Another characteristic typical of funky is the use of muting, either on single notes or chords. There are two relatively different muting techniques used.
In the first case you release the pressure on the strings from the fingers of the left hand, without removing the fingers, but releasing the pressure on the strings. Be aware of the fact that this system could cause undesirable harmonics, but this technique is surely very useful, particularly in the rhythm of the chords.
Another way is to stop the interested strings with the palm of the right hand. At times, however, this technique can be uncomfortable if three or more strings are played. It is therefore preferable to use this technique when playing single notes. This technique is called palm-muting. Generally the right hand is used for stopping undesirable vibrations of the strings while playing.
Muting done by both hands creates ghost-notes. These are nothing but muted notes (usually single), without the harmonic characteristics of the notes.
The following exercises will give you a first hand look at these techniques. I recommended using the muting technique where you release of the pressure with the left hand.
|
The first example is so simple that its practically boring. However it's used to verify the placement of both the hands, according to the criteria from the previous paragraph. The E note at the 7th fret of the 5th string, played with the third finger of the left hand, is used for our experiment. |
|
Ex. 2
|
The same rhythmics of the previous exercise on a chord. The same rules apply, being careful to play the strings in the fingering. |
|
Ex. 3
|
Now lets look at single note rhythms that include rests and muting. For this exercise, slow down the speed of playing until you have reached the ideal velocity, in this way you will understand the movements better. This example uses the mute on the second movement of the bar, where we get a percussive-type movement which is very interesting from a rhythmic point of view. |
|
Ex. 4
|
Similar to the previous exercise, but this time using the palm-muting technique. Palm-muting stops the strings with the palm of the right hand. Although this technique is less percussive than muting with the left hand, it is very common, especially in rock. |
|
Ex. 5
|
Returning to our E7/9 chord with a 1970's funky rhythm. Besides having muting, there is also the slide of a semi-tone between the Eb7/9 and its "twin" E7/9, obtained by sliding the Eb7/9 chord from the sixth to the seventh fret, maintaining the pressure of the fingers on the strings. The muting is done by slightly releasing the pressure of the fingers. |
|
|
|
 Top of the page |
|
|
