazz club - one of the drum tutors sat in with us on drums and it brought the house down - I wasn't really doing anything different - but the whole feel just changed completely with a really good drummer!

dalconthenovice · #10 01-18-2010, 02:44 AM

victor wootens dvd has an interesting thing, if you have a 4/4 group of 4 bars and you divide the beats you play by three quarter beats? it sounds funky, give that a shot, but it takes some major practice

5StringBlues · #11 01-18-2010, 02:59 AM

Drink less,practice more.That is all.

Chris K · #12 01-18-2010, 04:25 AM

No offense meant, but this thread isn't very helpful to Fassa this far, apart from the fine examples that were mentioned.

Though it hurts me

to read that some of you do not believe Mark King to be funky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQEO55-_tdw

Stand back in awe, my friends.

Maybe we could come up with some practical tips for Fassa?

Try the following:

Play with a drum computer or the like. At first, restrict yourself to one chord that preferably does NOT have one of the open strings as root; play up the neck. Play with a strong attack; it helps to turn your amp DOWN forcing you to work hard to get the sound. Start with simple standard patterns of short, well defined notes.

Study examples that are relatively easy to play. Play along with the super simple:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe1ScoePqVA

Bruce Lindfield · #13 01-18-2010, 04:52 AM

Well - I think the point people are making is that you have to define what is meant by "funky"...?

I have a definite idea of rhythmic syncopation - between bass and drums. Most common funk thing for me, is to have a two bar repeating pattern, where the 1st bar has a big emphasis on the 1 - 1st beat in the bar - but the seond bar of the pattern has the syncopation - that can be either missing out the one creating a "hole", or more commonly doing some kind of 16th note anticipation or displacement.

Generally , as I was saying though - this requires a good drummer to play off - who can appreciate your syncopations and is comfortable with something like a 16th note displacement - if they just follow you, then it's not funky!!

PJSShearer · #14 01-18-2010, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I listen to a lot of funk, funk basslines and other basslines along this tack, but when it comes to my own playing, I simply cannot make my basslines 'funky'.

Think Level 42 and THAT'S the sound I want.

Anyone care to help me out? Sorry if I'm being vague.

At a bit of a tangent - unless you're in a level 42 Tribute band, you're not likely to get a chance to play like that anyway

I agree that his technique and sound is wonderful - and something to look up to - but Level 42 are built around Mark King's bass playing and with most bands this is generally not the case - normally you'll have to fit in with everyone else !!.

If you want to get "Funky" Here's a couple of youtube clip from Larry Graham that explains things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-vPM...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91seT...eature=related

Bootsy explains his Basic Funk Formula here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHE6h...eature=related

Back on subject, there are a few vids of Mark King explaining his technique on You Tube, these 2 are worth a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k-vz-RJx7c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQEO55-_tdw

Steve Dixon · #15 01-18-2010, 06:02 AM

you and the drums (and every other instrument) need to subdivide beats in the same way...

a lot of really funky stuff doesn't chop up a bar into 16 equally spaced machine-like slices... you'll find all kinds of subtle variations where your 16ths are not quite tripletized, not quite straight... more like a 3:2 ratio at times... and everyone needs to be feeling the same underlying pulse

think about note choice... some clumps of notes sound more uptight and 'white bread' than others...

phrasing... remember the time you STOP playing a note is as important as the time you START playing it... your note endings have to work within the music's pulse too

use of dead notes can often add to the funkiness, as again, they help you show where the pulse is

ultimately, people have different ideas of what's funky... slappy typewriter straight 16ths with no holes don't do it for me

Bruce Lindfield · #16 01-18-2010, 06:06 AM

I agree with all of what Steve has said there - this is the kind of thing I was saying earlier, about the fact that you need to be playing with a good drummer if it's going to be funky!

bertbassplayer · #17 01-18-2010, 06:14 AM

Personally, I've always found Bootsy's basic funk formula to work pretty well to get that funk feel. Hit the root on 1 and hit some up beats in between. It sound simple but it seems to work pretty well.

I think with any style what's important is listening to a lot of examples of the style. Listen to a bunch of funk groups, listen to the little nuances of each bassist.

funkmangriff · #18 01-18-2010, 06:18 AM

level 42 NOT funk??????

just because he slaps almost every 16th note doesnt meen it's not funky, now i agree that i don't consider it as funky as the groovy licks Chic and Earth wind and Fire for example, but i defy anyone to argue the point that Level 42 isn't funky.

Only problem with that is that we'd end up dragging the conversation into the "what is funk?" AGAIN

Good luck on getting the Mark King sound, i can't!

Disappear · #19 01-18-2010, 06:32 AM

It's one thing to play, it's another thing to feel. Can't fake it.

kraigo · #20 01-18-2010, 06:34 AM

I am not holding myself out as a funky bassist here, BTW. As well as syncopation, all sorts of "shading" (ghosted notes where there's a thump on a deadened string, hammer-ons, trills, bent notes) help add character to the line. Think about bits to omit - give the line space to breathe. Don't play your bass for a second - think about what a funky player would do with your line and do that - for some reason it helps me to think about some other nebulous "other" player in my head. In my case doing that usually has me omitting notes. Then again Rocco and Jerry Jermont (and that Jaco fellow) can make dense line funky too.

Lastly (for this post anyway), odd note choices for passing notes can make things funky (or land on odd note and shake it).

Planet Earth mentioned Me'Shell Ndgeocello. Good call.

KO