The 16th-Note Grid — One Beat into Four

At last, Month 2 — you've stepped into the world of funk! If the groove you built in M1 was in eighth notes, the heart of funk is the 16th feel. One beat split into four — that's today's star. Where the eighth cut a beat in two, the sixteenth cuts a beat into four slots. Picture a drummer's 16 hi-hat slots and it clicks.

The magic spell for counting sixteenths is "1-e-&-a" (one-ee-and-uh). Four syllables land inside a single beat, crisp and even. 1 is the downbeat, e is the first sixteenth, & is the eighth spot, a is the last sixteenth. Roll those four off your tongue while the thumb strikes every slot, and hand and mouth meet on the same grid. Today is all about filling those 16 slots evenly.

The method is simple. Hold just the open E (4th string) and strike sixteenths with the thumb (slap), nonstop and even. What matters isn't speed but the spacing of the four slots staying equal. It's easy to hit only the first slot hard and let the rest go limp, so the key is lining up the size and spacing of all four strikes. Start at BPM 80, and if the grid wobbles, go slower — accuracy first, speed later.

On a 5-string, the notes and the hand shape are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened under the thumb and just carve the 16th-note grid into your hand. Once today's even sixteenths lock in, tomorrow you'll lay pop and ghost on top and make a real funk sound. First stamp the spot on the fretboard — open E, 4th string — where every sixteenth lives today.

▶ 4-string. Open E on the 4th string is the thumb's home base. Every sixteenth today comes off this one spot.

▶ 5-string. The spot is the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb.

Today you carve the 16th-note grid into your body. First set the beat with the quarter-note pulse, then fill that grid with even 16th-note thumb. Each example comes in both a 4-string and a 5-string version.

First, the quarter-note pulse. At BPM 80, strike the 1-2-3-4 downbeats crisply with the thumb to lock the home (downbeat) of the sixteenths first.

▶ BPM 80, 4-string. Those four downbeats are the pillars of the 16th-note grid.

▶ 5-string. The notes are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb.

Now split each downbeat into four. This is 16th-note thumb. Counting 1-e-&-a, strike the thumb four times per beat to fill all sixteen slots evenly.

▶ BPM 80, 4-string. All sixteen thumb strikes must roll in the same size and spacing. If it wobbles, go slower.

▶ 5-string. The notes and the spot are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B covered with the thumb so it doesn't leak.

0–10 min · Warm-up Flow last week's octave groove (slap-chick-pop-chick) lightly at BPM 60 to wake the hand. Today, tune your ear to the 16th-note grid.

10–20 min · Brain training Counting 1-e-&-a aloud, run the example below very slowly as it doubles from eighths → sixteenths. Measure 1 is eighths, measure 2 is sixteenths.

▶ BPM 70, 4-string. Measure 1 eighths, measure 2 sixteenths. Keep the same wrist rotation and just double the rate.

▶ 5-string. The notes and the spot are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B covered with the side of the thumb.

20–40 min · Real play Repeat even 16th-note thumb at BPM 80. If the spacing of the four slots comes apart, drop the tempo and reset the grid first. Learn it on the 4-string, then confirm the same evenness on the 5-string.

40–50 min · Record/feedback Record 30 seconds and listen for whether all sixteen slots are ruler-even. Note the BPM you settled on today too.

Done when: you can play 16th-note thumb on the open E at BPM 80 with even size and spacing, holding steady for at least one full measure.

Nudge today's evenness up to BPM 90 to test it. If it wobbles, drop back down slower.

▶ BPM 90, 4-string. Check that the spacing of the four slots doesn't collapse even as it speeds up a little.

▶ 5-string. The notes and the spot are the same as on a 4-string. Always keep the low B covered with the thumb.

• You hit only the first slot hard. It's easy for just the downbeat (1) to be loud while e-&-a go quiet. Strike while imagining all four slots at the same size.
• It speeds up toward the end. Rushing narrows the spacing. Turn on the metronome's subdivision (16th) click and lay each note exactly onto its slot.
• The thumb is stiff. You need to bounce off with a rotation of the wrist (like turning a doorknob) to make sixteenths comfortable. Don't press with the arm.
• Neglecting low B (5-string). Absorbed in the sixteenths, B rings easily. Always keep B covered with the side of the thumb.