Lets Get Funky!

Funk music started in 1960s. it was created to be more of a rhythmic and danceable format mixing of soul jazz, and R&B. Funk was absorbed and reconstituted in New Orleans. It was during and after the Civil Rights Movement. It favored the message like the blues and used what was going on around them to relay the message to the world. It was to challenge the daily struggles and hardships fought by the lower an hard-working class communities.

Some examples of these songs are, " Say It Loud- I'm Black and I'm Proud," "Superfly," "Soul Power" and "Who's Gonna Take the Weight." Funk can be easily tracked back to one simple man. 

This man is known as James Brown, he was a very successful soul singer before he joined the bandwagon of Funk. Mr. Brown developed his own signature groove which had emphasized the downbeat. It was heavily emphasis the first beat of the measure to etch his distinctive sound that he wanted instead of having the backbeat that African American music had. He cued his band changing the percussion from one-two-three which is traditional for soul music. He transition to one-two-three-four downbeat instead. His music was catchy with an anthemic vocals. His song 'Cold Sweat' is known as the first proper funk song. It has one-chord, bass and drum focused instrumentals. Therefore, funk has many different instrument that are included in the genre. All the instruments in the funk genre include: the bass, the drums, the electric guitar, the keyboards, and lastly different forms of horns. 

            Here is the song 'Cold Sweat' by James Brown: 

The first instrument that was one of the most important to the funk genre is the bass. It creates the groove using strong guitar riffs and bassline played on the electric bass. The bassline is most prominent in the genre, which the bass is pretty much the "hook" of the songs. When funk first started to come around, they used syncopation, but later funk basslines used sixteenth note syncopation, blue scales, and repetitive patterns. Also, the later funk period often had leaps of an octave or a larger interval in the basslines. The funk basslines emphasize repetitive patterns, locked-in grooves, continuous playing, and slap and popping bass. On the bass slapping and popping is a mixture of thumb-slapped on low notes and finger is "popped" or plucked on high notes. This allows the bass to have a drum-like rhythmic role. The funk bass is an earthy percussive kind of feel which is mainly due to the use of muted, rhythmic ghost notes. Ghost notes are also called dead notes. Some use the electrical effects units to alter the tone of their instrument. Sometimes, fuzz bass effects are used to create more of funk genre include flanger and bass chorus.

    The next instrument we will talk about in the funk genre are the drums. The drums on the funk genre create a groove by emphasizing the drummers feel and emotions including occasional tempo fluctuations. That is the swing feel within the song you can hear or feel. Drum fills are few and economical which is to ensure that the drumming stays with a steady tempo and groove. With these techniques they are supplemented by a set-up for the drum kit that often includes muffled bass drums and toms and tightly tuned snare drums. 

    To add on to the drums instruments another type of drum that is used is the double bass drumming. Its sounds are often done by funk drummers with a single pedal, an approach which muffled bass drum sound. Going back to our famous artist James Brown, he used two drummers in recording and soul shows. By him doing this he was able to maintain a solid syncopated rhythmic sound. In funk, a key part to drumming is to use the hi-hat, with opening and closing the hi-hats during playing being an important approach. Sometimes in funk, they used two-handed sixteenth notes on the hi-hats, with a degree of swing feel. In funk, the drumming uses a wide-open approach to improvisation around rhythmic ideas from Latin music, ostinatos, that are repeated with only slight variations. 

    Next, we will be talking about the electric guitar. With funk, they often mix playing chords for a short duration with faster rhythms and riffs. They often play sixteenth notes, including with percussive "ghost notes". However, in funk they typically use two interlocking guitar parts, with rhythm guitarist and a tenor guitarist who plays single notes. these two usually trade off their lines to create a call and response, interwind pockets. If the band only has one guitarist, they may will play both part of the sing in a live show, but if they are recording, they will recreate by over dubbing in the studio. They typically play in a percussive style, using a style of picking called the chank or chicken scratch. This is when the guitar strings are pressed lightly against the fingerboard and then quickly released just enough to get a muted scratching sound that is produced by rapid rhythmic strumming of the opposite hand near the bridge.

    Keyboards are nexts on our list that we are going to talk more about. There is a rang of keyboards that are used in funk. The acoustic piano, the electric, the clavinet, the hammond organ, and many more. The synthesizers were used in funk both to add to the deep sound of the electric bass, or even to replace the electric bass altogether. Funk synthesizer bass, most often a Minimoog was used because it could create layered sounds and new electronic tones that were not feasible on electric bass.

    Lastly, the different horns. Funk horns sections could include: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and for larger horn sections, such as quintets and sextets, and baritone sax. They played rhythmic and syncopated parts. Which is often with offbeat phrases that emphasize rhythmic displacement. The songs' introductions are an important place for the horn's arrangements. 

    Another part of the funk genre which is not instrumental but very important is the vocals and lyrics. They were highly influenced by the blues, gospels, jazz, and doo-wop. Like these other African American styles such as call and response and narration of stories. In funk the call and response were between the lead singer and the band members who act as backup vocalists. 

    To include our discussion the last part of funk the clothing. With the funk being during the 60s they styles of the costumes were also different. They adopted Afro-American fashion and style, including bell bottom pants, platform shoes, hoop earings, Afros, leather vests, beaded necklaces, dashiki shirts, jumpsuits, and boots. Some bands would wear matching suits and neat haircuts to appeal to the white mainstream audiences, funk bands also adopted an African spirit int he outfits and styles. 

                                                                                        Work Cited

Lewis, M. M. (2022, February 6). Black history month: Funk, part One. HITS Daily Double. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=320109&title=BLACK-HISTORY-MONTH:-FUNK-PART-ONE#:~:text=The%20soundtrack%20to%20African%2DAmerican,Today).%E2%80%9D%20The%20period's%20funk

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, March 21). Funk. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk

https://mn2s.com/news/features/funk-foundations/#:~:text=Funk%20was%20born%20from%20the,Orleans%20since%20the%20mid%2D1900s.