Play That Funky Music | TAB
The cliché with funk music is that we just jam over one chord. This likely stems from the rumour that James Brown would ask auditioning guitarists: “Can you play an Eb9 all night long?”
While Play That Funky Music does have more than one chord, the progression is almost static. We sit on E9 for a long time, move up to G9 for the chorus, and use Bb7sus2 to lead into the riff, before returning to E9.
Let’s look at what the guitars are playing—and more importantly, what you could play when asked to perform this classic. Here’s the first intro/main riff:
This riff kicks the tune off and must be played. Experiment with different articulations: slide in, hammer-on, slide both, or simply pick each note.
After playing it twice, the second guitar part enters. If you’re the only guitarist, consider switching to the chord riff and sticking with it, as it forms the backbone of the verse.
On the original recording, both parts are played simultaneously. Here’s the verse riff:
You can play this chord riff a couple of different ways—try finding variations. Add muted strums, or remove hits to change the feel.
Next up is the bridge. Again, there are two parts. Try both, but settle on one—it sounds odd to switch mid-section.
Now for the chorus. Notice how the rhythm part differs from the verse—it has a rhythmic displacement similar to a clave. The hits fall on 1 e + a, 2 e + a, 3 e + a, 4 e + a. Skip the “1 e” and you get a dotted 8th note pattern over three beats.
After the Bb chord, the riff drops into the E minor pentatonic.
There’s a second guitar part here too—you can play that instead if you prefer.
Finally, there’s a key change at the end to fade. I’ve rarely heard bands actually play this. Instead, most end with the chorus—Bb7sus2 into the riff—using a ritardando to close over the descending riff.
So, the question is—what will you do?
Will you learn to play the end section using the verse part in the key of A, following the vocalist up a whole step for the final chorus?
Will you shift the main riff into the new key?
And most importantly—will you be ready for all this, even though no band you play with is likely to go there?
Play along to the backing track above and see if you can play the complete tune already now.
Play That Funky Music Backing Tracks + TAB | Related Pages
Play That Funky Music | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording
| E9 (Eb9 E6) | E9 (Eb9 Eb6 E6) |
Hey, once I was a boogie singer, playin’ in a rock n roll band…
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