Golmerchant

The role of the bass player in a funk setting is critical, perhaps more so with funk than any other style of music. You’ve got to lock up with the drummer rhythmically to establish the groove, and at the same time, provide a harmonic foundation for the vocalist and other instruments to play off of.
In this Funk Bass Grooves edition of Essentials, Stu Hamm will guide you through 10 Funk Groove performance studies ranging across a variety of tempos, keys and funk styles.
'I'll show you how to play ten different funk grooves, each one exploring different styles of funk. I'll break down each one, including the techniques and fingerings you'll need to know and then talk about how to make it groove with the rhythm section. Then, it's up to you to play along with my favorite Bay Area Rhythm Section - John Mader on drums and Lorn Leber on guitar. You will indeed, learn how to ‘Bring da FUNK’!”
Stu demonstrates all of the bass grooves over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down by stepping you through the key concepts, techniques and creative approaches that he used in each performance study.
Everyday Funk - ”This groove is about as simple and as challenging as it gets. From the outside, it looks as if you'll just be playing quarter notes on a few strings, but the key is to make those notes sit in the pocket with the band.”
Funk Light - ”This groove recalls one of the all-time greatest funk bass line, ‘Flashlight’. Bernie Worrell played that track on a keyboard bass, so here our task is to convert it to a figure played on a four stringed electric bass and make it FUNKY!”
Funk Stew - ”This groove is a take on one of my all-time favorite bass lines, ‘Memphis Soul Stew'. We're going to be adding 16th notes here, so we're ramping up the difficulty a little bit but also setting the stage for the more intricate grooves to follow.”
Super Funk - ”This groove is called ‘Super Funk’ and is a homage to Rick James. Here I'll introduce using the thumb style to get that funky sound and tone that we need to make this kind of music work.”
Funk Me Knots - ”This groove recalls the great Patrice Rushin song ‘Forget Me Nots’ which has been covered and sampled by many. We kick it up a notch rhythmically, so it'll take all that you've learned in the previous lessons to pull this one off!”
Good Funk Times - ”This groove is one you may have heard in it's original form, or in one of the many tracks that have used it as a sample. It's still ‘Good Times’! Listen to how the space between the notes is as important to the sound and feel as the notes you play!”
Funk It Away - ”This groove will show you how you can add the technique and attitude of what we love about funk bass playing to a rock song and feel. This bass line really needs to played with an attitude to make it work.”
Funk Over - ”This groove honors the great Jaco Pastorius by combining elements from a few of his compositions, but mainly giving a nod to ‘Come On, Come Over’. This is such a challenging bass line to perform because for it to work, it has to be played with complete control and precision.”
Reptile Funk - ”This groove is a tip of the hat to the great Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters, who helped pioneer funky jazz-rock fusion. This groove calls to mind the classic ‘Chameleon’.”
Square Funk - ”This groove puts it all together in a challenging bass line that combines grooves, techniques, and unison lines that will give you a workout. Yeah....it's a tough one!”
All of the performances are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Stu generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your bass guitar and let’s ‘Bring da FUNK’ with Stu Hamm!