In this lesson, we're going to be looking at an awesome exercise to learn to put Hits in your Scratches! We're going to be using our old friend the E9 and be scratching right the way through and just adding Hits (Chord Stabs) in specific places in each beat.

Note that in the 'real world' having scratches all the time can get a bit monotonous, but it's good to start here to get your hits and scratches working well before we get into more complex grooves - we'll be learning to 'miss' very soon!

TABs to help you out!

Hits on the beat:

Hits on the 2nd 16th note:

Hits on the off beat:

Hits on the last 16th note:

To Practice...

1. Hits
First thing to work on (obviously) is being able to do the exercises above one at a time and making sure you are tapping your foot just on the beat. Once you feel confident with each one, try alternating between the first exercise and each of the others.

2. With A Metronome
Again when you feel confident with each then try playing along with the metronome - don't be in a hurry to play them fast - be in hurry to make them feel good and stay in time with the metronome!

3. One After The Other
Only when you're super confident playing them on their own should you have a go at the exercise I show in the lesson on playing them one after the other in a row - but it's a great exercise when you get there!

4. Have Fun
Next lesson we're going to be putting these hits into specific places to create common funk grooves - so important here is for you to have some fun and just jam around with them and see what happens!

Recommended Album

You ain't never going to get the Funk if you're not listening to the greats! So with each lesson, I'm going to recommend a funk album for you to sink your ears into and help you get in the groove - some of the all-time classics and maybe some slightly less known albums too that I really dig.


	James Brown - Live At The Apollo (1962) Taking it back to where it all began now, this is maybe more a soul album than pure Funk as we think of it today but it's where it came from so having some understanding of the legacy can be very helpful. Guitarist Les Buie plays some very nice lines, and you'll hear lots of doubled bass lines, hits and scratches all over - Funk was being born! Buy at Amazon.co.uk • Buy at Amazon.com