This lesson covers a pretty simple exercise for helping build speed with fast sixteenth note funk grooves. It uses variations on a basic groove working up in speed from 90bpm to 120bpm.
Building Stamina
If you have ever listened to any disco or funk bass lines by bands like Tower Of Power, you will notice that the grooves tend to contain a lot of 16ths and double notes. These repeated notes can be quite hard to get at first as your fingers need to do a lot more work. You need to be able to play them effortlessly at the required tempo, as a groove could go on for quite some time and a lack of stamina could have an affect on your timing and feel.
The exercises below are designed to build up your stamina by gradually introducing 16th notes into a repeating 8th note groove. Start off by learning the main groove and you will quickly realise that the rest of the patterns are the same with various notes doubled. Just doubling a few notes at first will give your fingers a chance to get used to the feeling before you try to keep a consistent groove with only 16ths.
Thanks Mark for another great lesson. Why are you emphasizing starting with your middle finger?? I alternate fingers but seem to always want to start with my index finger. I will try and unlearn this habit if it is indeed a bad one.
Nice job! This is a gospel shout run style. 20-30 mins at times.