What Makes Funk, Funk?

[Lower-Than-Low]

Hey fellow bassists,

I hope to start writing music for my band (I have lyrics already and need to start writing the stuff that really matters) and really want to incorporate some intense gooves and funk fills/break-outs/solos.

After a completely useless search on google, I have come here to ask, what on earth makes funk, funk? Is it the actual notes you play, the rhythms, or both?
Does it matter whether you play finger-, pick- or slap-style?

Sorry if I sound like a super-noob, I still haven't been able to get lessons or find a good resource on the net (other than here, that is).

Thanks for reading!

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

To me, the basis of funk is to play heavy 16th note-based syncopations against a strict 4/4 pulse dictated by the drums. Most funk bassists use standard fingerstyle or slap (Right now I can't recall a funk bassist that uses a pick) with plenty of dead notes (percussive clicks).

[Lower-Than-Low]

This is good news, I like 16th notes, fast and fun.
That and if the drums are in strict 4/4 my drummer will be able to deal with my awesomeness :P

And I actually prefer Finger-Style just because of how natural it feels for me. More good news.

Any more help is very welcome!

[James Hart]

Funk is a feel... it transcends technique.

It's all about the wait... the tension within the spaces

[uturnbass]

+1 on Alvaro. It's has alot of percussive sounds (dead notes, or slap/pop), lots of syncopation, you know.. the stuff that gets your booty shakin'.
I think that the main thing that makes funk, funk.. is the rhythm

[Lower-Than-Low]

Originally Posted by James Hart

Funk is a feel... it transcends technique.

It's all about the wait... the tension within the spaces

Dang, thats deep, I'll have to remember it when writing.

[Jared Lash]

Funk is all about the ONE.

James Brown, Parliament, The Meters, Sly, Tower of Power, Kool & the Gang, and anybody else you can think of that really lay down the funk. They all hit the one hard. Everything else after that is gravy.

Straight 16ths work when done right (see Prestia, Rocco) but the problem with most kids I see today trying to play funk is that they are trying to fill every ounce of open space with noise. Slappers are especially bad about this. Check out Larry Graham. He can move at warp speed when he wants to, but he lets his grooves breathe.

Funk is most importantly about rhythm and feel. And ALL about the one.

Here are some videos that will "do it to you in your ear-hole" as George would say.

Pfunk
Mr. Slap Bass himself
Creole Funk from the Meters
Smooth grooves from Sly
Some ToP

[Lower-Than-Low]

Duuude, thanks a ton, thats exactly what I was looking for.

When I get my stuff written up and recorded somehow, I will be sure to post it up for critquing.

[Basshole]

Funk is about what you DON'T play, and when you don't play it. The anticipation, the spaces. The beauty of how you can say so much more, by saying less. Rhythmic invention, tension, space, and syncopation. The rhythm IS the star of the song. Something that makes you want to move. Something that rhythmically feels so sexy, and makes you want to move so much, that it MUST be against the teachings of some church, somewhere.

FONK.

It can be thumped, picked, or fingered.

[arbitrary]

THE GOOD FOOT!!!

[Freddels]

Funk with a pick! Check out Bobby Vega!!!!!

[agreatheight]

Syncopation is a huge part to be sure, and not just on the bass.

[brianrost]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

Right now I can't recall a funk bassist that uses a pick

Wilton Felder (with the Crusaders)
Bobby Vega

[Bayou_Brawler]

dude you just need to go buy A BUNCH of funk albums and learn em.....

[Phalex]

I believe what makes funk funk is tempo. I read somewhere long ago that when George Clinton invented the term, and the genre as well, he created music that had a slower tempo than rock & roll, but was a bit faster than R&B.

The resulting sound and feel was ..........Funky!

[slybass3000]

Hummm! Good question!
Some people say it's in the fried chicken!

SB

[BuffaloBass]

As a wanna be funkateer I try and feel the "i" and "e". If you've been trained in western music you might be stuck on the 1/2/3/4. Practice coming in on the " 1E" or accent the "3E" ( Big Easy feel). You have to try and shake some of the "whiteness" off your meter, get into the "E" and I. I also try to be somewhat "Boosty spartan" with my notes. But most of all, I close my eyes and try and visualize the groove and dance with it. Really. No drugs. I bump it a bit, then hold it close and steady, then bump it a bit, going from typical "dance beat" to a syncopated off beat, and back from bar to bar. It gets you with the groove.

Also, why my band doesnt sound "funky" to me ( it does to the unknowing) is that a funk band, to me, is a MASS of people up on stage, not just a bass and guitar. But, we try!

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by Phalex

I believe what makes funk funk is tempo. I read somewhere long ago that when George Clinton invented the term, and the genre as well, he created music that had a slower tempo than rock & roll, but was a bit faster than R&B.

The resulting sound and feel was ..........Funky!

Close, but George wasn't even born when it was invented... he just rode the top in it's biggest moment.


Here is a good reference IMO...

The word "funk", once defined in dictionaries as body odour or the smell of sexual intercourse, commonly has been regarded as coarse or indecent. African-American musicians originally applied "funk" to music with a slow, mellow groove, then later with a hard-driving, insistent rhythm because of the word's association with sexual intercourse. This early form of the music set the pattern for later musicians. The music was slow, sexy, loose, riff-oriented and danceable. Funky typically described these qualities. In jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to "get down" by telling one another, "Now, put some stank ("stink"/funk) on it!" At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Buddy Bolden's "Funky Butt." As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when "funk" and "funky" were used increasingly in the context of soul music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company.

The distinctive characteristics of African-American musical expression are rooted in West African musical traditions, and find their earliest expression in spirituals, work chants/songs, praise shouts, gospel and blues. In more contemporary music, gospel, blues and blues extensions and jazz often flow together seamlessly. Funky music is an amalgam of soul music, soul jazz and R&B.

James Brown, who had called Little Richard his idol, has credited Little Richard's mid-1950's saxophone-studded road band, The Upsetters, with first putting the funk in the rock and roll beat. This assertion has not only been made by Brown, but others, as well, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

the rest is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk

[jomahu]

rock solid groove and rock solid connection between bassplayer and drummer. and you can't help but move some part of your body (ideally, below the waist )

i remember having dinner in a bar where they were playing james brown on the jukebox. it took me almost an hour to eat, 'cause i couldn't stop bobbing my head.

[Freddels]

Originally Posted by BuffaloBass

Also, why my band doesnt sound "funky" to me ( it does to the unknowing) is that a funk band, to me, is a MASS of people up on stage, not just a bass and guitar. But, we try!

If you like a MASS of people you should check out fellow TB'er Zac's (Zac2944) band Booty Vortex. I checked them out the night before Thanksgiving and they were funky. 14 people on stage. Great show and Zac was in the pocket!