The following riffs show that, as an alternative
to using a common barre chord shape,
a variety of chord voicings may be used for a
dominant 7th chord, which is the foundation
for many funk grooves. Ex. 1 shows a Tower
of Power or Prince-style treatment of a D7
chord. Keep the chords clipped, staccato, and
super-tight. In Ex. 2, we see an Eb9 chord
used in a James Brown style. In this rootless
voicing, the pinky is free to play the 13
of the chord on the 8th fret of the high-E
string. Ex. 3 represents an Earth, Wind & Fire
shape for E7#9 using only two notes! The
scratches in between the chords are just as
important as the notes, so dig right into
them. A D funk riff in the style of the Meters
is shown in Ex. 4. The single-note line uses
a minor third as part of its sound, and it is
followed by a three-note chord shape, a D9
with no root or 3 (notice it looks like an Am
triad). The last chord struck is a double-stop
(often used in blues tunes), with the F functioning
as the #9, and the A being the 5.
Lastly, funk master Nile Rodgers sometimes
used this three-note grip in Ex. 5 for a dominant
7th chord.
The following riffs show that, as an alternative
to using a common barre chord shape,
a variety of chord voicings may be used for a
dominant 7th chord, which is the foundation
for many funk grooves. Ex. 1 shows a Tower
of Power or Prince-style treatment of a D7
chord. Keep the chords clipped, staccato, and
super-tight. In Ex. 2, we see an Eb9 chord
used in a James Brown style. In this rootless
voicing, the pinky is free to play the 13
of the chord on the 8th fret of the high-E
string. Ex. 3 represents an Earth, Wind & Fire
shape for E7#9 using only two notes! The
scratches in between the chords are just as
important as the notes, so dig right into
them. A D funk riff in the style of the Meters
is shown in Ex. 4. The single-note line uses
a minor third as part of its sound, and it is
followed by a three-note chord shape, a D9
with no root or 3 (notice it looks like an Am
triad). The last chord struck is a double-stop
(often used in blues tunes), with the F functioning
as the #9, and the A being the 5.
Lastly, funk master Nile Rodgers sometimes
used this three-note grip in Ex. 5 for a dominant
7th chord.
There are many things to consider when
looking to improve your understanding of
funk guitar playing. First and foremost, listen—
often—to classic funk recordings from
artists such as the Meters, Tower of Power,
Earth, Wind & Fire, and James Brown.
That’s the surest path into funkytown.
Steve Briody has worked with Jeff Lorber, Eric
Marienthal, Dave Valentin, Bernard Purdie, and
Randy Brecker. He is a guitar instructor at Five
Towns College in New York. Visit his site at stevebriody.
com, and the college’s website at ftc.edu.