funky 1 |?f? ng k?| adjective ( funkier , funkiest ) informal 1 (of music) having or using a strong dance rhythm, in particular that of funk: “some excellent funky beats”.
ology |?äl?j?| noun ( pl. -gies) informal humorous, a subject of study; a branch of knowledge.
Thanks to Nick Wells from Bass Guitar Magazine for giving me the opportunity to air some of my thoughts and experiences about funk and, dare I say it, funk-jazz bass. I’ve been in love with this type of music ever since I started playing bass in the…er…mid 80s, jamming along to Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and the ‘electric’ Miles Davis bands (the ones with a backbeat…). When Nick approached me about writing a column I instantly thought I wanted to write a conceptual-type column in which I share my mildly opinionated views about bass playing, tunes and music in general from my personal vantage point (the only thing that anyone can do, really). I will not claim to be right on any of the things I will be writing as they will just reflect my personal experiences. I also came up with this structure for my columns in the hope that I can sustain or ignite your interest in all good things funky, and to provide you with fun experiences around playing your bass.
Besides a different topic for each month, the column will have the following elements:
Listening Recommendations
Maybe needless to say, but to be able to play this style convincingly and with authority you need to listen and love to listen to the music. In this section I will recommend tunes out of my personal aptly titled ‘Jazzy Funky Yeah’ iTunes library. You will notice a load of classic funk tracks, mostly from the 70s, but I will also venture forward in the timeline and will list contemporary funk and jazz-funk artists. So, no claim to a complete, well-rounded or ‘best of’ list – just fantastic music that inspired me over the years, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one. So, before you do anything, start listening!
Repertoire
In this section I will list tunes that are generally well worth learning and making them part of your repertoire. There will be a mixture of tunes that tie in with the discussed topics and tunes that are frequently called upon during spontaneous get-togethers of funkateers and jam sessions, and what I consider to be classic ‘jazz-funk’ repertoire. Learn them any way you like, ie transcribe them, learn them by ear, emulate them, download a tab (well, maybe not…) etc. Whatever suits you best, the important thing is that you can play them, commit them to memory and make them a part of your musical language. I shall try to do the same…
Website Link Of The Month
Everyone has their favourite sites and frequently stumbles across new ones for interest and inspiration. This is the section where I would like to share mine with the bass community.
Activities
Time to do something, ie practise something specific apart from listening and learning tunes. So, time to select a tutorial from the navigation menu on the right, and listen and jam along to the provided tracks via SoundCloud.
You’ll also be able to download the entire bass chart for each track.
Feel free to engage with me on any topics through Facebook, Twitter or via the contact form on this site. I hope you will enjoy my funk explorations!
Follow the Funk!