Groove Challenge 2023
I decided on joining SBL Funk Challenge. SBL is Scott's Bass Lessons.
It is 30 days long, and I've committed to doing 10 funky grooves.
Today is May 1 2023.
Update: Finished on June 19 2023
These are short videos under 2minutes each and I look at my practice and comment throughout the videos.
The history of Funk
Why does funk sound like funk? What is that 'special' quality? Where do the beats fall when playing?
Compilation of the 10 funk grooves
This video has the finish 'product' of each groove. Each groove is around 15-20 seconds long. If you are interested in the work that I put in, and what & how I practiced, the videos below explain it all.
I hope that you get excited to take on your own bass challenge.
Groove #9
Boogie Oogie Oogie -- a bit of disco using octaves in a cool rhythmic way
June 13 2023
Groove #10 - last one for this challenge
Groove #10- Playing Over Chord Progressions
June 19 2023
Groove #7
"Stuck in the Middle of You" groove that I'm using. One bar of the song, and the other bar is 'improvising' using the pentatonic scale.
May 29 2023
Groove #8
Not a groove per say, but the challenge was to say 'yes, I can be your bassist' without know the tune, and practicing for less than 15 mins!
June 6 2023
Groove #5
Creating memorable hooks means using similar rhythms and patterns on each chord. This groove uses the root, octave, b7, and 5th.
As Dan Hawkins says: "Target the ghost notes at the end of each riff to shift your hand quickly to the next position."
I started with reading the notes as I'm still learning to read music, and what I should have done is to count the rhythm so that I could try and get it without playing with Dan's backing recording. But I didn't. I didn't really internalise the beat but tried very hard. May 19 2023
Read under the YouTube video- a great comment regarding how to 'think like a drummer'.
Groove # 6
The patterns in bars one and two are exactly the same - Did you notice?
You can use that pattern over any minor seventh chord.
Sliding into and out from notes is a common funk technique... and it is fun to play I must say.
May 28 2023
Groove #3
The groove uses the Root, b3, 6maj and b7 and comes from the G Dorian mode.
This was super difficult because:
1) the feel is a shuffle and not straight.
2) the drumming is different so had to really listen to the drums on their own to get the feel.
3) the ghost notes are very subtle and I "think" that I did it.
4) the hammer-on at the end - this is super interesting as it allows your fingers to get into position for the next bar -- which is 1/16 fast!!
Groove #4
It adds a classic blues movement from the minor 3rd to the major 3rd of the scale.
Learning how to rack was really fun. I got this groove !! -- like it was supposed to be played: speed, fingering, and clarity.
The racking was really fun to practice. You can play a lot of notes in a short space of time!
May 14 2023
Groove #1 root/5th/b7/octave
30 seconds long.
Upload to SBL on May 1 2023
Groove #2 Dorian
There’s a quick hand shift from fret 3 to 1 in the first bar that takes place during a 1/16th note open string A
This is G minor pentatonic.
May 6 2023