BLueS
FUNKY BLUES
BY DAVE RUBIN
Rhythm Guitar Styles of Albert Collins,
Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Others
from Power Trio Blues Guitar
(00695028)
On first blush, funk music, when compared to jazzy and soul blues, appears to share few characteristics with their common ancestor—the
blues. Rhythmically, this could not be truer as funk, “invented” in the early 1960s by James Brown and his prime guitarist, Jimmy Nolen, shifted
the emphasis to the “ 1” from the “ 2” and “ 4” backbeats. Nonetheless, JB classics like “I Got You (I Feel Good)” from 1964 and the monumental “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” a year later are based on 12-bar I, IV, and V changes. Nolen, who previously had a modest career as a West
Coast blues guitarist in the 1950s, had a rhythmic and harmonic concept that complemented the “Godfather of Soul,” who likewise sang blues
and R&B in the same era. Albert Collins, the great Texas blues guitarist, was quite fond of funk and perpetuated it in tunes like “Ice Pick” from
1978 and “I Got That Feeling” and “Cold Cuts” from 1981.
Example 1 utilizes a classic octave bass line that shouts “funk” as the “bass-is” for measures 1–8 of the I and IV chord changes. Bass player
extraordinaire, Larry Graham, from Graham Central Station, who is credited with “inventing” slap bass, employed the move to great effect
as have all who have followed in his snapping and popping wake. It is derived from the A and D minor pentatonic scales and comprises a
two-measure “call” that allows for beats 3 and 4 of measures 2, 4, 6, and 8 to be filled with a “response.” Observe how they all contain
various degrees of harmony with double stops and triple stops, save for measure 6 of the IV chord that features a popular blues bend that
nails the D major tonality. A particularly groovy fill occurs in measure 8 of the I chord as an arcing double-string bend that creates surprising
musical tension leading to the V chord in measure 9. Dig the hip 7#9 chords for the V and IV changes in measures 9 and 10, respectively.
A fave of funketeers, Jimi Hendrix famously used E7#9 as the I chord in “Purple Haze” in 1967.
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110 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2010
www.premierguitar.com
