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Beginner funk songs

L

link1490

May 9, 2012
8
0
#1
Hey there, i play metal (with my fingers), but lately ive been wanting to get more groovy, i want to really learn like..how to feel what im playing. ive never really played any funky/jazzy stuff, could you give me a few songs that i could start with? im terrible at slap/pop lol, but i want to learn so if a song has that, its great. thanks in advance :p
 
#3
You could join the army of slappers at GC's bass room playing the Red Hot Chilli Pepper version of Higher Ground....

Or to something more sophisticated and learn from the original masters such as anything by Larry Graham such as Sly & Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) which sounds like simple slapping but actually forced you to control your playing so that's why it's good to learn that song. So you are not one of the Higher Ground destroyers at GC.
 
#4
Try "Higher Ground" the Chilli Peppers version. Pretty easy slap, E,G,A with octaves to start, and it will open the doors to other funk. This is the song that really broke the ice with funk and slap for me, because I was more into rock. Good luck, man!

(^you beat me to it, but I learned it when RHCP released it back in the day:D)
 
#6
How about RHCP's 'mellowship slinky'?

Or Chic's 'good times' or 'i want your love' for some seriously groovy disco / funk. Hard to get 100% but close is doable, even for a noob like me!:bassist:

Funk on!:D

check this out for funky:

This is a great excuse for a little autowah in life:cool:
 
#9
Please do the world a favor and start simple! Learn to play simple and repetitive lines "in the pocket" for 5+ minutes. Join a band and concentrate on listening to the other musicians and making them all sound good.

Bootsy's Basic Funk Formula


Simplify... The least funky thing a beginning funketeer can do is play complicated, poorly.

Also search the many existing discussions on this topic. Good luck!
 
#11
Mushroo said:
Please do the world a favor and start simple! Learn to play simple and repetitive lines "in the pocket" for 5+ minutes. Join a band and concentrate on listening to the other musicians and making them all sound good.
Click to expand...

This is great advice. I started learning funk, and it is so easy to get carried away. Slapping/plucking is so fun that you want to do it all the time. The problem is that you might start stepping over everyone else in the band. Remember the band. Lock in with your drummer.

As far as what songs to learn, I picked up bits and pieces from James Brown.
 

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