thinking about playing like a band. They’re
playing the bass, rhythm guitar, melody, and
background parts at the same time.
Let’s start by looking at just the kick and
snare parts. In Fig. 2 we use a single bass
note for the kick drum and some chord stabs
for the snare. This example is the composite
rhythm of the drum groove condensed down
to two parts.
In Fig. 3 we add a muted percussive sound
that will give us the feel of the 16th-note pattern originally played on the hi-hats. It’s possible to add this feel to any rhythm part. Non-pitched sounds are an essential part of the
rhythm guitar vocabulary and can be achieved
by maintaining steady up and down strokes
while muting the notes you aren’t playing. We
can further embellish the basic pattern with
Fig. 4, which adds a little more melodic movement to the basic 16th-note chordal pattern.
Leo Nocentelli, the Meters’ guitarist, had a huge influence on me with his
unique approach to playing melody and
rhythm. Both Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 demonstrate how to combine melodic fragments
to create a moving and funky groove.
This is one of the keys to adding variety
to funk guitar parts. Try to imitate a horn
section or a combination of different
instruments playing in different registers.
Leo calls this a “layering technique,” in
which you play in several registers to
simulate different instruments playing at
the same time.
We move back to the bare-bones kick
and snare pattern in Fig. 7, but add an
African twist. Try playing it with the picking hand muting the strings. You can also
try changing the notes you play while
keeping the same rhythmic pattern.
A different harmonic element appears in
Fig. 8, the D Phrygian mode (D–E%–F–G–
A–B%–C). You can think of this scale in two
ways: either a Bb major scale starting on D
or a minor scale with a lowered 2, 6, and
7. It gives a jazzier, exotic feel to the harmony. Also notice that the chords are built
on fourths, which is a staple of modal jazz
harmony.
As you can see, we are basically turning
the guitar into a melodic drum, and by studying patterns such as these you can open up a
whole new world of cohesive rhythmic playing. This study will also give you more of an
awareness of how to lock in with your rhythm
section. Next time you play with a drummer
or a drum track, practice playing along using
the hi-hat as the subdivided pulse and try to
mimic the snare and kick patterns to work on
developing your rhythmic sync.
Fig. 5
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