Alllllllrighttty! Can ya feel it? I said: CAN YOU FEEL IT! Hell yeah, you feel it!
IT'S FUNKY BLUES TIME!
Ladies and Gents, let's hear 'em! Bust out your video cameras, web cameras, mini-disc recorders, tape cassette recorders, or your what-have-you's, and prepare to get FUNKY! No pressure, no competition, no reward but the enjoyment of sharing your funkiest harp ditty. Let hear 'em all, no matter how rough or how short. Let's all throw it down!
IT'S FUNKY BLUES WEEK AT MBH begins NOW!
PS. I think it was Todd who was going to do this at one point, but I just couldn't wait any longer! :)
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2010 9:44 PM
I'm using a Bb harp in second position (Key of F). I've got a slap echo on, and I'm blowing through my harp-modified Valve Junior Head. The main riff goes:
Ok i promised myself next time something like this came up i'd post a video so here goes. I've been playing 9 months, any tips on how i can improve my playing would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to play the start of It's Your Thing by the Isley Brothers.
---------- conjob
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2010 9:26 PM
Damn im working away this week but i'll get vid up by the weekend. im also having to use my mobile phone to check the net and the videos wont show up on my phone..grr
Man, Isaac called me out! ;) I'll put something together this weekend that's been in my head since we first had this dicussion. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Oh Wow! Lot's of responses so far! Great! More than I thought on the first day! I'll listen to these while I work today, and then leave feedback! Good on ya guys!
I wish I knew more about funk cause every time I hear something called funky (like Chameleon or Stevie Wonder or Buddha's example track on this thread) I like it. I just wish I knew more about it. What inspirations do you guys have to funk-ify your groove?
---------- ~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Well, I've given them all a listen, every one has certainly thrown down some great stuff! I'm hearing a little bit more Blues than Funk from most of you (except tmf714), but that's cool (and to be expected on a blues harp forum like ours). I'll pass up giving critiques to the pros, since you guy's obviously have it down.
conjob: I'm VERY impressed by that, seeing as you've been playing for only 9 months. You are well ahead of the learning curve. You still need time, but you will get there sooner than most do. Keep on it!
MAL: You know, I'm starting to think that there might be something to this "practice for 5000 hours" thing you are doing. ;) Man, you just keep getting better and better. I really can't give you any advice since it sounded pretty damn good to me. Yeah, it was definitely way more bluesy than it was funky, but it was still damn good!
Kyzer: I get what you are trying to do, and I think when you have it down a bit more, it will be BADASS. As it is, I think there are a few to many inconsistencies with the timing (you are doing some COMPLICATED stuff), and that just totally kills any groove that you had. You know? The song has a groove, and you find it in the last couple of bars, but you go out of it on earlier parts. Plus, if you can hit the beats more (ie. syncopate it more), it will sound MUCH more funky! Good show, however!
Heart2Harp: I think you really nailed "funkblues". It's definitely blues, but you inject just the right amount of funk in there. The funky drum beat certainly helped you get that feeling, but you also got into the harp part. Good syncopation of standard blues memes. I liked it a lot. And yes, you certainly sing it well! ---------- ------------------ The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Ryan: Junior Wells would be the best place to start though he's obviously not funk in the modern sense of the word, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Isley Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Booker T & the MG's (STAX House Band), The Funk Brothers (MOTOWN House Band), Miles Davis (more fusion), Brecker Brothers (fusion again), Medeski Martin & Wood (fusion again), Average White Band, the Meters, Parliament Funkadelic, Earth Wind and Fire, Little Feet, BB King has some funky ass stuff, Mighty Joe Young, Bobby Rush, WAR (Lee Oskar played harp for WAR), Nina Simone, Nite Liters/ New Birth, King Curtis and the Kingpins, Richard Holmes, Lonnie Liston Smith, Tower of Power, Kool and the Gang, KC and the Sunshine Band, Stevie Wonder, Graham Central Station, Bernard Purdie, Prince...that's all I can think of after digging through my itunes. OH! They are not well known at all but one of my favorite bands right now is the Boston Horns. Just find a song in a good key and play along and start feeling the groove cus thats what its about: the rhythm more than your chops (in funk your rhythm is your chops...I think at least).
MrVLUN: Right, you GOTTA hit the one (well, most of the time I guess...you really just gotta feel it), thats essential. Try accenting the ands of beats and resting for odd periods like 2 1/4 beats for instance. Repetition of three and four bar phrases helps, if you can go longer even better.
I'm going to get a memory card for my camera and then I'll post a video here this weekend...I am quite excited. Funk is my shit. I would do it sooner but I literally have been awake for 39 hours at this point and I got a gig tonight and class tomorrow so....goodnight
This thread works fine on my Mac at home but not on the PCs they have at work. Just thought i'd throw that into the mix. And good playing everyone (on this and the other threads) ---------- conjob
