Funky Piano-Rhodes-Organ Theory

[Venomeza]

I was wondering if there's a formal book or dvd explaining the theory involved in funk(y) music, the majority of books I've found are bass exclusive.

You know, fat chords, really "groovy" stuff and the like. So far I've only found some vague youtube tutorials and this page, but having tried jazzpianolessons.com by the same guy, I wasn't really satisfied by the content of the later.

Any help is appreciated.

[jancivil]

Honestly? Funk from a book?

Is that a great idea do you think?

[Venomeza]

Honestly? Funk from a book?

Is that a great idea do you think?

Sorry if I offended you in some way, I know that you will not learn a style by reading a book, but I've read a lot of books in were the author includes grooves for you to practice and then take off and make your own, some books even come with a CD.

If I made a mistake by asking here, please excuse me, I will be sure to ask a mod to close it if the thread is useless.

[jancivil]

I'm not the least offended! Why would you come to that idea? Honestly, that's my thought, it's not a great idea to go to a book, or a DVD, or a school to get this sort of thing. If you're trying to get Mozart or some deal like that, mileage may vary.

>Listen. Play with someone who does it right, whatever that means to you. Listen some more.

[jancivil]

And! check this out: http://www.imeem.com/ceetee21/music/k9_ ... yday_hero/

[Venomeza]

And! check this out: http://www.imeem.com/ceetee21/music/k9_ ... yday_hero/

Nice material there, thanks!

>Listen. Play with someone who does it right, whatever that means to you. Listen some more.

Well, I think I'm going to read and study some of the funk bass books I have, make some grooves and jam with myself.

Thanks for the suggestions, really appreciated.

[jancivil]

Well, you know what they say happens when you play with yourself too much.

[buscemi]

I thought you just had to free your mind and your ass will follow? Though, according to that methodology you'll have to try to do all your tracks on acid which I don't know that I could recommend YMMV

[hibidy]

I don't understand why there aren't more on techniques and such either.

At one point of time I tried to find b3 stuff for edu and it was useless. Don't know if it's changed.

A good BOOK on what the op asked would be welcome something that helped with context "secrets".

[Barf]

Maybe you could check out some funk-guitar books for the chords and the way they are constructed in funk?

[jplanet]

Just learn some funk tunes. Beyond that, any books on blues will give you the vocabulary you would need for most funk styles.

It usually comes down to playing 7th, 9th, and 13th chords with some specific inversions that work well when playing with guitarists and letting the bass stand out (so you'd usually not want to play the low root note as it clutters the bass - typically funk players might use an inversion with the 3rd on the bottom, and usually a 7th or 13 on top - sometimes omitting the root - just a quick example)...

[buscemi]

Just learn some funk tunes. Beyond that, any books on blues will give you the vocabulary you would need for most funk styles.

It usually comes down to playing 7th, 9th, and 13th chords with some specific inversions that work well when playing with guitarists and letting the bass stand out (so you'd usually not want to play the low root note as it clutters the bass - typically funk players might use an inversion with the 3rd on the bottom, and usually a 7th or 13 on top - sometimes omitting the root - just a quick example)...

Yeah, when I played in a funk band I was basically doing this sort of thing. Found myself hanging on the higher strings, playing a lot of inversions that allowed for the sound and the relatively sane position to work. Long before, in preparation for going to college, my teacher had me constantly doing inversions of the same chord up and down the neck, using the GBE strings and that helped a lot. Then switching up to string different chords was the next step. Very helpful.

[tapper mike]

Funk guitar is not anywhere on the same plane as funk keys.

Funk guitar is mostly syncopated 16th notes syncopated rythum patterns using a clean "thin" sound such as a strat. I couldn't imagine the strength that would be required to lay down that type of block chord playing on a keyboard.

Best to pick up a few midi files of funk artists you already enjoy.

[buscemi]

Funk guitar is not anywhere on the same plane as funk keys.

Funk guitar is mostly syncopated 16th notes syncopated rythum patterns using a clean "thin" sound such as a strat. I couldn't imagine the strength that would be required to lay down that type of block chord playing on a keyboard.

Best to pick up a few midi files of funk artists you already enjoy.

Oh shit. Reading is fundamental - oh well, I hope a guitarist finds my "slightly off-center" advice useful Agreed - does NOT apply to funk keyboard at all! Sorry.

[hibidy]

I see these guys rolling the keys and doing stabs or "percussion" stuff on the b3 all the time......it subtle. Would love to get some of that down.

E piana can be a listening thing, but I find that I probably don't have the fingering right aka making a playable line TOO difficult. Again, a visual would be nice.