Slam Dunk Funk SONG TITLE: SLAM DUNK FUNK GENRE: FUNK TEMPO: 88 BPM KEY: TECH FEATURES: A COMPLEX SYNCOPATION HAMMER-ONS PERSONNEL: # B 13 9 ? # 44 œj ‰ ‰ œj ‰ . œr œ # œ F E MINOR GROOVE PLAYING COMPOSER: Funk q = 88 KIT MORGAN T A B 7 7 KIT MORGAN (GTR) 0 6 5 HENRY THOMAS (BASS) NOAM LEDERMAN (DRUMS) B ? # œ bœ œ œ nœ Œ œ fl of funk œ > rhythms œ > friendly œ the>dancefloor combined > with the distorted guitar of rock. At the same time, j œ OVERVIEW ‘Slam Dunk Funk’ is a funk rock track in the style of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Extreme and Living T Colour. This song has a complex bassline with manyA contrasting sections. Many of the parts are heavily B syncopated – a motif that runs throughout funk – but [4] the most important thing here is that the line grooves. STYLE FOCUS If James Brown invented funk with his single ‘Cold Sweat’ in 1967, Sly Stone is arguably the inventor of funk rock. Stone was leader of the group Sly & The Family Stone who broke down musical barriers with their 1969 album Stand!, which 7 However and influential and 0 6 0 Hendrix 6 0 5 7 0 inventive Stone were, the funk rock sound was truly defined by George Clinton, who began his recording career as the frontman of a doo-wop vocal group called The Parliaments. In the late 1960s, Clinton discovered the music of Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. He changed Em course musically and renamed his newly guitar heavy group Funkadelic. In the 1980s, Clinton produced the RHCP album Freakey Styley (1985) and helped steer the band towards their own unique funk rock sound. ‰ ?# j ‰ ¿ œ œ j ‰ ¿ ¿ œ œ Funk is a great style for bassists. It offers slapped grooves, syncopated fingerstyle lines, chordal parts and the use of effects such as envelope filters and fuzz pedals. Funk songs often use just one chord for sections, and improvisation is a big part of the style. The focal point of a lot of funk music is the bass guitar, with the guitar working primarily as a rhythm T instrument providing chords and single-note lines. A B THE BIGGER PICTURE Jimi Hendrix was a rock guitar hero incorporating elements of soul and R&B into his music. There are many bassists who have made their name playing funk, including Bootsy Collins, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Larry Graham (Sly And The Family 5 7 Doug Wimbish Stone, Graham Central Station), 0 0 (Living Colour) and George Porter Jr (The Meters). ¿ [7] ¿ ¿ RECOMMENDED LISTENING ?# A G Classic funk albums with great bass playing include BloodSugarSexMagik (1991) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mothership Connection (1975) by Parliament, and Stand! (1969) by Sly And The Family Stone. T A œ. ¿ œ œ œ œ. 0 A œ. 5 Em Bass Grade 5 © PHOTOGRAPHER | ARCHIVE RSL-375174039988 / 1 / nate Webb / natewebb66@gmail.com Em 29 œ. Slam Dunk Funk Kit Morgan # B 13 9 ? # 44 œj ‰ ‰ œj ‰ . r œ # œ œ F A T A B ?# T A B 7 0 7 5 ‰. œ. 6 # C 13 9 7 0 7 7 0 6 0 5 0 6 0 ¿ 0 5 7 7 0 0 ¿ 0 A œ. ¿ ¿ 0 [10] œ 0 œ. 7 5 œ œ. 5 5 3 ¿ [13] D7 ? # œ #œ œ ‰ 3 4 5 [16] © Copyright 2012 Rock School Ltd. Eb9 D9 6 5 b >œ . J > œ J 5 7 3 6 j ‰ œ 0 0 5 œ œ ‰ 5 3 5 œ. A G 5 3 j ‰ j ‰ œ œ œ œ 7 0 5 0 A ¿ ¿ 0 ? # .. n œ . œ ‰ j nœ œ œ ¿ ¿ f . T A . 3 5 B ¿ ¿ 1 3 Bass Grade 5 0 7 j œ. œ œ . Em G m7 C 30 7 7 >œ œ ‰ œœ j ‰ ‰ œj j œ. n œ. œ > œ. ¿ ¿ œ ¿ ¿ ¿ #œ G œ 5 G Em >œ > ‰ œj ‰ œ œ. œ. J A ¿ ¿ 0 œœ j ‰ ‰ j j ‰ œ œ. œ ¿ Œ œ bœ œ nœ > œ > œ >œ œ > œ fl [7] T A B 8 B ?# j ‰ œ ¿ œ œj ‰ ¿ ¿ ‰ œ T A B ¿ 7 Em Em ?# j j r œ ‰ ‰ œ ‰. œ œ #œ r œ œ. œ œ. . ¿ > [4] T A B # B 13 9 n œ œ. œ 1 5 ¿ ¿ ¿ 0 nœ . ¿œ œ œœ œ D7 3 3 7 5 3 5 3 7 . . 3 5 1 3 ¿ 4 5 3 5 3 3 1. nœ. œ ‰ .. n œ . œ ‰ b œj œ œ ¿ # œj œ . >œ Œ . G m7 5 4 5 5 2. G 3 j nœ œ œ ¿ œ œ 5 1 3 # G 13 9 œ œ œ >œ Œ 5 5 5 ¿ 0 0 nœ 5 13 This music is copyright. Photocopying is illegal. RSL-375174039988 / 1 / nate Webb / natewebb66@gmail.com Funk q = 88 Bass Solo (8 bars) T A B [19] E m7 ’ . . ’ B m7 ’ ’ 1. 2. ?# ’ B m7 ’ ’ .. œ œ . N.C. ’ . . T A B [22] ? # bœ nœ œ. . œ œ nœ . > T A B 1 ’ 2 3 0 j #œ . > 1 2 5 7 œ. ’ E m7 ’ ’ œ̆ 5 7 œ. n œ. 2 3 .. œ. f . . 3 Œ ’ ’ 2° Drum Solo (8 bars) E >. œ J ’ G7 n œ. œ. 3 2 œ b œ n œ b œ n œ œ. œ n œ œ œ. . 0 0 3 4 3 4 0 2 œ. . œ 3 0 Œ Play 3 times . . 3 3 [25] Guitar Solo (8 bars) C7 ? # .. œ . . œ ‰ b œj œ. . . T A B 3 F [28] ?# T A B Develop on repeat . . 3 # G7 9 1 3 œ nœ #œ 0 3 # G7 9 C7 œ. . œ n œ. œ œ œ. œ. 4 5 5 3 3 3 5 j b œ . .. œ. œ b œ. œ œ. œ b œ. œ > . 1 . 3 3 1 1 0 0 4 4 Play 3 times 5 G œ. œ nœ #œ œ fl 3 3 3 1 2 Œ j ‰ ‰ j j ‰ ‰ œœ œ œ. œ œ. F Em 0 0 .. 5 0 7 j ‰ œ j œ. œ œ . 0 5 A 0 G 5 3 RSL-375174039988 / 1 / nate Webb / natewebb66@gmail.com ? # .. ’ D [31] T A B [34] 0 ¿ 5 7 © Copyright 2012 Rock School Ltd. 0 ¿ ¿ G >œ œ ‰ ‰ œj œ œ. œ . œ > A 7 5 # E7 9 >œ œ ‰ ‰ œ bœ > œ > œ >œ œ >œ œ J J B7 5 5 3 3 3 7 0 6 0 5 0 3 0 7 [ 7] This music is copyright. Photocopying is illegal. Bass Grade 5 ?# j ‰ œœ j ‰ ‰ ¿ œ œ ¿ ¿ Em 31 Walkthrough The intro section is a sparse funk groove based around B that ends with a busy fill that riffs off the open E string. Bar 2 | Syncopation On beat four of this bar, the C is played on the second 16th note of the beat. Be sure to tap your foot to the beat as you play through the bar – the C should be played just after the downbeat of beat four and not on it. Bar 4 | Sixteenth-note riff It is best to think of this fill as an eighth-note line that moves from B to B b, to A and back to B via the B b. These are the accented notes in the phrase. In between each of these, an open E string is played. B Section (Bars 5–12) This is the main groove of the piece and would serve as a good verse section. The bass plays another funk groove, this time based around E minor. Bars 8–9 | Pushed chord At the end of bar 8 there is a pushed rhythm that occurs on the ‘&’ of beat four. The D is tied into the next bar and the note that follows it (E) should be played on the ‘&’ of beat one. Be sure to accent the D as notated. C Section (Bars 13–18) This contrasts with the previous section and features a great deal of syncopation as well as some ghost note figures. Bar 14 | Syncopation The rhythm in this bar can be difficult to read. Playing and counting aloud using the “1 e & a 2 e & a” counting style will help you to understand the rhythm (Fig. 1). Bar 24 | Staccato line Essentially, this bar consists of quarter notes that are played short. A 16th note open A string is played at the end of the bar, leading into the next. Bar 27 | Fill This fill alternates between the minor and major thirds of the G 7 chord, B b and B (Fig. 2). The minor third is often used over dominant chords in blues and funk. These four notes are encompassed by a slur, so be sure to play them as one stroke. In practice, this means you should play the string once then use hammer-ons and pull-offs to play the other notes of the phrase. F & G Sections (Bars 28–36) This section of the song is the guitar solo which gives you an opportunity to develop a part underneath it. Resist any temptation to overplay so that the guitar stands out. Bars 28–29 | Developing a part In these bars you should develop the part played in bars 28–29. Common ways to develop a part are to vary the rhythm, note choices or articulations. Make sure it is in keeping with the style of the piece. ?# D7 œ ≈¿ œ n œ œ. T A B 1 3 Count: 1 e ¿ 3 (&) a (2) e œ 5 & (a) (3) (e) œ. œ œ nœ 3 5 & a 3 4 5 (e) Fig. 1: Syncopation D Section (Bars 19–23) This section is left free for a bass solo. Remember that solos should be improvised – avoid copying the solo on the recording. Bass Grade 5 Bars 19–23 | Bass solo Given the E minor key signature, the E minor pentatonic scale will be a good place to start with your solo. Try to begin with simple ideas and allow yourself time to develop them. Remember to consider the groove. When you solo you should still play with feel. 32 E Section (Bars 24–27) This part is a staccato unison line based around a G 7 chord. Articulations and syncopation are put to good use here. ? # b œ n œ b œ n œ œ. œ n œ œ T A B Notes: Function: 3 4 3 4 Bb b3 Bn 3 Bb b3 Bn 3 0 2 3 D 5 E 6 Fn 7 Fig. 2: Fill Œ & (a) RSL-375174039988 / 1 / nate Webb / natewebb66@gmail.com A Section (Bars 1–4)