Funk Guitar Ross Bolton

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asedin SouthernCalifornia,RossBoltonis curbandand rentlya regularmemberof Al Jarreau's has recordedor performedwith Rick Braun,David Benoit, The Beach Boys, Sheena Easton,Jeffery Osborne,Nell Carter,Donny Osmond,and many others. A few of Ross' TV and movie credits include "EverybodyLoves Raymond,""Fhe Larry Sanders Cuys,a Cirl & aPizza Place," Show,""Fridays,""T\,r/o "Casper,"Switch,"and "TheJeffFoxworthyShow'" Ross has been on staff at Musicians Institutein seminars Hollywoodfor manyyearsandhasconducted and clinicsaroundthe world.His popularvideo on funkguitarand recentCD-Romaresoldinternationally, receivingpraisefrommanymajortradepublications. featuredRossas a guestcolumnist. CuitarPlayermagazinehasregularly pleasevisitrossbolton.com For moreinformation

Acknourrlee|9rÍrents thanksto KeithWyatt,MasakiToriwa,and everyoneat Musicianslnstitute. $oecial by Katrin assistance Groinigand RossBolton.Production CD producedby Bernhard Lassmann.

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T h eF u n k yS h u f f l e . The End-of-the-Book, Just-for-Fun, P u t t i n ' - l t - A l l - T o g ePtahretryJ,a m !. . . . .

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t somepointin the 1960s,JamesBrownand his bandstarted an epidemicthat wouldforeverchangethefaceof modernmusic.Theirnuclearversionof souland R&B inspireda movement thatbecameknownas ,,funk.,,

Thetradition of funkguitarplayingis all aboutone thing:groove.Grooveis the holygrail of being"in thepocket,"whichboilsdownto findinga greatpartand lockingin withthe rhythmsection. When it all comestogether, magichappens! Thisbookwill getyou started w,ithall of thebasictechniques and chordknowledge you needto jump intotherr,,orld of funkand grooveguitar.The play-along CD is a fun,essentialelementfor applyingthelessons. You'llbe refining yourgrooveas you playalongwith eachexample. Remember, funk is partrmusic.lt'smeantto be fun-so enjoythejourney! RossBolton

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ere area few thingsyou shouldconsiderbeforeyou startjamming:

1) Sincethewholeideaof funkguitarplayingis to gettightwiththe bassand drums,tryto practice witha metronome or a drummachine.lf you'reusinga drummachine,keepthepattern playseighthnotes,kickdrumon simple(hi-hat 'l beats and 3, snareon 2 and4).

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Thereis,of course,a CD provided for you to playalongwiththeexamplesin the book'In mostCases/ eachexamp|e wi||be playedsevera| timesat a ,,perÍormance tempo,so you hearthepartin context. Thatwill be immediately followedby a sloner,"practice" version,isolating theguitarwiththedrums.lf you'reworking w'ithout theCD, a goodbeginning tempofor mostof theexamplesis around 76-81bpt. Once you getcomfortable, the realgroovezone is generallybetween B4-102bprn.

3 ) Forno\r,, losetheeffects. Distortion, delay,reverb... all thatstuff will makeit moredimicult to hearwhetheryou'replayingin time.Once you getyourtechniquetogether, thenstartexperimenting with a wah-wahpedal,phaser, etc. 4) Finally,checkout (ifyou haven'talready) the artiststhatcreatedand definedthe worldof funk.A "greatest hits"CD bv anv of thesebandswould be worthlisteningto: - JamesBrown - Earth, Wind & Fire - Cameo - Towerof Power Of course,thereare manyothers...

- Sly & The FamilyStone - ParliamenVFunkadelic - Ohio Players - Prince

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we'll beginby just subdivision, ince mostfunk partsare basedon a sixteenth-note rar.a.nIng muteostxteenrns.

begin (justenoughto mutethe strings), With your lefthandrestinglightlyon thefretboard withyourrighthand.Theexamplebelowshowsthatyou beginwitha downstrumming fourstrokesper beat. stroke,alternating

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hand,and applythesebasicrules: As you play,keepyoureyeon yourstrumming yourfingersor wrist a) Yourwr.istand arm shouIdbe Ioose!A|so,try not to,,Íix,, ontothe guitar. b) Don'tdragyour pick acrossthe strings.lnstead,tryto makeit soundlike you're at thesametime.Thiswill keepyoursoundtightand hittingall of thestrings focused. handmovingin time c) At thispoint,you'llwantto alwayskeepyourstrumming with the music,and keepthe volumeof all the attacksevenlike a machine.lt's alsoa goodideato tapyourfootas you'replaying.And finally... d) Playstrong!This is no timeto be shy.lf you makea mistake,makea big, loud, uglymistake. To keepbettertimewhile you play,trytappingyourfootonce for A word aboutcounting: e a c hb e a t( 1 , 2 , 3 ,a n d4 ) a n du s i n g" e - & - a t"o f i l l o u tt h ec o u n t ,l i k et h i s : h'" h, four-ee-and-u h, three-ee-and-u h, two-ee-and-u "one-ee-and-u

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