Theory
The final day of Week 8 — graduation! Today you record everything you've built over two months as one graduation piece. Think back to eight weeks ago — you couldn't get one slap note out cleanly, and even thumbing the string felt awkward. Yet now you melt octave, ghost, syncopation, and popping into one groove and record a funk groove.
Today's graduation piece goes like this. Measure 1 is the E octave + ghost groove; measure 2 finishes with a b3-4-5 popping fill after the same groove. That springy feel unique to classic funk lives entirely in these two measures. What you learned piece by piece over the past three days, today you leave as one song.
At BPM 85, record two or three cycles without stopping and pick the best take. It doesn't have to be perfect — a take that flowed to the end is the finest graduation piece. Leaving the recording is like playing today's sound for the you of eight weeks ago.
On a 5-string, a heavier graduation piece rooted on the low B is nice too. And this isn't the end. The next journey is shuffle & bounce, and the walking bass — a bouncy rhythm and a low end that strolls await you. Leave this groove on a 4-string and a 5-string today, and meet again on the next track. First, place the spots the graduation piece passes through on the fretboard one last time.
▶ 4-string. The measure-1 groove comes from R and 8, the measure-2 popping fill from the G string b3·4·5. A map of the graduation piece.
▶ 5-string. The hand spots are the same as on a 4-string. Deaden the low B with the thumb and you may leave a heavier version.
See it
At last, the graduation recording! First warm the hand with the main groove, then repeat and record two measures of the classic funk slap groove. Each example comes in both a 4-string and a 5-string version.
First warm the hand with one measure of the main groove. It's the octave + ghost groove that will be measure 1 of the graduation piece.
▶ BPM 80, 4-string. The main groove that will be measure 1 of the graduation piece. Warm the hand before recording.
▶ 5-string. The notes and spots are the same as on a 4-string. Keep the low B deadened with the thumb.
Today's graduation piece — the classic funk slap groove. Measure 1 is the octave + ghost groove; after measure 2, finish with the popping fill (b3-4-5).
▶ BPM 85, 4-string. Measure 1 the octave + ghost groove, after measure 2 the popping fill (b3-4-5). That springy feel unique to classic funk.
▶ 5-string. The notes and the move are the same as on a 4-string. Deaden the low B with the thumb and the same groove rings heavier.
Today's practice
0–10 min · Warm-up Roll yesterday's pass lightly at BPM 60 to wake the hand. Today you'll leave this groove as a graduation recording.
10–20 min · Brain training Run the graduation piece very slowly one more time as below, carving the spots of the two measures into your hand for the last time.
▶ BPM 60, 4-string. Very slowly. Check one last time that the popping fill lands in place after the measure-1 groove.
▶ 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 graduation piece at BPM 85. If the popping fill smears, drop the tempo and revive groove and fill separately. Learn it on the 4-string, then confirm it on the 5-string too.
40–50 min · Record/feedback At last, the graduation recording. At BPM 85, record two or three cycles without stopping and keep the best take as your graduation piece. Leave both a 4-string and a 5-string take, and the slap/funk track is complete.
Done when: you can record the classic funk slap groove (two measures) at BPM 85 on both a 4-string and a 5-string without stopping. — Graduation deliverable: a recording of my first classic funk slap groove. (Slap/Funk track complete!)
Nudge just the popping fill of the graduation piece up to BPM 90 and check that b3-4-5 stays crisply springy even as it speeds up.
▶ BPM 90, 4-string. Check that the b3-4-5 popping fill stays crisply springy 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 fill drags. If you rush crossing from groove to popping fill, it drags. Pin each note down beat by beat.
- The octave is weak. The 2nd-string octave pop tends to go faint. Snap it at the same size as the thumb.
- You stop trying to be perfect. A graduation recording is about going all the way through, not perfection. Flow one take to the end and keep it.
- Neglecting low B (5-string). Absorbed in recording, B rings easily. Always keep B covered with the side of the thumb.