The Instrument: The Funk

      It is clear that instrumentation is a very versatile tool that can accomplish a wide variety of musical goals. I often like to compare musical instrumentation to crafted writing and literature, as I believe music to be an entire language of its own. The metaphor of music as a language is incredibly fitting; the parallelism between the creative opportunity and intricacy of both forms of art are immaculate. Just as writing can be channeled into specific, intricate shapes in the forms of different genres, instrumentation can be manipulated to different generic forms as well. What do I mean by this? Well, take the drums as an example. The sounds of the drum, played in any musical setting, sounds the same. Every time you snap the snares and crash the cymbals, as long as you hit them with the same strength and speed, they will sound the same. However, it is the specific instrumentation and mastery of the drums that allows for distinct drumming styles that are specific to certain genres of music. In other words, instrumentation dictates and defines musical genre. So, I would love to take the time to analyze how instrumentation shapes one of my favorite music genres of all time: the world of funk.

James Brown, a founding father of the funk genre.

     I love funk music. There is no other genre of music that can make me drop whatever I'm doing instantly and groove and dance to the beat. Funk music originated in the late 1960's when African American musicians created the rhythmic genre by taking heavy influences from other genres such as soul, jazz and R&B. Funk caught fire, as artists such as James Brown, The Temptations, and Earth, Wind & Fire began to shape the American musical landscape of the next decade. 

     So what makes funk music so unique? What makes it tick? Well, funk music was almost revolutionary in a way because it de-emphasized the melodic aspects of music, and focused heavily on the rhythm. In fact, funk music brings the cooperating rhythm of the electric bass and the drums to the spotlight. The entirety of the funk song revolves around this tight groove established by the rhythm section. Being a bass guitarist myself, this is probably why I enjoy the genre so much. The emphasis of the bass allows for more creative freedom in the rhythm section, as it is the centerpiece of the song. 

Papa Was A Rolling Stone, The Temptations

      Here is a song the exemplifies the spirit of funk music. Although the song is 12 minutes long, you can understand the essence of the song in the opening bass line. The instrumental setup demonstrated in this Temptations song and in other works of funk function for a variety of reasons. First of all, funk music is not extremely complex; it is very easy to listen to. This is because funk grooves utilize relatively simple chord progressions. Usually, funk songs stick to one chord, using variances of the notes and riffs that are a part of that chord. In addition to the short, staccato blasts of the sounds of the horns and melodic accompaniment, funk music can be described as short, sweet, and to the point.