Theory
The week's finish line. Today you lay Month 1's ghosts and accents onto the high three-string triad and complete a four-bar cutting groove over a backing track.
The principle is identical to last month's one-chord jam. Only the stage changed — from the thick six-string E9 to the thin three-string triad. But that stage change transforms the sound. Up high, the ghost "chick" is lighter and crisper, and the accent "pop" leaps out sparkling like glass. Using the same rhythmic language (motor, ghosts, accents), moving it to three-string cutting makes it far more sophisticated and "Nile Rodgers."
Yesterday's left-hand mute backs this up firmly. Cutting wide while killing the lower strings, you lay the three layers — ghost, real note, accent — on the top three only. Shifting the triad now and then, or changing to minor for color, keeps four bars from getting dull.
Looking back on the week, you've gained funk's "tone color." Instead of thick chords, you can now make shimmering cutting on three thin strings. Next week you go one step further — dropping even the chord to strike a single string and draw a bass-line: single-note funk. If today's three-string cutting groove shimmers locked with the backing, this week is a perfect success. Moving from thick chords to thin three strings this week, your funk has grown more sophisticated. You can now choose the "color" of the sound yourself.
See it
A finished cutting groove of ghosts and accents on the three-string triad. Up high, the contrast shimmers more.
E major triad (review). Lay the three layers — ghost, real, accent — over these three strings. Keep the lower strings killed with the left mute.
Example 1 — cutting groove A (2 bars). Triad real notes, mute ghosts, and accents (green) evenly mixed. The accent locks with the snare.
▶ BPM 74. Over a backing 4×+. Feel the high cutting shimmer crisply.
Example 2 — cutting groove B (2 bars). Accent pulled further, real notes denser. Once easy, vary with minor and the inversion for color.
▶ BPM 74. Shift the triad or change color into your own cutting groove. Keep zero lower strings.
Today's practice
0–10 min · Warm-up BPM 60–70. Drop ghosts and accents onto the three-string triad to warm up. Keep checking the lower-string mute.
10–20 min · Brain training (today's target = three layers + three strings) Set accents to the backing snare and picture how to place ghost/real/accent in three-string cutting.
20–40 min · Real groove (Examples 1·2 / BPM 74) Repeat Example 1 (groove A) over a backing 4× → then Example 2 (groove B). Once easy, vary with minor, inversion, other spots. Zero lower strings.
40–50 min · Record & reflect (recommended) Record and check: do only three ring crisply / does the accent lock with the snare / is there no lower-string noise?
Done when: you can hold a cutting groove of ghosts and accents on the three-string triad over a backing with no lower-string noise. (Week 5 complete!)
- Dull despite the high register. Weak cutting or no wrist. Graze the high strings lightly for shimmer.
- Accent off the snare. Exactly on beats 2 and 4. Up high, a miss shows more.
- Lower-string noise. As the groove gets complex the mute loosens. Keep the left mute to the end.
- Repeating without variation. Vary four bars with minor, inversion, position shifts. The high register especially tends to get monotonous.