BUILD FUNK LINES LIKE A BOSS

This month, we’re going back to one of the points of origin for funk. Let’s look at a way of creating bass-lines that was first popular in the soul music of the Sixties, and which has continued to be a staple for many bass players ever since.

When we think about creating bass grooves with three notes, our immediate thought is to jump to the three notes in the chord—the major or minor triad. However, players such as Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, Carol Kaye and James Jamerson brought in a couple of other shapes that we can use for creating moving lines: These don’t require a ton of scale knowledge, but still give us scope to add interest to a groove.

EXERCISE ONE

We’re going to look at two specific three-note groupings. For our Major pattern, we have the root, the fifth, and the sixth. For our minor pattern, we have the root, the fifth, and the minor seventh.

This exercise shows you both of