Nile Rodgers' wisdom led Cory Wong to adopt a different approach when strumming barre-chord voicings, aiming for a smoother, less 'chunky' sound.
In the realm of funk music, rhythm guitar plays a crucial role in creating the signature groove that drives the genre. Two iconic musicians, Nile Rodgers and Prince, have left indelible marks on funk rhythm guitar with their unique techniques and styles. Here are some key strumming techniques and tips to help you capture that funky feel.
Consistent Hand Motion
Maintain a constant up-and-down strumming hand movement, akin to a metronome, even when not every stroke hits the strings. This creates solid timing and a smooth groove, essential for funk rhythm guitar.
Muted Percussive Strums (Chicken Scratch)
Lightly rest your fretting hand on the strings without fully pressing to mute them, producing a scratchy, percussive "click" sound instead of a pitched note. This funky "scratch" on upstrokes or offbeats is essential for that tight, rhythmic feel.
16th Note Ghost Strums
Fill every 16th note subdivision with a strum, often ghosted (muted), to keep the rhythm busy and groovy. This keeps the motion fluid and danceable.
Short, Staccato Notes
Funk rhythm guitar relies on clean, short notes with immediate muting to avoid sustain, emphasizing rhythm over melody.
Syncopated Accents
Nile Rodgers and Prince use syncopated strumming patterns that emphasize off-beats and rests, creating a dynamic, funky groove. This often involves accenting some downstrokes and ghosting others while incorporating upstrokes to add bounce.
Precise Timing and Groove Focus
Both players focus heavily on locking in with the rhythm section, emphasizing strong groove and feel more than raw speed or complexity.
Nile Rodgers is known for his signature "chucking" technique, combining muted strums with selectively fretted notes to create interlocking rhythmic patterns. Prince similarly combines percussive strumming with syncopated chord stabs and quick note releases to drive funk grooves.
In summary:
| Technique | Description | Examples/Notes | |---------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------| | Constant strumming motion | Keep hand moving continuously up/down, not every stroke hits | Builds timing and smooth groove | | Muted percussive strums | Rest fretting hand lightly to mute strings, get "scratch" | Funk characteristic, aka "chucking" | | 16th note ghost strums | Strum (often muted) on every 16th note subdivision | Keeps rhythm busy and propulsive | | Short staccato notes | Play notes cleanly and mute quickly | Avoids ringing, tight rhythms | | Syncopated accents | Accent off-beats, ghost some strokes for groove | Creates funk bounce and groove | | Groove focus | Lock in tightly with drums/bass | Essential for Nile Rodgers and Prince style |
These tips align with the demonstrations and tutorials referenced, emphasizing rhythmic consistency, muting techniques, and the percussive backbeat essential for funk guitar rhythm. The strumming pattern is usually in a 16th-note rhythm, and if a full barre-chord voicing for each chord were used, it would feel too "chunky." Instead, the author follows Nile's advice to "Fret the whole chord form, but only sound parts of it at certain times, moving the right hand from the lower to the higher strings; this adds clarity and definition."
For example, the main chord progression for the author's tune Cosmic Sans is Em11 - Cmaj7 - A7 - F#m7b5 - B7#5. Figure 5 offers an example of a chord progression played in Rodgers' rhythm style. In funk-style music, the rhythm parts combine notes, chords, muted-string accents, and silence to create syncopated rhythms. Figure 2 applies the strumming technique to a chord progression, while Figure 3 applies the technique in a funk context.
In an alternating pattern, the right hand strums down-up-down-up in 16th notes. On beats 2 and 4 in Figure 4, the downbeats are silent while muted-string accents are strummed in steady 16ths. In the holes of silence in Figure 4, the right hand swings over the strings without touching them. The right hand is crucial for strumming in music, and in Nile's approach, he often moves back and forth between full chords and smaller voicings, as in Figure 6. His tunes Good Times and Le Freak are great examples of this.
- To create the percussive "scratch" sound characteristic of funk rhythm guitar, lightly rest your fretting hand on the strings without fully pressing to mute them, producing a scratchy, percussive "click" sound instead of a pitched note, a technique often referred to as "chicken scratch".
- The signature "chucking" technique of Nile Rodgers involves combining muted strums with selectively fretted notes to create interlocking rhythmic patterns, adding complexity and clarity to the funk rhythm.
- When playing funk-style music, the rhythm parts often combine notes, chords, muted-string accents, and silence to create syncopated rhythms. This technique, combined with consistent hand motion, short, staccato notes, and syncopated accents, can help capture the essential funky feel and contribute to the entertainment value of music.
