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stuck in a rut - argh!

B

Blunk

Aug 14, 2002
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#1
I'm stuck in a rut - or that's how it feels.

my band has begun writing our own songs, well we've
been pooling our ideas - riffs, bits of lyrics etc.

so far we've got 2 complete songs, 2 songs without
lyrics which is great and i really like the songs,
one is balls out rock, the other is a slower funk
rock sort of song.

i've been trying to come up with some more funk
songs, because i love playing that sort of stuff and
its great to see people dancing to songs (the funk
rock song we wrote gets a great reaction)

but...i just can't get any good funk basslines out
of my fingers, everything comes out quite rock/punkish,
i've tried to cut back on the number of notes i'm
playing and focus on syncopation (if that's even
correctly spelled!) but nothing's really working:(

i've only been playing bass for about 2 years, so
i'm beginning to wonder if my musical knowledge, or
more precisely, lack of is what's causing my problem.

i'm aware that a lot of funk is mixolydian and blues
scale based and so i've started to include them into
my practice routine now.

i know that the only way to be able to play something
is to practice and experiment...so i make drum tracks
to play along with...am i just trying too hard?

does anyone have any tips? i'm not looking for a
"funk kit" that'll instantly make me a funk bass player!

or any patterns that you can recommend?

i'd really appreciate any feedback at all.
 
#2
1. Listen to as much music as possible, specifically the styles you'd like to imitate. Even (especially) listen to genres that you wouldn't neccessarily associate with your style. That will help any musician IMHO.

2. Learn fingerstyle funk techniques and theory, what works and why. Learn general theory overall if you don't already. Hopefully someone more experienced than me will give some more advice. Good luck.
 
#5
If you want to funk, become one with the one. Funk tends to be heavy on the 1 (1st beat of a 4 beat measure).

You can listen for all the scales, chord tones, etc. you want. You can play all the crazy syncopation and what not. But if you aren't mindful of the one, it won't Funk.
 
#6
I believe one of the biggest problems bassists have with playing funk is the duration of their notes. They play the actual note at the right time but aren't paying attention to when the note should end. The note needs to end in perfect time. Attack the rests, if you know what I mean. Also, experiment with playing notes sticatto. Funk lines really breathe and come to live when the right amount of legato and sticatto notes are employed. The sticatto notes can actually help to setup or emphasize the legato notes and things start getting funky when that happens. Muted "dead notes" can breathe life into a line as well. It's often the subtleties that make one person sound funky and another not playing the same bassline. One last thing - if the drummer's playing real busy it might be better to play more simply while if he/she's playing simply you may be able to be a little busier. There's no rule about that but you can tell when it's grooving by watching the dancers. If they're having a hard time getting their groove on you know something's gotta change.

-Scot
 
#7
jive1 said:
"Every time I see a fine lady shaking her rump to the band, I know I am doing my job. I like to pretend that my bass is a remote control for the booty. Oh yeah, the bass is in control of the bottom."
Click to expand...
I love that quote! Kind of reminds me of the Standing in the Shadows of Motown movie where J. Jamerson Jr. says his pops used to pluck a rubber band fastened to a stick and make the ants dance.

-Scot
 
#8
One thing I do is write from my heart and soal. I don't have any preconcieved notions, a riff or run pops in my head I run with it. Whatever it turns into it becomes. But to answer your question for funk I like to start out with a funky drum beat and lay it down from there, it's a lot easier that way.
 
#9
i listen to the songs and try to understand why certain things were played and why something else wouldn't work.

i've spent a lot of time focusing on using muted notes, and rests to give a line a good groove and so far the results are becoming quite promising:)

i've also started to focus on the snare - kick drum relationship to get a feel for the timing...its working well.

thank you all for your advice, i greatly appreciate it!:)
 

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