How do you funk up a bassline??

[v1paul]

Not quite sure if this is the right section but anyway... How do you make an existing bassline more funky? Other than slapping and popping it with octaves I can't think of anything else to add... maybe certain fills? Anyone got any suggestions??

 

[snapple]

slap does not funk make.

 

[abstractart06]

You might want to check out Bootsie Collins on You Tube he does a formula he learned from James Brown about creating Funk grooves by always playing on "The One".

 

[phatbass]

Don't add; take away - leave some spaces in the music...

 

[Doublefunk]

Dotting notes to give them more emphasis.
Liberal use of Rests.
Playing the root then an octave up.
That's all that i can think of right now.

 

[Steve!]

Shorten up your notes and play behind the beat (?)

 

[LeftHandedFrog]

Yeah you can add some ghost notes maybe but well placed silences and fat notes makes it funkier... Rely on the drummer a lot and play around with him.... Funk is also your way to play around the beat and your own personal timing.
Don t force it , there is nothing worse than a bass player that s not funky trying to be...
Listen to bootsy with James Brown and funkadelic , Parliament , Sly and the family stone , Stevie Wonder and so on to start with...

 

[NAZ]

Grab your bass and youtube Bootsy Collins. Listen and practice until you can play his lines and licks, after you start playing it with him, it will start to come on its aow accord in your own lines... Its a start

 

[Stumbo]

You might want to check out some of the following links:
~Funk, Slap, Groove, R&B
Links to over 20 funk,groove and R&B bassists

TB's Funk 101 list of funk tunes
Funk 102
TB's Old School Funk tunes suggestions
R&B
50 songs to learn R&B on

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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R&B/Funk book
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New funk groups
Modern Funk bassists

The late, great, James Jamerson
1 Get that dead flatwound string sound
2

TB slap bass references/links
Over 60 slap/funk lessons by MarlowDK
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Books/Videos from
F. R. Prestia/Tower of Power
Anthony Vitti
Alex Sklarevski
Bill Dickens
Tony Oppenheim
Larry Graham

 

[lowB_2277]

Here's a good start.

http://www.amazon.com/Funkmasters-G...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254874304&sr=1-1

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Go get yourself some records.
Listen.
Play.

 

[Stumbo]

Check out Mark King of Level 42.

 

[lowendfriend]

Dotting notes to give them more emphasis.
Liberal use of Rests.
Playing the root then an octave up.
That's all that i can think of right now.

+1 on rests and use hammer notes to walk up say the middle of a blues scale hitting only on the 4th (b5 and 5 are hammered).

Abruptly stop notes so all you hear is the attaack sound sharply muted.

 

[Elrend]

Syncopations is the key to funkiness.

Edit: A chromatic approach may also help.

 

[capnsandwich]

All good advice. I'll only add my experiences in funking up a bass line is to boost the mids and play more staccato and follow the kick drum. It's also up to the drummer to make the entire song funky so don't try to do everything on your own.

 

[John Wentzien]

2 words--


Rocco Prestia!

 

[slybass3000]

Don't add; take away - leave some spaces in the music...

+1


Also make sure you feel the 2 & 4 either by leaving them out or emphasize them. The BIG ONE is also very funky !


Sly

 

[two fingers]

Don't add; take away - leave some spaces in the music...

^^^^^^what he said^^^^^^
Funk is more about what's NOT there! If you want to suck the funk right out of a groove, just add a bunch of fills in here and there and it will go away. Octave slap makes for disco, not funk.

 

[sleeplessknight]

Syncopations is the key to funkiness.

Edit: A chromatic approach may also help.

I came in here to say this. Respect the ONE (and to a lesser extent, the THREE), but if you have a bassline that you feel is "too boring", shift everything but the One off onto a syncopation beat (the 'e' and the 'a' in the old "one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a, three-e-and-a" counting pattern) and voila, instant funkiness. See Victor Wooten's DVD "Groove Workshop" for some excellent exercises in doing this.

 

[Loves2Jam]

It's all feel. You gotta listen to a lotta music and practice alot. It comes with time.