Theory
Day two of Week 8. Yesterday you built one measure; today you grow it into a two-measure song. Eight weeks ago even one note was a stretch, and now you join groove and fill to compose a short "song." A song doesn't have to be grand — a main groove and a fill/variation, two measures, are enough.
Measure 1 is the main groove — the 4th-string E octave and ghost rolling along, the pillar of the song. Measure 2 starts with the same groove, then in its second half adds a little variation with a b3-4-5 pop fill. The main doesn't just loop twice; on the second pass the pop lays on top and "answers." If the main is the song's face, the fill is the small smile it wears.
This call-and-answer across two measures is funk's basic sentence. BPM 85 is the goal, but joining two measures makes the beat wobble at the seam. Start slow and smooth the spot where you cross from the end of measure 1 into the first note of measure 2. No need to hurry. As you travel the two measures slowly back and forth, your body quietly memorizes the song's length. If the two measures turn on one breath, you've got it.
Even on a 5-string, the two-measure hand shape is the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb and focus only on the flow of the two measures. On a 5-string you could also do a heavier song rooted on the low B. Once these two measures settle into your hands today, tomorrow you move on to a rehearsal that repeats without stopping. First scan the spots the two measures pass through on the fretboard.
▶ 4-string. The measure-1 groove comes from R and 8; the measure-2 pop fill comes from the G string b3·4·5.
▶ 5-string. The hand spots are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb.
See it
Today you complete a two-measure song! First set the pillar with one measure of the main groove, then join it into the two-measure song. Each example comes in both a 4-string and a 5-string version.
First, one measure of the main groove. Roll the octave + ghost groove that will be the song's pillar, clearly.
▶ BPM 80, 4-string. The main groove that will be the song's pillar. Steady even when repeated twice.
▶ 5-string. The notes and spots are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb.
Now join the two measures. After measure 1's main groove, measure 2 answers in its second half with the b3-4-5 pop fill.
▶ BPM 85, 4-string. Measure 1 main, measure 2 fill. The two measures must turn on one breath.
▶ 5-string. The notes and the move are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb.
Today's practice
0–10 min · Warm-up Roll yesterday's finished measure lightly at BPM 60 to wake the hand. Today you'll join it into two measures.
10–20 min · Brain training Run the two-measure song very slowly as below, carving into your hand the seam that crosses from measure 1 into measure 2.
▶ BPM 60, 4-string. Very slowly. Check that you cross smoothly from the end of measure 1 into the first note of measure 2.
▶ 5-string. The notes and the move 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 the two-measure song at BPM 85. If the flow breaks, drop the tempo and revive the seam first. Learn it on the 4-string, then confirm it on the 5-string too.
40–50 min · Record/feedback Record 30 seconds of the two measures and listen for whether the main and fill sound like one song. Note the BPM that felt comfortable today.
Done when: you can play the two-measure song — main groove (measure 1) joined to the pop fill (measure 2) — on one breath at BPM 85.
Nudge the two-measure song up to BPM 90 and check that the seam stays alive even as it speeds up.
▶ BPM 90, 4-string. Check that the seam between main and fill stays smoothly alive even as it speeds up a little.
▶ 5-string. The notes and the move are the same as on a 4-string. Always keep the low B deadened with the thumb.
- The seam breaks. If you drop the last ghost of measure 1, measure 2 comes in late. Count through to the last ghost as you cross.
- Measure 2 rushes. It's easy to hurry, glad to reach the pop fill. Press it in at the same tempo as the main.
- The two measures play apart. If the main and fill sound like different songs, think of them as one phrase sung through.
- Neglecting low B (5-string). Absorbed in the song, B rings easily. Always keep B covered with the side of the thumb.