This book takes an innovative approach to learning Funk guitar. Progressive Funk and R&B Guitar Method uses both chords and single note riffs to help the student gain control of timing and rhythms, which are essential to good Funk playing. Thus the book contains a study of both rhythm and lead guitar, since a Funk guitarist needs to be equally comfortable with both.
Many of the basic lead guitar techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends and slides are covered in the book, as well as the five basic major chord shapes. However, it will be helpful to have some basic knowledge of guitar before tackling the examples in this book. Progressive Beginner Guitar would be a useful primer to this book.
Progressive Funk and R&B Guitar Method also uses a unique method of studying chords. Instead of working through all the basic major and minor chords before moving on to the sounds Funk players use, this book goes straight to the dominant 7th chord, which is the heart of the Funk sound.
A variety of chord forms are introduced within a framework that quickly allows the student to play confidently over the entire fretboard. Other essential sounds such as the 9th chord are also introduced.
In Funk playing, what you do with the notes and where you put them is more important than how many different notes you play. It is largely the phrasing and timing, along with imaginative use of rhythms, that distinguishes the great players from the rest.
This book uses the concept of learning rhythms on one note and then applying them to riffs to help the student gain control of timing and phrasing as well as understanding the rhythms being played. Put all these things together and you have a recipe for dynamite grooves and funky riffs!
To improve your skills even further it is recommended that you use a metronome or drum machine when practicing all the examples in the book. If you are serious about music, a good teacher can often help you progress much quicker than you can on your own.
Keep practicing, keep playing and have fun,
Peter Gelling.
