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Funk Guitar Lessons

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4:09 Slap Guitar Basics - Overview and Exercises Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Beginner Topic: Technique Style: Funk Welcome to my lesson on slap guitar! A brief overview of the video: - Combine both left and right hand technique.- Use thumb for slapping, first finger for plucking, third finger on left hand for percussion over the fretboard.- Try practicing group...
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1:10 Slap Guitar Basics - Example Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Okay let's now try out the slap technique with a longer example. Start slow, then gradually increase speed while making sure the notes stay clean. *Notes on low E are to be slapped, notes on D are to be plucked.
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1:46 Free Govan-esque Funk: Performance Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Hello IG! This tutorial is a short and sweet funk track, primarily based around a lead idea that I came up with while improvising. The track is based around a pop/funk drum beat, with a couple guitar parts on top of it. You may notice a similarity ...
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0:24 Free Govan-esque Funk: Part 1 Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk This idea almost immediately came to my head after hearing the drum beat. Very simple, but it "says" what it needs to say. I'm very often inspired to write after hearing a groovy drum beat. I almost prefer to write with a drummer vs. on my own, or wi...
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0:21 Free Govan-esque Funk: Part 2 Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk The second riff adds a percussive feel to the song, especially when using palm muting. Once again, this follows the G minor Penatonic scale. I would consider this an extremely common type of riff when dealing with pop/funk/R&B. You may notice th...
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1:07 Free Govan-esque Funk: Part 3 Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Now we're on to the main focus of this lesson. As said in the intro, be sure to focus on phrasing, feel, vibrato, bending, and accenting. I've tried to include a lot of detail in the notation below, but there is still a lot that can't be taught with...
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2:20 Free Govan-esque Funk: Backing Track Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Quick Overview:Key of G minorTempo: 111bpmHeavy focus on the G minor pentatonic scaleLead lick can be easily manipulated and changed to fit your own personal style Enjoy!
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1:35 Vanilla Funk Sundae! - Performance Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Hey once again, shredders! For this tutorial, I chose to break down a track that was (structurally) written by myself and a drummer friend of mine, Brandon Hopkins, with some super funky bass lines and keyboard tracks done by Tony Dickinson. (www.to...
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1:34 Vanilla Funk Sundae! - Part I Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk As I mentioned in the introduction, here's where the "groove" aspect of your playing should be in full-force. Learn the notes, analyze the demonstration video to ensure your 8th shuffle feel is in line with the original, and have fun. A quick pointe...
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0:58 Vanilla Funk Sundae! - Part II Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Here's where we're introduced to our first "Guthrie" influenced lead. It highlights an F#m9, Dmaj7 and Bm7 progression and floats in and out of notes diatonic to the key to offer a very "accidental" sound. Focus on all the techniques used, including...
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0:53 Vanilla Funk Sundae! - Part III Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk This riff predominantly consists of three notes, F#, E and A. Still keeping with our shuffle-feel, the note groupings offer a polymetric sound that extends four bars. In bar 36, the meter resets resulting in a "speeding up" effect that helps the...
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1:06 Vanilla Funk Sundae! - Part IV Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk At last, the guitar solo! Again, within the F#m blues scale, the scale slips in and out of different modes hinting at all kinds of different flavours. Bar 60 through 61 consists of, yet again, another tapping lick - and like before - the rhythm is ...
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1:37 Vanilla Funk Sundae! - Backing Track Instructor: Chris Feener Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Download the Backing Track here and have fun!
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0:26 Funk Rhythm Guitar - Principles Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Hello IGers, Today we’re getting into some funk rhythm guitar. These riffs will be useful for getting your timing and groove in shape as well as expanding your vocabulary of rhythm styles. Before we do the actual playing let’s clear up a...
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3:32 Funk Rhythm Guitar - Singe Notes + Octaves Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk All the examples in this tutorial are over the same II-V-I chord progression (Dm7-G7-Cmaj7). Here are the first 3 examples... Example ASingle notes can often be enough. Here I use a note (C) that is common to all the chords and a little fill towards...
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1:05 Funk Rhythm Guitar - Third + Seventh Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Next up is a riff that utilizes only the 3rd and 7th degrees of each chord. With a busy rhythm section underneath this can be enough to deliver the harmonies while maintaining a dry, percussive feel. Note that this example uses a lot more space, as ...
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1:02 Funk Rhythm Guitar - Rootless Chords Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk For the last two riffs I decided to add some colour tones to the 3rd and 7th (such as the 9th and 13th) to get a more interesting sound. Note that none of these examples utilize a root note. Root notes are not always necessary when you’re play...
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1:54 Funk Rhythm Guitar - Backing Track Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Now it's time to practice the rhythms from this tutorial with the backing track. Be sure to mix up the patterns after a while and experiment!
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1:45 Maroon Funk - Performance Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Hey folks! This tutorial features a latin-funk piece that I came up with. You'll be learning four different parts, and improvising at the end. If you haven't already guessed, this is heavily influenced by Maroon 5. Hope you enjoy!
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0:26 Maroon Funk - Part 1 (Percussive Rhythm) Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk The first part of this piece, is perhaps the layer that gives this song the majority of its 'groove'. This is perhaps my favourite style of rhythm guitar! Simple chords, with specific right hand accents. Try dialing in a moderately clean tone, with ...
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0:25 Maroon Funk - Part 2 (Melody) Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Part 2 is a catchy melody, played as a rhythm guitar part. Even though this is a fairly 'busy' line for rhythm, it still works well with vocals, or lead guitar. It's important to play staccato, especially where noted in the tablature below. Try hard...
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0:25 Maroon Funk - Part 3 (Harmony) Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Next, we'll be moving the melody up a minor third to play the harmony part. It's quite easy to play once you've learned the main melody in the previous lesson.
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0:27 Maroon Funk - Part 4 (Lead) Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk The lead part naturally came to me as soon as I started improvising over the backing track. It's a repetitive melody that I feel stacks well with the previous ideas, as well as other melodies! I can see this as being looped over and over, in the outr...
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1:44 Maroon Funk - Backing Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Here's a great backing to play over. Try improvising a solo, and if you feel comfortable, post some recordings in the forum. I personally enjoy backings that make me groove to the music. Hopefully you have fun jamming over this! Key: C# Minor Tempo...
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1:44 Maroon Funk - Backing (Drums & Bass only) Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Beginner Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Here's a stripped down version of the backing for practicing the specific parts which I've taught in this lesson. Have fun!
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2:02 The 'Howe' Vibrato - Backing Instructor: Steve Hubbard Level: Intermediate Topic: Technique Style: Funk Here's a little funk loop that I made to practice the licks over. The tempo is 95bpm.
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1:06 Funk 101 - Introduction Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Beginner Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Greetings Guitar slingers! Welcome to my tutorial on funk rhythm guitar playing! As I mention in the video, there are many, many variations on funk guitar playing. There is single note funk (more like playing bass lines on guitar), strumming (like ...
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3:30 Funk 101 - Chords and Strumming Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Beginner Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Ok then! Let's begin shall we? As stated in the video, the first thing you need to grasp to be able to play funk rhythm guitar, is your right hand strumming. Most funk guitar playing revolves around variations of the sixteenth note straight pattern....
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1:33 Funk 101 - Example 1 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk So, for the first example we have a slightly syncopated funk rhythm. This particular rhythm is quite common in Funk, and can be found on countless of groovy funk tunes from the 60’s and 70’s (the hey-day of funk!) One way off approaching...
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0:34 Funk 101 - Example 2 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk This example is similar to the first, just accentuating other parts of the 16th note groupings. If you nailed the 1st one, this should present no significant obstacle. Remember to practice with the backing track as well, and just play it over and ove...
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1:04 Funk 101 - Example 3 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Time for example 3! This is slightly harder, since it has a more syncopated figure, but also since when playing the rhythm in a loop, you have the first two 16th note accents, and the last 2 binded together. This might look fine on paper, but when a...
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1:25 Funk 101 - Example 4 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Example 4... Not much to say about this one, other than what is covered in the video really. What we have here is a rhythm that is easier to get down than example no.3, but that contains a chord change. It’s not much of a chord change; it&rsqu...
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1:10 Funk 101 - Example 5 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Alright then! Example 5. Now we’re getting somewhere! This example contains chord changes (same as in example 4.), but also some different note values and syncopations than earlier examples. First of all, I deviate from the 16th note strumming...
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2:14 Funk 101 - Example 6 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk This example expands further on the idea presented in the last one, about inserting rests into the 16th note strumming pattern. It also contains different note values, and chords. To start out with we use the same A7 (no root) and A7sus4 (no root) a...
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1:14 Funk 101 - Example 7 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Alright! Example 7 is in shuffle beat. Using shuffle in funk is not common practice, but makes for a nice deviation of the norm. And in the words of the late, great Frank Zappa; “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible”....
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1:05 Funk 101 - Example 8 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Example 8, the final rhythm example, utilizes strictly 8th note triplets. This is a very uncommon approach to funk, and one I have personally never come across. But, referring back to ‘ol Zappa, I suggest you don’t knock ‘til you&rs...
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2:07 Funk 101 - Funk Soloing: Bonus Round 1 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Bonus Round #1 The most essential things when soloing over funk music is timing and the ability to play with and against the beat/rhythm. In this first example, I have taken the A minor pentatonic scale and played it straight through, sort of like ...
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1:20 Funk 101 - Funk Soloing: Bonus Round 2 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Bonus Round #2 As with regular blues and rock playing, many songs are constructed using dominant 7th chords, which in effect means we should be playing a major scale (Mixolydian to be exact). However, in most blues and funk, it's not exactly the sam...
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1:07 Funk 101 - Funk Soloing: Bonus Round 3 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Bonus Round #3 This example takes the exact same approach to playing with and against the beat, but in the form of a more traditional blues “lick”. Try it out, and think of how you can apply this to your own licks. And above all, feel t...
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2:05 Funk 101 - Funk Soloing: Bonus Round 4 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Bonus Round #4 This final example has the same rhythmic approach as the previous examples, but has a more advanced and “realistic” harmonic approach. In the first bar, I begin by using the Mixo-penta scale from Bonus Round 2. But in the ...
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0:34 Funk 101 - Backing: ex.1-6, Without Guitar Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Funk Here's the backing track used for examples 1-6. Drums and bass only, for you to practice the lesson examples over. Get groooooving!
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0:26 Funk 101 - Backing: ex. 7, Without Guitar Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Funk Backing track for example 7. No rhythm guitar, so that you can practice the examples.
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0:29 Funk 101 - Backing: ex. 8, Without Guitar Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Funk Backing track for example 8. No rhythm guitar, so that you can practice the examples.
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1:06 Funk 101 - Backing Track: Bonus Rounds 1-3 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Here is the backing track for Bonus Rounds 1 through 3. Now it's time to apply the ideas and concepts that we've learned. Try playing the exact exercises that we learned in the previous lessons, but also try out your own ideas as well. The rhythm gui...
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1:06 Funk 101 - Backing Track: Bonus Round 4 Instructor: Richard Lundmark Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Funk Here is the backing track for Bonus Round 4. Now it's time to apply the ideas and concepts that we've learned. Try playing the exact exercises that we learned in the previous lessons, but also try out your own ideas as well. The rhythm guitar is incl...
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1:08 Funk in the Trunk - Full Video Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Funk in the Trunk! Every once in a while, I get a crazy urge to play some funk music. This is a short piece I wrote that focuses on some fundamental funk guitar elements. So grab your guitar, break out the disco ball, and let's get going!
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0:26 Funk in the Trunk - Exercise 1 Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Beginner Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Make sure you keep an extremely tight rhythm sound with this riff as well as the remaining riffs in the piece. Funk music is all about groove and tight rhythm with the drums and bass. Drums and bass drive funk music, and guitar is icing on the cake. ...
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0:28 Funk in the Trunk - Exercise 2 Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Now, we're basically taking the exact rhythm from the previous riff, and adding more funk flavor to it. First thing to do is make sure you're comfortable playing the E minor bar chord on the 7th fret. Make sure you can get all the notes sounding rea...
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0:27 Funk in the Trunk - Exercise 3 Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Funk Here, we have a little bit of fingerpicking while we go back and forth between some Major chords. First, we're trading off with A Major and Ab Major. Then next, we trade off between C Major and B Major. While you play this passage, have the pick pl...
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0:26 Funk in the Trunk - Exercise 4 Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Now we get into the super funky part. This is actually very similar to the riff we played in Exercise 2, except we're adding in some key melodic notes at the end of each measure. Look at the end of each measure, and you'll see a quarter note. Those ...
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0:27 Funk in the Trunk - Exercise 5 Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Here, we have a bluesy melody line to finish up the piece. This riff revolves around the 1st and 5th modes of the E minor pentatonic scale. Be sure to notice how you won't be picking every single note in this riff. We have some good use of legato wi...
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1:07 Funk in the Trunk - Backing Track Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Funk Now, it's time to play this funky tune for 5 hours straight and invite all your friends to your house for a dance party. Have fun! And if you make an audio or video recording of you playing along, be sure to post it in the "Your Playing" forum to sh...
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4:53 Backing Tracks - Autumn Leaves Funk Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Beginner Topic: Exercises Style: Funk Autumn Leaves Jam Track Slow Funk Style 110bpm

Scale Chord Voicings Richard Lundmark
Legato Technique - Hammer Time! Rick Graham
Unlock the Fretboard Chris Feener
Spicing up the Blues Nick Granville

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