Rhythm Play Alongs

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The following play along videos are organised by genre, then by difficulty. Each group have associated resources and visual aids that are freely available to support their use.

Funk Play Alongs

Level 1

Crotchets (quarter notes) and rests.

1 player (notation)

2 player (body percussion)

Level 2

Crotchets and quavers (quarter and eighth notes) and rests.

1 player (notation)

2 player (notation)

Level 3

Crotchets and quavers (quarter and eighth notes) and rests.

About the Videos

The video contains pausable pages about the rhythms, genre, accompaniment, controls etc and can be used on its own. However below are a number of related resources, information, additional details and support material that you may find useful in making the most of the video. I hope you find them useful. Please let me know what works and what could be improved.

Genre Summary for Funk

Key details to share with learners about funk music are:

Influenced and created from a combination of soul, jazz and gospel music
Began in the 1960s and still going strong. This places funk at the beginning of the ‘contemporary’ band of the infographic.
First beat (1) is the strong beat
Music is based on riffs more than melody
The focus is on rhythmic groove
Instrumentation utilises electric bass, drums and often organ
Electric guitar riffs
Strong horn section
Sometimes there are no vocals