TrueFire
Try For Free

Funktronic Groove Construction

Insights & Approaches For Crafting Groove Oriented Music

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access

Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.

Purchase Individual Course for $5.00
Funktronic Groove Construction
Freekbass

Freekbass

Educator

funk

Genres

About this course

Funktronic is a modern organic blend of funk, electronica and hip-hop. At the very core of this style are the grooves created by the bass player and the DJ and who better than Freekbass and DJ Logic to show you the ins and outs of crafting this distinctive and fresh sound palette.

DJ Logic has recorded or performed with Vernon Reid, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, Jack Johnson, Chris Whitley, Uri Caine, Christian McBride and Bob Weir's Ratdog. His mentor was Vernon Reid, and the twosome recorded and toured occasionally as the Yohimbe Brothers.

Freekbass has released six full-length CDs, including Concentrate with guests Bootsy Collins, DJ Spooky, Adam Deitch, and Steve Molitz, and Junkyard Waltz which includes guest appearances by Phish bassist Mike Gordon, guitarist Buckethead, keyboard wizard from P-Funk/Talking Heads Bernie Worrell, and is produced by funk legend Bootsy Collins.

Funktronic Groove Construction is organized into two main sections. In the first section, Constructing Grooves, Freekbass shows you how to construct 13 grooves by creating bass parts from DJ Logic’s beats: The Funky Floor, Sync The Double, Up The Thump, The Dominant Pluck, The Electric Machine, Three Of A Perfect Pair, Octavers & Harmonizers, Loop Station, Mutron & Filter Pedal, Space Is The Place, Listen And They Will Thump, Rhythm Thumb and Hypnotize.

In the second section of the course, DJ Logic shows you how he creates a beat and then interacts with Freekbass to construct a series of 8 Funktronic Grooves: Step By Step, Hypno Funk, Take It UP!, Scratch That, I Sample That, Same House, Making The Jump, and Drop It. Each of the Funktronic Grooves feature a playalong, which you are encouraged to join in on.

All of the bass lines are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Freekbass and DJ Logic generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.

Grab your bass, or your turntable, and lets get in the groove with Freekbass and DJ Logic!

What you'll learn

  • Collaborative arrangement and composition techniques
  • How to construct a groove from scratch
  • Building bass lines that follow song structure rather than staying stagnant
  • Developing the ability to mimic vocal and melodic samples on bass
  • Building grooves that complement sampled elements
Release date: 01/19/2016 • 1h 47m runtime
intermediatelate intermediatebassbass lines
Start Course
Sample lessons
The Funky Floor
The Funky Floor
Groove Construction 1
The Dominant Pluck
The Dominant Pluck
Groove Construction 4
Hypnotize
Hypnotize
Groove Construction 13
Scratch That
Scratch That
Construction Demo

What's included

33 lessons • 21 charts • 21 Jam Tracks

Funktronic Groove Construction
Hi, this is Freekbass and welcome to Funktronic Groove Construction, featuring my man, DJ Logic. Funktronic is a modern organic blend of funk, electronica, and hip-hop. At the core of this style are the grooves created by the bass and the DJ. In this course, I'm going to show you how to collaborate with the DJ and craft funktronic grooves.

The course is organized into two main sections, the first section focusing on how to create bass grooves based on DJ Logic's beats. In the second section of the course, we'll show you how to create a beat and work together to construct a funktronic groove. Once it's worked out, we'll perform a full version of the groove so you can follow along.

All of the bass lines are tabbed and notated, and you'll get the jam tracks from DJ Logic so you can practice the basslines or create your own! Ready to groove? Let's get busy!
SECTION 1: Constructing Grooves
In this first section, we'll create basslines based of kick drum patterns created by DJ Logic. I'll explain how the basslines should both mimic and compliment the pattern of the kick drum.
The Funky Floor
"The Funky Floor" will be a straight "4 on the floor" beat. DJ Logic will start it off, and I'll play a 4 on the floor bass line. By locking directly with the kick, you can create a very hypnotic groove. Freek will show you this finger-style technique and also talk about note-choice/scales/arpeggios, etc.
Sync The Double
"Sync The Double" is based on a syncopated kick drum pattern. I'll mimic the kick pattern like in the first beat, but in this example we'll use the double-thumb technique on right hand. Here we'll look at the double-thumb technique in detail, and look at how it can be used for syncopated patterns like this one.
Up The Thump
"Up The Thump" has a very up tempo and syncopated beat. We'll use the thump and pluck technique, going over how it can lock with just the kick drum at this accelerated tempo.
The Dominant Pluck
"The Dominant Pluck" will be a dominant "snare on the 2 & 4" groove with some snare syncopation. Here we'll look at using your fingers alongside the snare drum rhythm. As bassists, we have notes to choose from that accent the rhythms. At first, we'll just mimic the snare drum rhythm, but then bring in the thumb to "thump" the kick drum pattern as well. When thumping and plucking, your thumb/thump becomes the kick drum and your index finger that plucks the snare drum.
The Electric Machine
In this lesson, we'll look at both finger and double-thumb techniques you can mimic to emulate the hi-hat rhythms and snare to create pulsating, electric basslines. I'll also show you ghost notes and muting which creates an almost percussive and machine-like feel and sound.

+ 26 more lessons

Start Course

Reviews

7 results

Hypnoblade

Verified buyer

02/12/26

Excellent alternative take on bass playing

This is a great course that moves away from the regular, blues , rock or funk bass lessons. Excellent explaining how to interact with a hip hop DJ. Perfect if you’re in to that style.

Arturoperez

Verified buyer

06/26/20

Buenísimo

tjgqbyron

Verified buyer

06/21/20

Insightful Instruction

For those who mostly play by feel but are stuck in a rut, this course articulates ideas you can try which might just be new to you.

Peter P.

05/02/20

Loads To Learn Regardless of The Style of Music You Play

I bought this course primarily to expand my musical repertoire and after the first couple of lessons, I found myself thinking about the bass in a whole new way. This series speaks to a certain style of bass but I have learned much from the course! If you are on the fence all I can say is it is easily worth the monetary investment and the investment of your time!

Dragan

03/22/20

Great insights!

Even though I am not really into electronic music, I bought this course on a sale, and was thrilled to see just how much of a good decision it was. Namely, although the main focus of the course is formulating a pocket and establishing solid groove, if you give it just a little thought, it is actually a course on composition, too. Freakbass isn't just talking about rhythms and note selection, but also about overall sonic image he is trying to depict, and along the way makes you see the process of making music in a new and different ways, thus pushing your understanding of music further than I had suspected it would go with this one. Another thing is, when making music in this format, your role as a bass player becomes much more highlighted and that gives you the opportunity to really see your own game in microscopic detail, and to improve it accordingly.

Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.

Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.

Learn MoreStart Free Trial

Similar courses

50 Blues Bass Licks You Must Know

50 Blues Bass Licks You Must Know

Jasper Mortier
Jasper Mortier
Pentatonic Playground For Bass

Pentatonic Playground For Bass

Ariane Cap
Ariane Cap
Essentials: Rock Bass Grooves

Essentials: Rock Bass Grooves

Stu Hamm
Stu Hamm
Essentials: Funk Bass Grooves

Essentials: Funk Bass Grooves

Stu Hamm
Stu Hamm
Browse Library