Naetharu Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Hi folks, I'm currently in the process of learning to play 'Give Up the Funk' by Parliament and I'm a little lost on how to handle the chords. At a few places in the song the bass is clearly playing more than one note at a time - these chords are either octaves or three-note 'root-flat5-ocatve' patterns. I'm a bit lost as to how to handle these with my right hand (plucking hand). I'm playing finger-style. Should I just strum them with my thumb or is there a good way to do it? I'm really not sure what is the best approach and I'm keen to avoid developing bad habits if at all possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) Depending upon how fast the chords are played I approach them differently. Usually I kind flick my fingers down and use the tops of my nails to strum. Similar to Les Claypool: go to 2:05 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U0jVZp13Jw[/media] and the intro to this: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Ysta0xuPE[/media] If it's a fast sequence I imagine I'm holding a pick and just used my thumb and first finger nails. Edited December 29, 2015 by bartelby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolmusiclessons Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 You can also pick notes guitar style. This is called 'free stroke in classical guitar. This technique is useful for loosing some low end, making chords have greater clarity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8TIwGuxgv4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probablypike Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Similar to Bristol's suggestion, you can pluck multiple strings at the same time using your thumb, first and second (and third) fingers to get a solid chord sound, too. Sometimes you see people using their thumb in a strumming pick sort of style that brushes over the top of the strings. (I can't do it for beans, though, so I can't personally vouch for it.) It all depends on what kind of sound you want to make, really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) You could try Stanley Clarke's approach. Here is him on School Days. [url="https://youtu.be/rdRG-hD5ZKo?t=2m50s"]https://youtu.be/rdRG-hD5ZKo?t=2m50s[/url] If you watch the video there are a few of the other players there using chords in their solo so you can observe their methods. Edited March 23, 2016 by jazzyvee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolmusiclessons Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Posts above got me thinking about Rasgueado technique... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hpWof00dfM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timhiggins Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 https://youtu.be/TMsVCcwTUCM He plays a double stop right at the end of this vid. which as far as i no is the only chord like thing in it.. I would go with finger and thumb good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz39 Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Yeah - simultaneous pluck using 1-3 fingers for me. You can accent individual notes that way too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I use my right hand thumb, and fingers 1, 2 and sometimes 3 depending on the voicing. Stanley Clarke uses a flamenco style strum. It all really depends on what you want to achieve by it I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Depends on what feel I'm looking for. Could be flicking fingers, could be a straight 'strum' using forefinger and thumb, could be a guitar style finger pick (thumb and as many fingers as I need to play it comfortably). There are no 'rules' as such, just different styles and techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 ICastle posted pretty much all I was going to say. There are many ways to strum. Pick one that fits what you're trying play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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