20 Funk and R&B Basslines
This course contains a series of funk grooves. Funk might seem an unlikely style of music to play with a plectrum, but as bassists such as Carol Kaye, Anthony Jackson and Bobby Vega have proved, it’s actually a style that’s extremely well suited to the technique.
Many of the exercises in this chapter are built on a continuous sixteenth note feel. This is a great feel to play, but accurate timing is essential to making the lines groove. Once you have the necessary fingerings and position shifts for each exercise covered, you should ensure that you practice with either a metronome, a drum machine, or the backing track. Looping the track in software such as Transcribe! is another great way to practice these grooves.
As you work through this material, you might find the following courses useful (all included in the monthly subscription cost):
- Intermediate Level – Plectrum – Playing Sixteenth Note Rhythms (Part 3)
- Advanced Level – Plectrum – Syncopated Sixteenth Note Lines
- Advanced Level – Study Pieces – Plectrum Study #3
Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF worksheet and audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).
This course is 1 HOUR & 44 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
1. Exercise #1
This exercise is built on a common melodic pattern: the root drops to the third, then ascends chromatically to the fifth, which leads back to the root for the second bar.
2. Exercise #2
This is a busier exercise that builds on the pattern from the previous exercise. You’ll notice that both major (F#) and minor (F) thirds are used in this line.
3. Exercise #3
The line in the fourth bar of this exercise is heavily syncopated. Playing this using a logical application of the picking technique will mean using a lot of upstrokes.
4. Exercise #4
This exercise features the use of a double stop – two notes played together. The notes from this chord are C and F#, the seventh and third of the implied D7 chord.
5. Exercise #5
This exercise features the same double stop as the previous line. Ghost notes are used here to create a continuous sixteenth note feel.
6. Exercise #6
This exercise is built on a challenging root-octave pattern. Your picking arm will need to be perfectly relaxed in order to pull this off accurately.
7. Exercise #7
The first and third bars of this exercise will have you skipping across the strings using chord tones from the D7 chord, then descending using the blues scale.
8. Exercise #8
This exercise is comprised of continuous sixteenth notes, many of which are ghost notes. Hammer-ons and pull-offs makes the line easier for the picking hand.
9. Exercise #9
This is a James Brown-inspired funk groove. Although the line is built on an Eb7 chord, open D-strings are played as parts of the fills in the second and fourth bars.
10. Exercise #10
This line features an unusual chord movement – up a half-step in the second bar, then back down. It’s also very heavy on ghost notes.
11. Exercise #11
This line was inspired by Anthony Jackson’s legendary picked part on The O’Jays song ‘For the Love of Money’. This groove is based on a C7 sound.
12. Exercise #12
This exercise begins in the upper register, then drops into the lower end of the neck. The lick in the first and third bars is based on the E minor pentatonic scale.
13. Exercise #13
This groove is built on an F7 sound and relies heavily on chord tones (F, A, C, Eb). Ghost notes are used to fill in the gaps in the line.
14. Exercise #14
This is a groove based around a G7 tonality. The blues scale is used for the fill in the second bar, creating a conventional fill for the line.
15. Exercise #15
This exercise is a funk groove built on the A Mixolydian mode. You can allow the C# and G notes at the end of the second bar to ring together briefly.
16. Exercise #16
This exercise was influenced by bassists such as James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius and Rocco Prestia, all of whom are known for their busy, syncopated funk grooves.
17. Exercise #17
This exercise is played with a swung sixteenth note feel. This makes for a great groove but can be tough to execute accurately with a pick.
18. Exercise #18
This is a slow tempo funk groove that is reminiscent of some of the grooves played by legendary jazz/fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius.
19. Exercise #19
This funk groove makes used of the ‘shake’, a decoration that is similar to a trill. Shakes are performed with just one finger of the fretting hand.
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