There's a special vibe about funk. It's often not considered as virtuosic as rock, as emotive as blues or as intimate as folk. Rather, its selling point is all about the groove. Core to this is the rhythm section, which consists of drums, bass and electric guitar. If this trio of instruments is really cooking as a unit, the rest of the band — from keys and horns to vocals — gets to dine on the rhythmic ecstasy. James Brown knew this. So did Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, and Chic.
Randy Jacobs knows this too.
More importantly, he knows what the guitar needs to do to be truly funky.
Respected for his work with Was Not Was, Randy has enjoyed numerous collaborations over the years with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson and Billy Preston. His guitar grooves are both infectious and tight, something that holds true from his 1980s pop-funk playing through to his current blues-funk band, the Boneshakers, whose latest album is Live to Be This.
In this exclusive article, you'll see Randy play deep grooves with his thumb, Wes Montgomery style, and explain what he's doing to make them so powerful. But here's the twist: For each of the six examples, Randy uses only one drum and a bass groove featuring the notes E, A and B. With that as a bare foundation, he demonstrates how beneficial a broad rhythmic and harmonic vocabulary is by using 16th note–based grooves, muted strings and classic funk chords.
One groove, six different guitar performances — all killer funk.
Jon Bishop is a U.K.-based guitarist and freelance musician, and a longtime contributor to Guitar Techniques and Total Guitar. He's a graduate of the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and is a touring and recording guitarist for British rock and roll royalty Shakin’ Stevens. As a fan of funk and groove guitar, he's well suited for transcribing Randy's stunning guitar chops.
Example 1: Spank a Lank groove
Here Randy lays down solid funk guitar, combining chord fragments, single-note popping and muted strokes. The picking-hand thumb is used for strumming, and Randy keeps his hand moving over the strings to ensure good timing. Although based in E Dorian (E F# G A B C# D), the briefly played Am9 chords dip into E natural minor (E F# G A B C D) territory.
Example 2: Dancing Shoes
Slash chords feature here, creating colorful movement: the G/E (G chord over E bass) to F#m/E movement sounds great. The A/B chord (sometimes also called B11) is used a lot in funk and R&B. For the embellishments in bar two/beat 4, simply hammer onto the 9th fret while letting the first string ring out. The second string can be muted by the fretting-hand fingers.
Example 3. Bluish Hump groove
This groove is inspired by bands like the Rolling Stones. Instead of using high-pitched chords, it features meaty low-string notes. The move from B to E/B is classic Keith Richards terrain. To play this, place a first-finger barre on the 4th fret, and then use the second and third fingers to add the E/B chord.
Example 4: I Can Smell It groove
Randy turns the funk up a notch more now by incorporating several concepts already showcased, including muted strokes, low-end riff work and funky chord fragments. To create the spank, he slides a tritone double-stop up a semitone, from the 4th fret to 5th fret, and then strums the open first and second strings. The B7#9sus4 chord is a classic sound used by many acts, including the Average White Band and Prince.
Example 5: Smooth Strum Funk groove
Here, Randy changes direction and uses smooth-sounding major 7 chords. To add more movement, he slides into the Emaj7 from a semitone below (Ebmaj7). This sets up a pleasing tension and release. The E/A chord provides a rich Amaj9 sound. Another vibrant choice is the use of double-stops. Randy slides a first finger barre between the 7th and 9th frets on the first and second strings. Slinky!
Example 6: Spankala groove
For the final fretboard funking, Randy mostly plays two notes of an Em9 chord for a big and confident sound. This can be changed to an Em7 by dropping the first finger off. To provide some light and shade, the Em9 chord can also be played in full. Randy allows the open first and second strings to ring when fingering the Bm11 chord, providing a very resonant sound.
