Hey, I play piano in big band and we are working on a funk rendition of "lover man". What defines funk and what should I listen or rhythyms/harmony in order to understand and internalize funk?

Think groove. Think percussive. Think simple. Think about finding your part in the groove and sticking to it. Maybe you'll only play one chord every two bars.

Listen to George Clinton, Johnny Guitar Watson - Real Mother For Ya'. etc - Like EW said, it's all groove. Dr John is pretty funky. Big band funk? better google that!

Rick James

James Brown.

Listen to jazz funk for jazz funk, not Rick James and James Brown. In jazz funk the beat is usually divided into sixteenths.

Ramsey Lewis playing a jazz funk ballad, solo starts at 2:10 :

"So What"

Holy Cow, Jazz+! Thanks for posting "So What" -- fab!!!

There is no purer funk than Maceo:

http://m.youtube.com/?reload=3&rdm=mc3h0576m#/watch?v=ABLwmYI09Lw


Also the cats playing behind Bill Withers at his historic Carnegie recording produce some of the most tasteful funk grooves you can hear. Everyone should listen to that recording at least once.


IMO, funk is easy to funk up. If you aren't experienced, definitely keep it simple and try to feel a groove.

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" is a 1969 hit single recorded by Sly and the Family Stone, recognized as one of the greatest and most influential funk songs of all time. " Wikipedia...and an opinion I agree with, too

So just to check, I looked up "funk" in the dictionary and here was the definition I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23PbXau5Ex4