Download the sheet music here: bit.ly/2FSG5QU Subscribe to my channel here: bit.ly/2AyH1Fb I discovered funk drumming when I first began learning the funk drum beats that many of the songs I played on Bourbon Street in New Orleans required. I had never listened to ANY of this funk music, so it was a complete schooling in and of itself. Remember, this style is meant to GROOVE. Pocket is your friend. To quote Parliament...One nation, under a groove. This is a quick lesson on 10 easy and fun funk drum beats you can learn and use today. Here's a playlist of all of the songs I cover in this lesson: th-cam.com/video/QYHxGBH6o4M/w-d-xo.html Oh, and my apologies for not filming the last drum beat. COMPLETELY dropped the ball on that one but I had already told you at the beginning that I would teach you 10. So, snag the sheet music at the link above and check out that 10th drum beat. Don't worry, I fired myself. But then I had to rehire myself because it's my business. So...you're stuck with me lol. Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite funk drum beat!
Theses grooves are definitely all funkified . A lot of classics here man. These are all gonna be great to learn and break out. These are all a lot of fun. And everybody knows the songs . Great stuff as always . Maybe you can do a lesson on the fills that go with these songs. Thanks Stephen as always
These funk beats go begging for a bass guitar player. I just play my cheap bongos and enjoy it very much. This was nice to understand what goes on behind the scenes a little. Thanks.
Must wear red codpiece when playing any Cameo. Sorry, I don't write the rules, I just enforce them. ;-p Honorable (important) mention - Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine by James Brown. Jabo and/or Clyde play that groove on many JB tunes. Funk!
3 types of drummers, those who can count, and those who can't... I really enjoyed this video. Took me almost an hour to watch it because I checked out those other songs, and also got stuck listening to the Funkadelic album, "Funkadelic..." -Peace.
Stephen my man, Funk drumming is my thang baby! I was in a Funk band in the 1980's. We had male & female lead singers, backup singers, horns, keyboards the whole 9 yards, we killed it!!! We had paying gigs every weekend for over 3 years until the two lead singers got married and moved out of state (assholes) lol! The female (Robyn) sounded just like Chaka Khan! I still own over 300 Funk/Disco albums! Thank you for including the sheet music and for doing this - Funk Lessons! You da man!
I love the short format of this video! So many drum instructional videos have gotten really long and boring to watch. Great job making yourself different!
I seriously recommend learning some funk grooves to young/beginner and novice drummers. It will zazz up your playing quite a bit and its also incredibly fun. Your band mates will look at you in awe!
Best pre-beat descriptions I've heard on a drumming tutorial. I don't have drums, but I have an 808 I'm learning, and I can program it from your descriptions alone. No accident I suspect, since I heard the S word ;)
Great video, i've been watching some of your older videos and i have a SUPER important question...when will we be seeeing some of those SUPER deep V-neck shirts again ;) haha
I’m just imagining Stephen in the Jay and Silent Bob scene: “You don't know Jungle Love? That shit is the mad notes. Written by God herself and sent down to the greatest band in the world: The MF-ing Time.”
"Fifteen bucks Little man Put that shit In my hand If that money doesn't show then ya Owe me Owe me Owe My Jungle Love!....... Oh wee Oh wee Oh Think I wanna know ya know ya
I know it’s technically not funk but one of the greatest grooves ever was Alex Van Halen on Mean Street. Not only the funky bass but the fact that he could add ride cymbal on top of that.
Hi Stephen, Thanks for a great channel. I wonder if you can show me how to play ´ You to me are everything´ with the group The Real Thing. It`s some kind of shuffle going on and I need some advice to do it right. Thanks and best regards Anders
Do you have a video where you demonstrate how to tune your drums like yours and what drumheads you use? I absolutely love the way your kit sounds! Keep up the great work!
I like how these beats are actually easy unlike some other ones that are like Oh yeah these beats are easy and when you click on the vid the beats are damn hard
Lol oh stevie. I was playing to a funk backing track. Thought...okay this isnt sounding right, let me see what Steve has..and as soon as your video started playing, so happy....your spirit, energy. So good, thanks man.
Kim Johnson that’s definitely a more advanced groove for another video lol. Great song and pocket. But def not an “easy” funk groove to nail. And now I have to go listen to that song again 😁
Nice video. Thanks for sharing. I don’t play drums but I’m researching drum beats in search of inspiration for my own productions. Never realized how much funk I’ve had in my life!
I don't think of any of the first 8 examples as being funk beats per se. The beats are good and were broken down and demonstrated nicely, but aren't funk beats imo. I think the music was funky, but calling those first 8 funk beats is a stretch imo. The last two have a little more going on, some syncopation and ghost/drag notes that add body to the groove. Those qualify as funk, to me. This is one guy's opinion, and you're a fine drummer.
You have your Hi Hats listed as a 16'efx crash on top, but in the video it looks like a dark K. I really would like to know the true HI HAT setup in this video? Great lesson by the way I have been trying to learn them all.
Yo man! Definitely my favourite drum teacher on TH-cam!! I've found my own ideas around the kit have been flowing since watching you!! Was wondering if you would do some tool? You're explanations would be handy and would probably provide you with a challenge also :) Cheers for the lesson aa always
+1 - J.B and the Sex Machine!I figured the base groove out and enjoy raggin' on it! As a 50 year old newbie whiteboy and drummer wannabe , I'd found funk synchoptions evasive to grasp from sheet music, but fun to play once it clicks!
Loving the vids. I am brand new to this, but have been playing guitar and bass for years. Just starting and this is really helping me along the way. Just picked up a Roland TD17K-L set. Following your stuff. Thanks.
Another great lesson, Stephen! I always tend to add ghost notes to my funk grooves, and I overuse them sometimes, but there's a catch - I often play some (soft) press rolls instead of standard ghost notes. Is that wrong or it can be considered as ghosts? I also like to do accents by playing rimshots in order to increase the contrast between the accent and soft(er) notes
Nothing wrong with some buzzes thrown in there. They’re still ghost notes. It’s the volume that is the decider. And yes, easy to overplay the ghost notes and let them get in the way of the pocket.
These were all in the "easy, straight forward" category. Those 3 grooves are VASTLY more intricate. I find that if we start off with those in the funk category, people get the wrong impression. That funk is about complicated. It's not. It's about pocket and danceability. So intro with the simpler, groove heavy beats. Then later move to the more complex. The beats you mentioned are really hard to get to sit correctly. So this lesson was just for some easy and fun funk beats. But you're right...those are some classics. Not even going to start on The Meters catalogue...
@@StephenTaylorDrums AMEN BRO, Get em' shakin' their but-tuxes!!! i used to to think that Funk was about linear and complexity... I was TOTES wrong!!! Some musical mentors showed me some FLY grooves, with all these little subtleties!!!
Got a new set in Jan. 2020 because of this covid shit I had extra time to play. Rick James is one of my faves to jam to. As far as my neighbors liking R J. not so much now. LOL
Hey stephen...totally unrelated question here. We had our very first gig last night and all in all things went pretty good minus 2 pretty obvious mistakes, which i think nerves played the biggest part. Any tips on going out there and not feeling like its pretty much the most terrifying momeent of your life?
Awesome video Stephen! Should totally do a break down of the drum tom groove during the chorus of Give It To Me Baby!! One of my favorite licks to play!!
I think the term "funk" has become synonymous with "complex" over the years. And thats just not always the case. Very much about the vibe of the song as a whole.
So, do Aquarian drum heads really suck so bad you need moon gel on every head and double on some? As Danny Carey of Tool says, "you only need moon gel, if you don't know how to properly tune your drums"
I was wondering if you could do the beat from the Morris DAY and the Time song 777-9311. Although I think that beat is dubbed on the studio version, but I've seen Jelly Bean (the drummer The Time) do it live, and it is a very difficult beat to execute.....for me anyway when trying to incorporate the high hat along with the beat, but it is an extremely funky beat. One my favorites. Thank you.
On the studio version of the song it is a Linn Drum Machine but you're correct Jellybean Johnson does play it live in concert and it is difficult to play!
Your videos are Super Energetic!! I'm watching with my 7 yrs old son.big chunk of his improvements we owe to you . 🤝🥁👍. fantastic work . ones again Big Thanks .
This isn’t even me in the video. It’s a machine with CGI of me. Cool experiment. It’s gonna allow me to live on a beach somewhere and just have them cgi me in to every video. I’m enjoying the machine takeover myself.
Great job ! Still working on your motown grooves video too ! Back in the 70’s my buddy Mike used to play drums at a disco on a platform high above the dance floor ! He was playing a lot of these ...
Good video! Looking at the basic make-up of these beats, they have a lot in common with rock beats, at least at surface level. What would you say determines whether the drum groove feels like rock or funk? Obviously the rest of the band give a context to the drum beat, but is there something the drummer can do on his own?
Demonstormlord obviously it’s the other parts that ultimately make it work for funk. But listen to their treatment of the hihat and how it drives the song. Listen to how there are very few drum fills. Many of the songs also push a bit. So it’s really in the nuances of how you treat each individual voice and then how the other parts come together to make the song work.
I can't remember what lead me to discover this channel, but I am so very glad that I did and that I subscribed to it. Invaluable, to the point, life changing lessons.
Download the sheet music here: bit.ly/2FSG5QU
Subscribe to my channel here: bit.ly/2AyH1Fb
I discovered funk drumming when I first began learning the funk drum beats that many of the songs I played on Bourbon Street in New Orleans required. I had never listened to ANY of this funk music, so it was a complete schooling in and of itself. Remember, this style is meant to GROOVE. Pocket is your friend. To quote Parliament...One nation, under a groove. This is a quick lesson on 10 easy and fun funk drum beats you can learn and use today.
Here's a playlist of all of the songs I cover in this lesson: th-cam.com/video/QYHxGBH6o4M/w-d-xo.html
Oh, and my apologies for not filming the last drum beat. COMPLETELY dropped the ball on that one but I had already told you at the beginning that I would teach you 10. So, snag the sheet music at the link above and check out that 10th drum beat. Don't worry, I fired myself. But then I had to rehire myself because it's my business. So...you're stuck with me lol.
Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite funk drum beat!
I want to learn " I'm losing you" (Rod Stewart & The Faces). Any guidance or suggestions? Thanks!
With this 10 beats you can play the 90% of pop and rock music
No wonder I feel like an imposter just playing the same pattern
Would it have been to much to ask to have dressed up like Rick James for this one?
I came THIS close to it...I kid you not...
@@StephenTaylorDrums
😆😂🤣😅😊😉
Do the hair treatment to the beard and you are halfway there, Stephen.
Have you ever tried playing drums in a coffin? Shit's hard.
Theses grooves are definitely all funkified . A lot of classics here man. These are all gonna be great to learn and break out. These are all a lot of fun. And everybody knows the songs . Great stuff as always . Maybe you can do a lesson on the fills that go with these songs. Thanks Stephen as always
You read my mind lol...coming soon brotha. And thank you for the kind words
Stephen Taylor Still waiting for the fills here! 😉 Thanks for great videos!
These funk beats go begging for a bass guitar player. I just play my cheap bongos and enjoy it very much. This was nice to understand what goes on behind the scenes a little. Thanks.
Must wear red codpiece when playing any Cameo. Sorry, I don't write the rules, I just enforce them. ;-p
Honorable (important) mention - Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine by James Brown. Jabo and/or Clyde play that groove on many JB tunes.
Funk!
1:15 That’s THE band right there! Nice work dude.
Oh, they where it's at!
3 types of drummers, those who can count, and those who can't... I really enjoyed this video. Took me almost an hour to watch it because I checked out those other songs, and also got stuck listening to the Funkadelic album, "Funkadelic..." -Peace.
Oh, Parliament is a deep black hole that will keep you tied up once you fall in lol
Stephen my man, Funk drumming is my thang baby! I was in a Funk band in the 1980's. We had male & female lead singers, backup singers, horns, keyboards the whole 9 yards, we killed it!!!
We had paying gigs every weekend for over 3 years until the two lead singers got married and moved out of state (assholes) lol! The female (Robyn) sounded just like Chaka Khan!
I still own over 300 Funk/Disco albums!
Thank you for including the sheet music and for doing this - Funk Lessons! You da man!
I love the short format of this video! So many drum instructional videos have gotten really long and boring to watch. Great job making yourself different!
MrWCL3 working on varying up what I do. Def starting to include some much shorter and to the point lessons.
Love love love! Thanks Stephen!
Glad you dug it Arthur!
I seriously recommend learning some funk grooves to young/beginner and novice drummers. It will zazz up your playing quite a bit and its also incredibly fun. Your band mates will look at you in awe!
Best pre-beat descriptions I've heard on a drumming tutorial. I don't have drums, but I have an 808 I'm learning, and I can program it from your descriptions alone. No accident I suspect, since I heard the S word ;)
Don't forget to "slightly" swing this one. *Swings the hell out of it.
Stephen for the higher up jazz band at my high school I need to know jazz and latin for an audition can you make recommendations if where to start?
Thank you. That has improved my drum programming hugely
Great video, i've been watching some of your older videos and i have a SUPER important question...when will we be seeeing some of those SUPER deep V-neck shirts again ;) haha
TheMMOptimist lol
I’m just imagining Stephen in the Jay and Silent Bob scene: “You don't know Jungle Love? That shit is the mad notes. Written by God herself and sent down to the greatest band in the world: The MF-ing Time.”
"Fifteen bucks
Little man
Put that shit
In my hand
If that money doesn't show then ya
Owe me Owe me Owe
My Jungle Love!.......
Oh wee Oh wee Oh
Think I wanna know ya know ya
I know it’s technically not funk but one of the greatest grooves ever was Alex Van Halen on Mean Street. Not only the funky bass but the fact that he could add ride cymbal on top of that.
Check out Dennis chambers on Stanley Clarke and George Duke mothership connection
Hi Stephen, Thanks for a great channel. I wonder if you can show me how to play ´ You to me are everything´ with the group The Real Thing.
It`s some kind of shuffle going on and I need some advice to do it right.
Thanks and best regards Anders
Do you have a video where you demonstrate how to tune your drums like yours and what drumheads you use? I absolutely love the way your kit sounds! Keep up the great work!
Thanks! I have some tuning vids on here but not of my current setup
I like how these beats are actually easy unlike some other ones that are like
Oh yeah these beats are easy and when you click on the vid the beats are damn hard
Lol oh stevie. I was playing to a funk backing track. Thought...okay this isnt sounding right, let me see what Steve has..and as soon as your video started playing, so happy....your spirit, energy. So good, thanks man.
I've always liked the staple singers song respect yourself. Thanks for introducing me to some new songs. Good video, Stephen.
Still waiting on James Brown I can't stand myself
Kim Johnson that’s definitely a more advanced groove for another video lol. Great song and pocket. But def not an “easy” funk groove to nail. And now I have to go listen to that song again 😁
Nice video. Thanks for sharing. I don’t play drums but I’m researching drum beats in search of inspiration for my own productions. Never realized how much funk I’ve had in my life!
Lay down and boogie and boogie till you die. Shaking the shack! Why don’t you take me to funky town.
lol
I don't think of any of the first 8 examples as being funk beats per se. The beats are good and were broken down and demonstrated nicely, but aren't funk beats imo. I think the music was funky, but calling those first 8 funk beats is a stretch imo. The last two have a little more going on, some syncopation and ghost/drag notes that add body to the groove. Those qualify as funk, to me. This is one guy's opinion, and you're a fine drummer.
You have your Hi Hats listed as a 16'efx crash on top, but in the video it looks like a dark K. I really would like to know the true HI HAT setup in this video? Great lesson by the way I have been trying to learn them all.
I ❤️ Funk
Thanks for sharing 🙏🎶✨☕
Awesome👍
What is the 10th beat? I put my email but did not receive the mail....
Thanks for the lesson.
Hi do you have a lesson video that has bass drum patterns like on "Hollywood Swinging?" Thanks
Hey, are funk and rock any different when it comes to drums? I was running rocks song over these beats in my head. Seem to fit.
I'm more at Mike Clark's level but nothing beats simple at times.
Rick James never got busted... for beating women
Yo man! Definitely my favourite drum teacher on TH-cam!! I've found my own ideas around the kit have been flowing since watching you!! Was wondering if you would do some tool? You're explanations would be handy and would probably provide you with a challenge also :) Cheers for the lesson aa always
Thanks Ryan...I’ll see what I can do
Hello! I also enjoy your lessons. Thank you!
Hey Stephen do you drum Tama?
Most of these are very basic, but that's ok, people gotta learn from someone!
It would sound better if you cracked up the snare which is common for funk.
Sex Machine and Mother Popcorn From the Godfather Of Soul James Brown!
+1 - J.B and the Sex Machine!I figured the base groove out and enjoy raggin' on it! As a 50 year old newbie whiteboy and drummer wannabe , I'd found funk synchoptions evasive to grasp from sheet music, but fun to play once it clicks!
Great lesson....but ur crash almost make my ears deaf..hahah
Word Up - OWWW! - Cherry Coke!
Loving the vids. I am brand new to this, but have been playing guitar and bass for years. Just starting and this is really helping me along the way. Just picked up a Roland TD17K-L set. Following your stuff. Thanks.
Glad its helping Kevin!
That was Funk-ing awesome...thanks!
all very similar..rad none the less!
2:07 that wink/crash sync-up though
🤓🕺🏻
You can’t touch thi- oh wait, wrong track 😉 😆
Another great lesson, Stephen! I always tend to add ghost notes to my funk grooves, and I overuse them sometimes, but there's a catch - I often play some (soft) press rolls instead of standard ghost notes. Is that wrong or it can be considered as ghosts? I also like to do accents by playing rimshots in order to increase the contrast between the accent and soft(er) notes
Nothing wrong with some buzzes thrown in there. They’re still ghost notes. It’s the volume that is the decider. And yes, easy to overplay the ghost notes and let them get in the way of the pocket.
But....no Fever, or Funky Drummer, or...Squib Cake?
These were all in the "easy, straight forward" category. Those 3 grooves are VASTLY more intricate. I find that if we start off with those in the funk category, people get the wrong impression. That funk is about complicated. It's not. It's about pocket and danceability. So intro with the simpler, groove heavy beats. Then later move to the more complex. The beats you mentioned are really hard to get to sit correctly. So this lesson was just for some easy and fun funk beats. But you're right...those are some classics. Not even going to start on The Meters catalogue...
Of course....
@@StephenTaylorDrums AMEN BRO, Get em' shakin' their but-tuxes!!! i used to to think that Funk was about linear and complexity... I was TOTES wrong!!! Some musical mentors showed me some FLY grooves, with all these little subtleties!!!
It's definitely not simply to play
Got a new set in Jan. 2020 because of this covid shit I had extra time to play. Rick James is one of my faves to jam to. As far as my neighbors liking R J. not so much now. LOL
didn't sound all that funky to me
My favorite genre
what are your close mics?
Hey stephen...totally unrelated question here. We had our very first gig last night and all in all things went pretty good minus 2 pretty obvious mistakes, which i think nerves played the biggest part. Any tips on going out there and not feeling like its pretty much the most terrifying momeent of your life?
Awesome video Stephen! Should totally do a break down of the drum tom groove during the chorus of Give It To Me Baby!! One of my favorite licks to play!!
That makes that song!
@@StephenTaylorDrums yeah it does!
Iam Rick James bitch XD
Nasty, these are IT
Sounds more like the first rock beats you learn as a child. Not so funky.
I think the term "funk" has become synonymous with "complex" over the years. And thats just not always the case. Very much about the vibe of the song as a whole.
this is one of the most helpful videos I've ever watched
Dat snare! :-o
Best funky/jazzy/souly beat ever has gotta be diggin' on James Brown by Tower of Power
sweet like sugar thanks sir
Funk yea!
So, do Aquarian drum heads really suck so bad you need moon gel on every head and double on some?
As Danny Carey of Tool says, "you only need moon gel, if you don't know how to properly tune your drums"
Drummers who use moon gels are the same people who use duck tape on the bottoms of their cymbals lol
I'm glad you have the sheet music I can't stop dancing to these beats
joe b glad that sheet music helped Joe. And I’m with you on the dancing lol
Perfect video! Straight to the point with so much funky information! Thank you!
Tyler Spatafore You bet Tyler
Love this drums sound
You taught me more in 7 mins than my paid teacher did in 2 months.
Hate to say it, but you may need a new teacher. Glad it helped!
yooooo my music producers where u at?????
Right here on the drum kit brother 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽😁😁😁
Are those by chance the k custom cymbal pack cymbals?
mycarpultunnel no...18, 19, 21 k sweets and 14 k light hats
Essential.✌️
Easy? A baby could play this
Play it then.
@@ashtonfitzgerald1445 what am i supposed to do? send you a video?
@@Hp-lc6mq record One on your channel.
record a whole video of me playing just to prove to some random guy i can play a simple beat on the drums?
@@Hp-lc6mq some random girl and it shouldn’t be a problem considering a baby could play it.
I have played most of the beats but I didn't know they were named
Great video as always brother
Thanks John!
I was wondering if you could do the beat from the Morris DAY and the Time song 777-9311. Although I think that beat is dubbed on the studio version, but I've seen Jelly Bean (the drummer The Time) do it live, and it is a very difficult beat to execute.....for me anyway when trying to incorporate the high hat along with the beat, but it is an extremely funky beat. One my favorites. Thank you.
On the studio version of the song it is a Linn Drum Machine but you're correct Jellybean Johnson does play it live in concert and it is difficult to play!
Breaking Beats
Now you are talking the shit man! Well done!!!
😊👍🏼
Great stuff as always, Stephen
Thank you Rob!
Very useful, thanks very much
You bet!
Your videos are Super Energetic!! I'm watching with my 7 yrs old son.big chunk of his improvements we owe to you . 🤝🥁👍. fantastic work . ones again Big Thanks .
So glad they're helping!
Thank you! Stephen, this is a wonderful video. Just starting out on the set and love the funk beats.
You bet my friend!
Great lesson! Besides the Super Kick 10 head, do you use any other kick drum muffling? Your kick sounds really good.
yabewb Not much. I may have a small sheet in there. I would need to check what was in this kick at the moment.
Good stuff
You are out-dated bro, there is a machine that does all this difficult crap now.
And before you comment on my nasty post, its all humor. I love the drums and hate the machines.
This isn’t even me in the video. It’s a machine with CGI of me. Cool experiment. It’s gonna allow me to live on a beach somewhere and just have them cgi me in to every video. I’m enjoying the machine takeover myself.
Solid.
Thanks
Watching this gives me a lot of fun and inspirations . Thanks man ! Awesome lesson
Glad to hear it!
I SWING.....
good sound~~~ 멋지레슨 영상이네요~ ^^
Nice
Great job ! Still working on your motown grooves video too !
Back in the 70’s my buddy Mike used to play drums at a disco on a platform high above the dance floor !
He was playing a lot of these ...
This and Motown hold a special place in my heart
Good video! Looking at the basic make-up of these beats, they have a lot in common with rock beats, at least at surface level. What would you say determines whether the drum groove feels like rock or funk? Obviously the rest of the band give a context to the drum beat, but is there something the drummer can do on his own?
Demonstormlord obviously it’s the other parts that ultimately make it work for funk. But listen to their treatment of the hihat and how it drives the song. Listen to how there are very few drum fills. Many of the songs also push a bit. So it’s really in the nuances of how you treat each individual voice and then how the other parts come together to make the song work.
Thanks for the reply! I appreciate you taking the time, especially since the answers are kind of subtle and hard to put in words. Have a nice day! :-)
I play most of these grooves every weekened at gigs!....nice vid!....ALL bout the space
Oh yea, super useful grooves. And yes, the space is so underrated
Love this format. God bless.
Matt Musician X glad you dig!
I can't remember what lead me to discover this channel, but I am so very glad that I did and that I subscribed to it. Invaluable, to the point, life changing lessons.
So glad they help that much my friend!
0:31
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