Tunes, Chords and Techniques in all Styles
A good way to get started with funk improvisation on the piano or keyboard is by learning to use pentatonic scales in a creative way. Repetition can also be a strong element in funk, especially if it is rhythmic and fits into the [...]
Another important element of funk music is chord progressions. While some tunes can stay on just one or two chords for minutes, others feature characteristic harmonic movements. These are often in the domain of the keyboard, piano or organ player.
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Having a bassline in place makes it easy to turn the groove into a funk riff. While the rhythm section in a funk band creates the foundation of a groove, guitars, keyboards or horn players usually play just short attacks – chords or melody notes – to give the tune its characteristic style.
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Funk, more than most other musical styles, is based on rhythm and groove. Any good funk tune will make you want to get up and dance! It is hard to listen to the likes of James Brown, Sly Stone or Stevie Wonder without tapping your limbs with the tune.
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You can take the funk exercise of this previous blog post and take it a step further. By adding a few notes here and there and a turnaround at the end, it can be developed to get a funky riff.
In addition to the single note attacks in [...]