I've been playing for awhile, getting bored, where to learn righteous booty funk?

[animal69]

I've been playing bass for several months now, I was a guitar player before I started so I knew all the scales, arpeggios, modes, etc. All the books I consulted were the same: generic basslines and advice to use roots,, scales, modes, arpeggios, and passing tones to write basslines but little else. I want to do more, I want people to notice my basslines. The band I play in is mostly pop, I write some of the songs and I want to work on riffs and bassline composition that will make people dance, like 70s funk, motown type stuff, maybe prog rock .. whatever. You know? Just something different and enjoyable for me and the masses. Can anyone suggest any resources? I just need something to take me beyond the obvious. Usually what I get is a set of chords for a song and I have to work from there. It's really time consuming to try to write something that sounds good and fits the chords and I end up getting frustrated and forgetting what I did. What to do?

[psychobilly451]

listen to motown and 70's funk

[Hanky]

listen to motown and 70's funk

 

 

good advice

 

 

i luv funk... and for me a good bass line isnt about "what" you play, but "when" you play.

[guitarded84]

Maybe check into some Hal Leonard instructional books. I teach band students and they have all levels of instructional books. I have a friend that found a jazz bass book I think it was called the Fundamental Bass Player but it was a large book that covered everything that you would ever need to know about playing bass. It was focused on Jazz and Blues but it would be easily transitioned to rock since rock sprung from those two styles.

[Undead Sycip]

There are quite a few books on the funky or slappy styles of bass playing. I used "Slap It".

[Apendecto]

Listen to the music that makes you move, dance, etc. and learn the basslines. Then learn the chords and see how the two go together.

 

...and check out some Parliament.

 

Yo.

[jonathan_matos5]

often people will only notice the bass line when the bassist screws up royally.

[animal69]

okay parliament, good, check ... any other bands you'd recommend?

also does anyone know where the basslines are stolen from in naughty by nature's "o.p.p". and that song that goes "hip hip hip a to the hop and you don't stop". those are both pretty good. pretty much any bassline that's sampled and put into a rap song is pretty sweet.

[guitarded84]

Check into some Red Hot Chili Peppers and some Blind Melon

[Undead Sycip]

The OG of funk. Larry Graham and the Family Stone.

[SpaceGhost]

 

okay parliament, good, check ... any other bands you'd recommend? also does anyone know where the basslines are stolen from in naughty by nature's "o.p.p". and that song that goes "hip hip hip a to the hop and you don't stop". those are both pretty good. pretty much any bassline that's sampled and put into a rap song is pretty sweet.

 

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eTQMMiHpeN8

 

 

 

 

Definitely get some funk (Larry Graham & Parliament are great suggestions) but check out James Brown, Brothers Johnson, etc. When you hear something that hits you, figure out everything about the song and the notes and try to feel why what is being played and attempt to emulate it. Get with a band and keep those chops up.

[LanEvo]

If you're looking for 70's funk bass, check out Ohio Players, The Brothers Johnson, Sly and the Family Stone, Chic, Stevie Wonder, Parliament/Funkadelic, Tower of Power, Kool and the Gang, and Curtis Mayfield. That should get you started

does anyone know where the basslines are stolen from in ... that song that goes "hip hip hip a to the hop and you don't stop".

The song you're referring to is "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugar Hill Gang. It's built around a phrase played by Bernard Edwards of Chic. The original song was "Good Times."

[SpaceGhost]

If you're looking for 70's funk bass, check out Ohio Players, The Brothers Johnson, Sly and the Family Stone, Chic, Stevie Wonder, Parliament/Funkadelic, Tower of Power, Kool and the Gang, and Curtis Mayfield. That should get you started The song you're referring to is "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugar Hill Gang. It's built around a phrase played by Bernard Edwards of Chic. The original song was "Good Times."

I totally already posted all this :mad:

[LanEvo]

I totally already posted all this :mad:

Don't get bent out of shape :poke: You posted a dead YouTube link.

[Funkee1]

To Question 1: Try what I posted last monday!

 

To Question 2: That is a sample of "ABC" by the Jackson 5.

[Brother Mango]

Be very very careful! And be honest. And, if necessary, study the aforementioned songs with someone who's intensely familiar with the genre.

It's easy to get seduced by bassline hooks in songs like Skin Tight (Ohio Players), Slide (Slave), Glide (Pleasure); and bass highlight moments like Louis Johnson's solo in Stomp.

But when you step back, there is a lot of monotony and chord tones in this music. But when you do hear something that sounds "cool" you gotta be able hear its function. That's what I missed for a long time.

A cool riff sounded like the bassist was just doin' his impulsive funky thang, but way later I realized that riff may have been doubling the piano, or signaling the end of a 16-bar section, or answering the backup singers. Hence, NONE of this was impulsive.

Also, by checking out what the bassists are playing ... chord tones. In Ain't Nuthin Like the Real Thing, Jamerson is playing a whole lot of chord tones. The rhythm is where this music gets hectic. Jamerson could play lots of notes and long phrases, mostly chord tones, but the rhythm made it so damned cool.

Bootsy (post-James Brown) was the opposite. He played sparse lines, but the space in his rhythms made things tricky because he'd sit a 16th-note in a weird spot, and it would stay there--without a whole lot of notes around it to help keep it in place.

This music is rhythm & groove ... and a rhythm section that can deliver it. The bassist can't be funky by himself. You can't control the open-close hat in order to make the backbeat nasty. And you can't go putting notes in weird spots if someone in the band is gonna start looking around to see what's wrong.

I once played with a drummer who was relying on me for the downbeats. It wasn't obvious but it seemed like every time I only implied the groove, he'd get all wobbly. To test my suspicion, I started playing less, and would feed him a note, say, on the "a of 2."

Fortunately he was instinctive enough to stop leaning on me; and he wasn't aware that this all happened on purpose. But there are some musicians who would have just flailed. That's where you have to consider the people & situation and decide if you want to let people lean on you, or not.

Any way ... that's my 2 cents on the subject.


Funk can be simple & monotonous, but if The Nasty is inside your body, you just can't get enough of it! At that point, it's not monotonous; it's really about "this is so nasty, I just gotta do it again!"

[Funkee1]

MAngo speaketh the truth. I always thought I was funky, because I could play all the lines from the funk classics, but the year I speant playing Counrty made me get funkier. It's amazing how much you learn by NOT playing, and with funk, what you DON't play is as important as what you play.

[octoberman9]

Another one deserving mention, and I'm sure it won't surprise a lot of ya when I bring up Jaco, who could be extremely funky when he wanted to be. Check out "Come On, Come Over" from the first solo album. It's a lot of ghosted notes, hammer ons, slides, and just feel.

[Brother Mango]

Another one deserving mention, and I'm sure it won't surprise a lot of ya when I bring up Jaco, who could be extremely funky when he wanted to be. Check out "Come On, Come Over" from the first solo album. It's a lot of ghosted notes, hammer ons, slides, and just feel.

 

 

This is tangential and maybe an unnecessary distraction; but I have to say it: I don't find Jaco funky at all. The original question asked about "righteous booty funk." Jaco is an erudite interprative effort to be funky. His music doesn't make booties shake.

 

Now go ahead and throw the rocks and rotten fruit at me; I'm expecting it.

[heatheroo]

Lakeside
Barkays
Confunktion
TOP
...................etc.

[Fran da Man]

This is tangential and maybe an unnecessary distraction; but I have to say it: I don't find Jaco funky at all. The original question asked about "righteous booty funk." Jaco is an erudite interprative effort to be funky. His music doesn't make booties shake. Now go ahead and throw the rocks and rotten fruit at me; I'm expecting it.

No rotten fruit here, i feel the same way; Jaco is anything BUT Funk.
What you were saying above is true also; you need another piece to setup the syncopation to get "nasty" as you call it.
I find better funk...well maybe not better; equal funk in Gospel...more
of a funk variety should i say.
In a lot of funk (i'm sure some will agree) if you remove the drum and percussion and just have the bass going at it...it all of a sudden becomes bland as it's lost a component. In this case (imo) it does take 2 to tango...or Mango

[Spark]

Also, by checking out what the bassists are playing ... chord tones. In Ain't Nuthin Like the Real Thing , Jamerson is playing a whole lot of chord tones. The rhythm is where this music gets hectic. Jamerson could play lots of notes and long phrases, mostly chord tones, but the rhythm made it so damned cool. Bootsy (post-James Brown) was the opposite. He played sparse lines, but the space in his rhythms made things tricky because he'd sit a 16th-note in a weird spot, and it would stay there--without a whole lot of notes around it to help keep it in place.

 

 

+1. Most of the funk is in the right hand. You don't necessarily need to move around the fretboard much.

[brake]

Playing funk is also about attitude. If you're not the baddest mother{censored}er out there....it's not as funky as it could be.

[Spin Cycle]

Listen to Brother Mango. And wear sequined pants.

[brake]

This is tangential and maybe an unnecessary distraction; but I have to say it: I don't find Jaco funky at all. The original question asked about "righteous booty funk." Jaco is an erudite interprative effort to be funky. His music doesn't make booties shake. Now go ahead and throw the rocks and rotten fruit at me; I'm expecting it.

 

 

 

 

Jaco could groove like a mother{censored}er, imo.