karlplaysbass Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 hi everyone one again ive been recently listening to motown and similar stuff and really want to try learning some funk tunes. so where good to start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Check out YouTube videos of Sly and the Family Stone, Jean Knight, James Brown, Maceo Parker, The Crusaders, Margie Joseph, Betty Wright, Bobby Patterson, Joe Tex, Keb Mo. There's a Funk Groove thread on BC that's been running for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnythenotes Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Early Supremes, any Tamla Motown or Stax. The really early stuff was much simpler in its construction, so I would give that a listen first before you move into the 70's where it became more produced... Also Northern Soul is a fantastic place to start, as the time signatures are almost always on the beat, and every beat. They are also very predictable patterns to follow.. Think of Tainted Love.... It sounds odd, but if you can't pick a specific song up straight away, don't spend ages over it, find another 'quick hit' to learn and get a few in the bag that way, but ALWAYS return to the ones you have parked up, and finish them as your understanding and competence grows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlplaysbass Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 yeah i was looking for the simple ones to start of with as James Jamersons lines are often quite complex especially the stuff with Stevie and Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Was going to say James Brown too, he is the master. Bootsy Collins, Charles Sherrell, Bernie Odum, Tim Drummond, Fred Thomas. All good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 [quote name='karlplaysbass' timestamp='1432897835' post='2785981'] yeah i was looking for the simple ones to start of with as James Jamersons lines are often quite complex especially the stuff with Stevie and Marvin [/quote] Learnt 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' for a cover band a while back. It's not hard but still has the funk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 If you want to get heavily into Jamerson .... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlplaysbass Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 [quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1432897700' post='2785979'] Early Supremes, any Tamla Motown or Stax. The really early stuff was much simpler in its construction, so I would give that a listen first before you move into the 70's where it became more produced... Also Northern Soul is a fantastic place to start, as the time signatures are almost always on the beat, and every beat. They are also very predictable patterns to follow.. Think of Tainted Love.... It sounds odd, but if you can't pick a specific song up straight away, don't spend ages over it, find another 'quick hit' to learn and get a few in the bag that way, but ALWAYS return to the ones you have parked up, and finish them as your understanding and competence grows. [/quote] northen sou?l could you name some artist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnythenotes Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 If you Google 100 Greatest Northern Soul Songs, it will bring you the list up of that 100. With Northern Soul, obscurity was everything, and once a song started to bleed through into the main stream, or even ' the charts' it went out of favour. To pick 3 of the most popular, that would be familiar to a lot of folks would be Gloria Jones, Tainted Love.... Tami Lynn, I'm Gonna Runaway From You, And Al Wilson....The Snake. The Snake in particular has a terrific bass line that moves up a semitone 2 or 3 times to great effect, raising the excitement in the song as it does this, but that might be one you might want to park up for a while as it can be a little tricky to get a quick result from.. Learning this type of stuff is a must for getting into funk, as it requires speed and dexterity with both hands,which is what Funk is all about... All the best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 As others have said, some of the James Brown or (if you really just want to focus on the instrumentals) JBs stuff will get you on the right track. Simple, solid, funky, groovy and not a note out of place. Funky Good Times is a great place to start... [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funky-Good-Time-Anthology-J-B-s/dp/B000001EE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432916941&sr=8-1&keywords=JB%27s"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funky-Good-Time-Anthology-J-B-s/dp/B000001EE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432916941&sr=8-1&keywords=JB%27s[/url] Just Walk in my Shoes by Gladys Knight (and the Pips) is not only a great Northern Soul track but has a really straightforward and groovy bass line (mainly around the low F, as I recall). For me, one of the many great things about funk music is that the simplest bass lines are quite often the most groovy - less is more, and all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) If you want deceptively simple funk then you need to get your head into the Meters:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phUTCsVAKXA Edited May 29, 2015 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontalste Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1432917406' post='2786222'] If you want deceptively simple funk then you need to get your head into the Meters:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phUTCsVAKXA [/quote] I was also gonna suggest the Meters & if you fancy something newer check out Brother Strut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Also check out Osaka Monaurail - bassists only uses a few notes but to great effect.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Go and Youtube anything recent by Nile Rogers Live and you'll get a set of all his hits that he has produced or written. That will give you a good grounding of the styles required and the songs/grooves. And you'll need a large majority of them if you want to get to a gigging standard for funk bands.. Then there is Stevie Wonder and the 60's/70's RnB/Blues Bros/stax set. They will lead you to other 'must haves' in your reportoire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 For some pointers try here: http://www.songsterr.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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