F F F F FUNKY BASSLINE

[cris the man]

what are the characteristics and 'specification' for a funky bass line?
usually i just sit and listen and when my head starts bopping , i think its funky

whats the key to it?

[OldGit]

[quote name='cris the man' post='106676' date='Dec 19 2007, 08:06 PM']what are the characteristics and 'specification' for a funky bass line?
usually i just sit and listen and when my head starts bopping , i think its funky

whats the key to it?[/quote]

Space

[wotnwhy]

and punctuation

[chris_b]

It was once said, you should hit the one!

[OldGit]

[quote name='chris_b' post='106820' date='Dec 20 2007, 01:48 AM']It was once said, you should hit the one![/quote]

Sometimes.

Get a copy of James Brown's greatest hits and work through the bass playing on that.
Listen for the space in the bass, the interplay between the drumming, bass and rhythm guitar.
Look out for the points when the bass is working with the rhythm of the vocals, keys and other instruments that have the focus of interest as well as the drums Also listen for "pushed" notes.

Try looking on You tube for Maceo Parker films like this one
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJmIN8RNBUg&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJmIN8RNBUg...feature=related[/url]

In funk "less is more"

[Bilbo]

I'm with the Old Git - Space is the place. Let the line BREEEEATH!

Also, with the slapping stuff, the funk is in the thumb and not the popping. Too much popping (Mark King) reduces the funk quotiant dramatically.

Less is more.

Also, and am getting onto my own personal soapbox here, TONE!! A thin tone will be less funky than a full, rich bass sound with a zillion overtones.

You don't need to PLAY the one all of the time but you do need to know where it is and to make sure the listener knows.

[OldGit]

Try this?
[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funk-Bass-Techniques-Philosophies-Including/dp/0634067109/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b"]Funk Bass tutorial book and CD by Chris Kringel[/url]

Almost worth getting just for the author's name

[Thunderthumbs]

Used to a cover of Average White Band's "Cut The Cake". Great track, not a difficult bass line, but funky as hell. I'd never thought of "funky" players playing with plectrums before (as I played it with my fingers), but this proves me wrong.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzNXUUSFF0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzNXUUSFF0[/url]

[chris_b]

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='107159' date='Dec 20 2007, 03:53 PM'].... I'd never thought of "funky" players playing with plectrums before ....[/quote]
Check out Bobby Vega on Bassplayer tv.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='107159' date='Dec 20 2007, 03:53 PM']I'd never thought of "funky" players playing with plectrums before[/quote]

Course we do

I find the articulation of the final note can be very much improved with a pick on fast staccato passages.
But then my right hand (finger) technique is in need of improvement

[OldGit]

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='107159' date='Dec 20 2007, 03:53 PM']Used to a cover of Average White Band's "Cut The Cake". Great track, not a difficult bass line, but funky as hell. I'd never thought of "funky" players playing with plectrums before (as I played it with my fingers), but this proves me wrong.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzNXUUSFF0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzNXUUSFF0[/url][/quote]

Is that guy very tall or does he have a small bass and tiny guitarists?

[urb]

My rules of er, thumb, for funkiness are:

Repetitious, syncopated patterns - mix up long and short notes, fragment your phrases and keep them steady as a rock - funk is about creating a continuous groove that people just can't help but move to - so try not to break the flow with fills and fancy noodling.

M

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='OldGit' post='107191' date='Dec 20 2007, 04:43 PM']Is that guy very tall or does he have a small bass and tiny guitarists?[/quote]

Ha ha ..... a bit of everything I think

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='chris_b' post='107174' date='Dec 20 2007, 04:14 PM']Check out Bobby Vega on Bassplayer tv.[/quote]

Man, that's opened my eyes.

That's some serious playing. And come to think of it, it makes perfect sense. Most "funky" guitarists use plectrums, so why not bass players? Gives a completely different definition to the sound than fingers only.

And that Jazz of his could tell a few stories!

[cris the man]

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='107371' date='Dec 20 2007, 10:21 PM']Man, that's opened my eyes.

That's some serious playing. And come to think of it, it makes perfect sense. Most "funky" guitarists use plectrums, so why not bass players? Gives a completely different definition to the sound than fingers only.

And that Jazz of his could tell a few stories![/quote]

being a finger player myself , pics scare me as i always tend to drop them , guitarists call me butterfingers =P

i just tend to use my nails , it sounds the same and you dont have to buy pics!
works well with harmonics too!

[phil_the_bassist]

[quote name='OldGit' post='107191' date='Dec 20 2007, 05:43 PM']Is that guy very tall or does he have a small bass and tiny guitarists?[/quote]


....I just completely misread the last word and had and currently drying tea from the keyboard of my mac!

[The Funk]

There was a song by The Blackbyrds called [i]Do It Fluid[/i]. That title is what funk is all about.

It's all in the phrasing and by that I mean what people have been talking about above: deliberate mixing up of shorter and longer notes, accented (louder) and quieter notes, notes on-beat and off-beat.


EDIT:
I like to think of most funk grooves as having a built-in accent on the 1, and with the backbeat on the 2 and the 4. I see it as my job, no, my privilege as a bass player to play around with those accents as much or as little as I want.

Edited July 23, 2008 by The Funk