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funk!!!

lately i've been playing some funk/rnb/soul stuff with a band i'm in.....we've been covering some stuff by earth wind and fire, stevie wonder, james brown, etc......and i've been trying to learn some funky keyboard herbie-like riffs. i just wanna know if anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to how approach this.....any specific songs or records?

by dudsy on 08/25/2007, 20:42

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what kind of keyboard do you have?
when it comes to funk, it's the clavinet sound that does it for me. and herbie is the master of funk clavinet. the chords he uses are simple but the rhythms are tricky. think of the clavinet as a rhythm guitar. for best results run the sound through a wah effect or at least a flanger.

here's a short clip of my attempt at funk using a korg triton...

https://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/28/434939/robots.mp3

i went kind of crazy with the effects and distorted it a little too much, but maybe it's okay.

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by JMurray on 08/26/2007, 02:42

joe sample is funky, bluesy, jazzy and gospely:

#ygbilrqdana

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by Jazz+ on 08/26/2007, 13:37

j murray...that link was off the chain. this is my first time replying to a thread, can u recommend a play list that would help me broaden my listening in terms of jazz/junk. more specifically what are your favorite 3 jazz/funk songs (and by what artist/s). i've been playing keys for some time but am just getting into jazz. any responces greatly appreciated. my email: soundwrite@yahoo.com

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by soundwriter on 08/27/2007, 09:22

probably all week there will be a lot of good tips here re-players,recordings-here are transcriptions of two of the masters of this style(herbie hancock,les mccann)-
https://bert-transcriptions.0catch.com/transcriptions.html

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by smg on 08/27/2007, 11:31

the most common funky standards played by jazz players are cantaloupe island, watermelon man, and chameleon all by herbie hancock. also, mercy mercy mercy by joe zawinul.

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by Jazz+ on 08/27/2007, 11:45

it seems there are two kinds of funk music.
there's the "gospel/blues" type funk, like "watermelon man", "mercy mercy mercy", and then there's the "soul/fusion" type funk like "chameleon", etc. which i think the original post is refering to.

funkily speaking, herbie hancock's "thrust" album is far better than "headhunters".

george duke is a hellova keyboard funkster, although lately he's a little too smoothish. check out george duke's '70s and '80s stuff.

here's another clip from my cd with some clav grooves...
https://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/28/434939/func.mp3

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by JMurray on 08/27/2007, 16:41

nowadays there's a lot of players/groups that are into this style,only they call it "acid-jazz" or "neo-soul"(for purposes of online/cd searches,etc)........i'll post the links i know about as this post develops(takes me a minute to remember them)...........

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by smg on 08/27/2007, 17:22

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funk!!!

There are 7 comments, leave a comment.

by JMurray on 08/26/2007, 02:42

by Jazz+ on 08/26/2007, 13:37

by soundwriter on 08/27/2007, 09:22

by smg on 08/27/2007, 11:31

by Jazz+ on 08/27/2007, 11:45

by JMurray on 08/27/2007, 16:41

by smg on 08/27/2007, 17:22

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funk!!!

There are 7 comments, leave a comment.

by JMurray on 08/26/2007, 02:42

by Jazz+ on 08/26/2007, 13:37

by soundwriter on 08/27/2007, 09:22

by smg on 08/27/2007, 11:31

by Jazz+ on 08/27/2007, 11:45

by JMurray on 08/27/2007, 16:41

by smg on 08/27/2007, 17:22

Reply to Thread

Jazz Piano Notebook Series

"Latinesque"

LJP Jazz Piano Blogs

Most Recent Discussions

Articles

Top Sheetmusic Picks

Jazz piano education is cool.

Rock on. Follow your passion.

Sign In