Look Who it Was Random video

How to Play Funk Riffs on Guitar

2,015 views · Published 14 October 2015 · 11:14 · Indexed 15 October 2026

Channel: New Secret Guitar Teacher · 2015 · Music

Watch on YouTube

If you would like to gain full access to all our Guitar Teaching Materials please visit the Secret Guitar Teacher Site and take a free tour: http://www.secretguitarteacher.com/youtube/ssb.php?lp_id=536

Here's the video Transcript:
Following on from the last lesson on funk lead guitar I thought I'd do a couple of Sound Bites on Funk rhythm playing.

In this lesson I'll show you how to play a funk style 12 bar blues that I wrote as a training exercise many years ago. And I'll talk you through a couple of technical points once we've learnt the basic riffs. Here's riff 1.

Like so many funk riffs, this starts with an octave and notice how I shift my hand position up two frets  and play a muted note on the 6th string Shown on the tab as a little x on the 3rd main beat. Before playing notes at fret 7 on the D string with the first finger and fret 9 on the G string with the third finger  

So Riff number one altogether:  and this is always followed by riff number 2...
This uses the same notes but this time there's no pause, so again it's best to play both the notes on the fourth string with the first finger.
 
So we play through riffs 1 and 2 and then repeat that to complete the first four bars. The next riff is played over a Dm7 chord using a typical pull-off lick.

Then in bar 8 we have a riff that starts on the first off-beat. Then it's back to riffs 1 and 2 for the next two bars. So, so far we have... 

The ninth bar is the same riff we just used for bar 7, but moved up two frets to work over an Em7 chord.

The last lick we have to learn is played at bar 10, also over an Em7, and features a chromatically ascending set of octaves  again very characteristic idea in Funk tunes.

Then we finish the 12-bar with a repeat of riffs 1 and 2 again over Am7. So here's the whole thing - first in slow motion...And at more or less full speed 

Finally for this lesson -  a couple of tips about getting the rhythmic feel of this tune right. Lets take a look at the right hand

Here I am using a bit of palm muting to keep the notes nice and damped and also to enable me to hit them hard for a great percussive sound, but without losing control 

I am also using a technique with the plectrum that I call 'snagging' - holding the plectrum quite tight and very very short 
Then as my hand flies past the strings at high velocity  I just catch the strings with the tip of the pick - literally letting it snag them as it flies past 

As always, the detail in this technique takes time to master and I want to exercise the importance of playing this freely and rhythmically and not too carefully - the precision and control will improve with time and practice.

More from this channel