What makes something funky?
 

Hi guys,

I know I don't post here often, but..

I'm doing a project for my music class on what makes funk music funky. What certain series of notes or pauses or stylings make something funky? How is it that two bassists can groove on the same scale and yet one can be infinitely more funkalicious? Any advanced musical theory or just general philosophical funkular rambling would be much appreciated. In short:

WHAT

IS

FUNK?

Funk is all about feel, and groove. There is a certain, indescribable quality that makes funk music funky. If you listen to an average punk or rock drummer play the "standard rock beat", bass on 1, 3 snare on 2,4, it will sound OK. Then you have a great funk drummer play it, it sounds amazing. And it is basicly impossible to expain why. There is a great funk bassist I was talking to recently, named Patrick Thornton, and as he explained it, funk isn't about what you play, but the attitude and feeling you put into playing it. In funk, a solid but extremely simple groove wins over something much flashier but less groovealicious, as well. Very little emphasis is usually placed on showy playing.
Another characteristic of funk that I notice is that it is very lighthearted, the entire purpose of the music is to have fun. That's even what many of the lyrics are about. The sole purpose of the music is to dance to and have a good time. Sure, sometimes it has a message too it, but that is secondary to the groove. Even the egoistical rantings of "Dr. Funkenstein" are lighthearted and rather silly.

The lyrics almost never carry the song, though, as they tend to in rock and other styles. If you take the average rock song and cut out the lyrics, then the song is usually pretty boring. Cut them out of a funk song, the song sounds empty, but it still holds its own. They tend to act almost as another instrument, adding to the song as a whole rather than covering it up.

That's my rant on what I think makes funk funky. I'm done. For a little bit.

Funk is slap bass, pretty much. Would porno-style bass be considered funky? I think so.

That is entirely wrong. One of the least right things I have ever heard. Most of the best funk lines were not slapped, and slap actually came into it's popularity relativley late in the history of funk.

Ahaha, that made me laugh.

This is the way I look at it:

Rock is based on the 8th note. Listen to some standard rock and roll song and sing "1 and 2 and" and it will feel right.

Then there's stuff like jazz and shuffle which based on triplets, you can sing "1 and a 2 and a" and it will feel right.

But most of the funk I like is based on the 16th note. If you want the groove to feel right, I think, you have to be able to go "1 e and a 2 e and a" etc. Having it based off the 16th note lets it have lots and lots of syncopation which really drives the grooves along. But that's just me.

Remember that wikipedia is a collection of personal opinions, rather than accepted fact.

Hence all the crap about 'slap-bass' and Hendrix being THE funk-rock pioneer. Both points are very wrong.

Caleb put it spot on - the way something is played is what makes it funky.

[QUOTE=Billy-Talent]Hi guys,

I know I don't post here often, but..

I'm doing a project for my music class on what makes funk music funky. What certain series of notes or pauses or stylings make something funky? How is it that two bassists can groove on the same scale and yet one can be infinitely more funkalicious? Any advanced musical theory or just general philosophical funkular rambling would be much appreciated. In short:

WHAT

IS

FUNK?[/QUOTE]

ur a cracker who listens to billy talent u wudnt kno funk if it hit u right in the face...

You can't judge someones entire musical taste based on one artist. You can't judge someone's musical taste at all.

one man's poison being another man's pleasure and all that.

I have plenty of recordings of rock tunes being played by funky musicians, making some great funk versions of rock records - for instance:

Heartbreaker - originally by Led Zep' - done in a stripped down style by the Boogaloo Investigators, or I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings are a couple of good examples of making something that wasn't originally funk funky, without changing the tune or arrangement (much).

As a bass player, I'd have to say that funk is the most important style of music that led to the evolution of my instrument as it is today. Funk is the band working together as a unified sound under a groove. Sure there's a melody, but it depends on how you play it in order to make it funky. That's why the bass is often the keystone instrument of funk: it has the ability to play a melody, but it should usually be performed in relation to the rhythm of the song.

One of the most interesting threads I've run into.

I'm not experienced enough when it comes to funk, but saying funk is slap bass is a somewhat questionable statement.

I remember I used to think that way myself. I automatically thought that when I heard a slap bass line, it was funk. I'm sure this is not neccessarily true, as it's not the sound of the instrument which directs the style. It's rather the approach or should I say feel, of the musicians. I'm quite sure that a good funk artist will even make a stone slapped against tarmac sound good.

Funk is about the ONE....everything is on the ONE, the emphasis on the big heavy down beat that lets all the musicians lock into the groove. It all starts with the beat and then the bass, whatever you put ontop is just colour.

If you like funk you should check out Kevin Goin's (Glenn's brother) new band PTheory on the website below. We've spent years working on the essence of funk

[url]Http://ptheory.co.uk[/url]

I'd say you've been working mainly on emulating P-funk. Nothing wrong with that, but it isn't actually THE essence of funk.

well for a start, the backbone of the music is the rhythm section. if you've got no rhythm section, you've got no funk. for me, funk is about syncopation and a real forward motion to the music (despite the often laid back feel), but at the same time, beat 1 is very important - the centre of it all if you like. i guess that's where it differs from jazz, where jazz is all about 2 and 4. i was speaking to an excellent funk bass player about this very thing actually, though from a drummers perspective, and he said that no matter where the rhythms within the band are going, you've always got to have the 1 coming down strong (at least on the drums). it's what everyone works towards and refers to. also, i'd mention something about the use of plenty of repetition in funk. it's generally about grooves and feels, not so much complex melodies/harmonies.

keep in mind, that's just my opinion, and it's what funk means to me :) hope it helps though

edit: doh, beat me to it with the whole 'ONE' thing :p

The one thing is often misinterpreted, though, in my experience. The one must always be FELT, but not necessarily HEARD. Sometimes you can emphasise the one with complete slience in the middle of a busy beat, or accentuate it by playing a 16th after it. And, sometimes the ONE can even be moved a bit. I was recently introduced to this concept, and don't comprehend it quite enough to explain it, but the way this guy does it makes some **** funky grooves, and as I said, funk is about feel, and if it feels funky, I'm not going to argue that it isn't because there isn't a huge bass hit on beat 1.

EDIT:
Now that I think about it, the 1 is also mainly from the James Brown/George Clinton school of funk. This is probably the best known, most popular, etc, but not the only one. Garibaldi didn't necessarily directly emphasize the one, and there are a few other guys who did unique things breaking away from the "one".

Well I agree that there are many variations of funk but the most succesful funk artists James, George, Sly, Meters etc all played of the one. So whilst funk doesn't necessarily have to come off the one the most succesful FUNK artists detailed above all used that formula. So whilst it is a broadbrush statement to say funk is on the one, it was in answer to an equally vague question.

What makes something funky is if it smells and has attitude adn groove....otherwise its jazz /funk. Just my opinion

===Origin of funk===

[[Category:Slang]]

The word "funk", once defined in dictionaries as body odor or the smell of sexual intercourse, commonly has been regarded as coarse or indecent. African-American musicians originally applied "funk" to music with a slow, mellow groove, then later with a hard-driving, insistent rhythm because of the word's association with sexual intercourse. This early form of the music set the pattern for later musicians. The music was slow, sexy, loose, [[riff]]-oriented and danceable. ''Funky'' typically described these qualities. In jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to "get down" by telling one another, "Now, put some ''stank'' ('stink'/funk) on it!" At least as early as the 1930s, [[jazz]] songs carried titles such as [[Mezz Mezzrow]]'s ''Funky Butt.''

The word "funk" commonly was regarded as coarse or indecent. As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when "funk" and "funky" were used increasingly in the context of soul music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company.

The distinctive characteristics of African-American musical expression are rooted in [[West Africa West African]] musical traditions, and find their earliest expression in spirituals, work chants/songs, praise shouts, gospel and blues. In more contemporary music, gospel, blues and blues extensions often flow together seamlessly. Funky music is an amalgam of [[soul music]] [[soul jazz]] and [[R&B]].
[/b]

check out these guys - they REALLY have the funk thing down...look at the 'Rumble and Struggle' video clip

[url]http://www.osakamonaurail.com/discography/[/url]

Funk is more than music, it's attitude. My motto has always been, "If I feel it, I can play it." Funk has always moved me. You can't play funk on purpose. You just have to get out of the way and let it happen.

"Free your mind and your *** will follow."

Rhythm is definately at the core of true funk. It's got to be there or its not funk. The "funk" pyramid begins at the bottom, with drums and bass creating the foundation, and then everything else piled on top. The importance of feeling the "one" cannot be overstated, but like everything else...there are always exceptions.

"The funk is greater than the sum of its parts."

I love the feeling of artistic freedom soloing over a tight groove sticking to the one (speaking melodically now rather than rhythmically). Unlike jazz, funk doesn't move around a lot vertically. A lot of great funk songs never stray from the root at all, and they really don't need to. Funk creates complexity out of simplicity.

With funk, it's not so much what you play...but what you [I]don't[/I] play.

Most of all, funk is fun. It is loose, wild, and completely free. Unfortunately (from my point of view, anyway), funk is also tightly interwoven with the drug culture. In fact, quite a lot of funk is all about being "bad." It doesn't mean you have to be bad to be funky, but they often go hand in hand. I am living proof, however, that you can funk it up and go wild without giving in to the "dark side" of funk.

Funkily yours,
Heather Haze

it must sound oddly weird and jazzy good

P-Funk/Uncut Funk/Da Bomb.

Funk can not only move, it can remove. Dig?


/funk

[QUOTE=PTheory]Funk is about the ONE....everything is on the ONE, the emphasis on the big heavy down beat that lets all the musicians lock into the groove. It all starts with the beat and then the bass, whatever you put ontop is just colour.

If you like funk you should check out Kevin Goin's (Glenn's brother) new band PTheory on the website below. We've spent years working on the essence of funk

[url]Http://ptheory.co.uk[/url][/QUOTE]

Ironically i started a thread ages ago about "What is the ONE"?... no one really knew that either.... also cure loads of **** neo jokes

...............ohh god that avater is wonderfull tobo, i could just plant my nose in the middle.....OH WAIT(wakes up) Yeah what makes something funky? oh yeah

i will probably get flamed for a lame, sarcastic answer but if you wanted to get people out of thier seats and onto a dance floor what could you do?

Imagine if someone promised you some sort of "reward", or better yet something makes you feel good.

If you could make more than 75% of the crowd (currently sitting) jump up and start dancing like there is no tomorow........play something that makes thier head bob and hips shake.

Another aspect is the swung 16ths - that allows for greater movement.
The One, being beat 1 is also another aspect. Because everything, the music, harmony and musical stabs culminate on beat 1.
Being 'Funky' is all about rhythm: the use of riffs and grooves.
And to end: The Bass defines the 'funkiness'. The drummer merely keeps everyone in time, but the Bass drives the music. I love bass.. so much.

[QUOTE=Lady Lex]Another aspect is the swung 16ths - that allows for greater movement.
The One, being beat 1 is also another aspect. Because everything, the music, harmony and musical stabs culminate on beat 1.
Being 'Funky' is all about rhythm: the use of riffs and grooves.
[B]And to end: The Bass defines the 'funkiness'. The drummer merely keeps everyone in time, but the Bass drives the music. I love bass.. so much.[/B][/QUOTE]

Herbie Hancock- Sly

Beats can most definitely be funky.

I didnt say they couldnt be. I said the bass player [i]drives[/i] the music, directs the rhythms and the beat.

I didnt say they couldnt be. I said the bass player [i]drives[/i] the music, directs the rhythms and the beat.

[QUOTE=AmericanWeiner]Herbie Hancock- Sly

Beats can most definitely be funky.[/QUOTE]

also - whats the Sly reference? I am an intensive Herbie fan.. and that doesnt come to mind. If you could clear that up then I can recall who the drummer is :)

sly is the last track on head hunters, it's herbie's tribute to sly and the family stone and the great music they produced. the drummer on that record is harvey mason, an awesome funk/fusion drummer. mike clark is another who played with the head hunters after this album, and his playing is just out of this world - incredibly funky stuff!