Funk is such a goldmine of guitar riffs and bass lines. The percussive guitar style is super fun to play, and along with blues rhythm, funk rhythm is what made me fall in love with rhythm playing(on both bass and guitar). If you think rhythm is boring, this is for you!
Lose Yourself to Dance – Daft Punk
Nile Rogers, who plays guitar on the entire album, is a legend in the funk guitar world. You probably know his band Chic who made the songs “Good Times” and “Le Freak”. I chose this song over “Get Lucky” because its slower and easier to groove on, but either song is great to learn on both guitar and bass. Any Chic song is also great to learn, which brings me to…
Good Times – Chic
This is an iconic bass line. It’s been sampled and covered trillions of times, and you can’t say you know funk unless you can kick this bass line off. The guitar is also great, it’s just that classic funk mute rhythm. I love Nile’s choices in chord inversions too, he doesn’t just go for the basic triad and uses color tones in a way that meshes with the rest of the music nicely.
Life – Sly & The Family Stone
Not exactly pure funk, but in the same ballpark. This is probably my favorite Sly song but there are so many other greats. Definitely check out his discography. He recently passed away too, so I figure it would be good to celebrate his music by learning it. The bass line in this song is basically all staccato, super fun to play. Its a good example how note length in bass lines is so important. It wouldn’t sound fun and jumpy without cutting the notes short.
Can’t Stop – Red Hot Chili Peppers
The main guitar riff is iconic and a good boot camp for left hand muting. Most people don’t play it right, they just play the notes without that percussive slap and it just doesn’t come out right. Let’s learn it the right way! The bass is also great, Flea is a legend!
I Want You Back – Jackson 5
This is an interesting song because the bass line is an unassuming Olympic feat, whereas the guitar line is one note the whole time. The guitar is worth learning because it really locks you into the pocket and helps you focus on rhythm, especially if you’re just starting out on funk guitar. The bass line is a rite of passage. Learn it note for note. I would even encourage guitar players to learn it. James Jamerson is the bass player on this song and many other classic funk, RnB and motown songs. His bass lines are like their own melody, I never noticed how good they were until I sat down and learned them. He’s a bass player worth looking into. The documentary “Standing in the Shadows of Motown” is great!
Trilogy – Lettuce
This is hands down my favorite modern funk band. I own every one of their records and I see them live every chance I get. All the musicians are top-notch, each one is worth checking out. The album that this song is on (Crush) is awesome front to back. There are at least a couple guitar tracks, but the one without effects is great for playing in the pocket. The bass lines are great too, and his tone is immaculate! Learn anything by Lettuce and go see them live if you can!
Cosmic Girl – Jamiroquai
Saved the best for last! I may have lied when I said that Lettuce was my favorite modern funk group. The bass lines in his music are amazing and far from your usual “root-note-only” type. It was hard to pick just one song by him, so definitely check his discography out. Rumor has it, he’s working on a new album, so fingers crossed we get a tour soon!
Spotify Playlist HERE
J Holguin Music 