'The funk guitarist is a percussionist who happens to know chords: the strumming arm plays constant sixteenths like a hi-hat, and the fret hand decides which of them speak. Play the gaps the bass leaves, keep voicings small and high, and serve The One.',
comping:[
{
label:'16th-note scratch foundation',
rhythm:'1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a — DUDU, never stops',
description:'Mute everything with the fret hand and strum constant sixteenths — pure percussion first. Voiced hits are added by pressing the chord only on chosen slots, releasing pressure immediately after (the choke).',
},
{
label:'Chicken scratch ("chika")',
rhythm:'muted down-up 16th pairs',
description:'Jimmy Nolen\'s signature: strings pressed just enough for a pitchless scratch, strummed near the bridge. The texture between the hits IS the part.',
},
{
label:'JB one-bar cell',
rhythm:'C x x x x x x x x x C x x x x x — hits on 1 and the &-of-3',
description:'Chord stab on the One (always the One), a second on the and-of-3, ghosts everywhere else. The school pattern behind a hundred James Brown grooves.',
},
{
label:'Sex Machine pattern',
rhythm:'9 . . . 9 . . . 13 . . . . . . 9',
description:'I9 on beats 1 and 2, I13 on beat 3, an upstroke 9 at the bar\'s tail — the documented Eb9/Eb13 figure. The top note rocking 5↔13 is the hook.',
},
{
label:'Nile Rodgers selective 16ths',
rhythm:'arm = metronome; the pick chooses string groups',
description:'Down-up sixteenths never stop, whether or not strings are struck. Accents come from catching the bottom of the grip vs the top-3 fragment, plus fret-hand chucks. Built on what he doesn\'t play.',
},
],
plays:{
'funk-one-chord':[
{
label:'The Nolen cycle (9 → 13 → 9sus4)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'I9 — the funk chord'},
{shape:NINESUS,extensions:['b7','9'],note:'one-finger barre — the lift'},
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'and home'},
],
tips:'Three grips, one fret position, zero chord changes — the whole arrangement is the top two strings breathing. Choke every hit; the scratch between them never stops.',
},
{
label:'Grit set (7♯9 stabs)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:HENDRIX,extensions:['#9'],note:'I7♯9 — major and minor third at once'},
{shape:THIRTEEN,extensions:['9','13'],note:''},
{shape:NINESUS,extensions:['b7','9'],note:''},
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:''},
],
tips:'The ♯9 is the blues clash built into one grip — use it for the stabs you want to hurt, the clean 9 for the ones that groove. Sparser than the Nolen cycle: half the hits, twice the silence.',
},
],
'funk-dorian-vamp':[
{
label:'Chameleon pair (m9 + 9)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:M9,extensions:['9'],note:'i9'},
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'IV9 — same fret region, one string set'},
],
tips:'Both grips share the A-string root region — the change is two fingers, not a position. Sixteenth scratch throughout; voice the chords only on the accents the bass leaves open.',
},
{
label:'D\'Angelo barre (m11 wash)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:M11_BARRE,extensions:['11'],note:'i11 — one finger, all six strings'},
{shape:THIRTEEN_6,extensions:['13'],note:'IV13'},
],
tips:'The one-finger m11 is the deepest chord in funk for the least effort — lay it across and let the fret hand bounce for the rhythm. Keep it short; six strings of m11 sustained is soup.',
},
],
'funk-25-loop':[
{
label:'Le Freak grips',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:M7_6,note:'ii7 — 6th-string root'},
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'V9 — 5th-string root, same position'},
],
tips:'The Chic move: full grip held, pick selecting string groups in constant 16ths. Freak out on the mutes, not the volume.',
tips:'The Stevie Wonder colour: 9ths on both sides of the loop. Push the V13 an eighth early every second bar and the loop starts to roll forward.',
},
],
'funk-bvii-move':[
{
label:'One grip, whole-step slide',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'I9'},
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'♭VII9 — two frets down, same grip'},
],
tips:'The E9→D9 figure: the move is the slide itself — keep light finger pressure during the shift so the landing speaks. Snap back up to the I ON the One.',
},
{
label:'Grit on the I, clean below',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:HENDRIX,extensions:['#9'],note:'I7♯9'},
{shape:NINE,extensions:['9'],note:'♭VII9'},
],
tips:'Contrast as arrangement: the ♯9 bites on home, the plain 9 relaxes a whole step down. Save this pairing for the bridge or the last vamp out.',
},
],
'funk-smooth-loop':[
{
label:'A-string roots (September set)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:MAJ7_5,note:'IVmaj7'},
{shape:M9,extensions:['9'],note:'iii9'},
{shape:M9,extensions:['9'],note:'ii9 — whole grip down two frets'},
{shape:M9,extensions:['9'],note:'back up'},
],
tips:'The loop is one m9 grip walking between iii and ii under a stationary maj7 anchor. Clean tone, light palm mute, hits shorter than you think.',
},
{
label:'Top-4 shimmer (with keys/horns)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:MAJ7_TOP4,note:'IVmaj7 — top four strings only'},
{shape:M7_TOP4,note:'iii7 — one-finger barre'},
{shape:M7_TOP4,note:'ii7'},
{shape:M7_TOP4,note:''},
],
tips:'When keys and horns are present this register is yours and nothing below it. The barre fragments slide as one shape — think of it as playing the top of the arrangement, not chords.',
},
],
},
improv:{
scales:[
{over:'i7–IV7 vamps',scale:'dorian',why:'The whole vamp is one Dorian scale — Chameleon\'s entire harmony fits inside it. The natural 6 is the funk note.'},
{over:'I9 one-chord vamps',scale:'mixolydian',why:'Mixolydian plus the minor-pentatonic/blues blend — the 7♯9 chord literally spells that major/minor mix.'},
{over:'ii7–V9 loops',scale:'dorian',why:'Dorian on the ii covers both chords; it\'s the same dyad as the minor vamp heard from the ii.'},
{over:'maj7 loops',scale:'major',why:'Diatonic major/pentatonic — the EWF horn-line sweetness. Target 9ths and 6ths, not roots.'},
],
targetNotes:
'Funk solos are mostly chord fragments: the 3+♭7 tritone pair and the ♭7+9 pair of the 9 grip, slid in from a half-step below. Over static harmony, develop RHYTHM — state a short motif, displace it inside the 16th grid, add and remove ghosts. The harmony will not save you; the pocket will.',
licks:[
{
over:'funk-dorian-vamp',
description:'Cissy Strut main line (The Meters, 1969): a descending Cm7 arpeggio answered by double-stop stabs — upper-structure fragments of the i11.',
tab:'e|------------------|---------------6-6--5-5--\nB|------------------|---------------6-6--6-6--\nG|--5--3--0---------|---------------7-7--5-5--\nD|-----------1b-----|-------------------------\nA|--------------3---|--1--3--1--3-------------\n C Bb G Eb C Bb C Bb C (stab pairs)',
character:'One or two chords, sixteen subdivisions: harmony freezes so rhythm can talk. The guitar is a drum with pitch — most strokes are muted, and colour lives in the chord quality (9, 13, ♯9), not the changes.',
songs:['Get Up (Sex Machine) — James Brown','Cold Sweat — James Brown',"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"],
tip:'The harmony never moves — the chord QUALITY does: 9 → 13 → 9sus4 → 9 is the whole arrangement. Funk colour lives in the voicing, not the progression.',
},
{
id:'funk-dorian-vamp',
name:'Dorian two-chord vamp (i7–IV7)',
rn:['i9','IV9'],
degrees:[0,5],
qualities:['min7','dom7'],
bars:[1,1],
mode:'dorian',
songs:['Chameleon — Herbie Hancock','Use Me — Bill Withers','Cissy Strut — The Meters (i7 side)'],
tip:'THE funk pair: both chords live inside one Dorian scale, so soloists never have to switch. The major IV is what makes it Dorian, not sad.',
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