Guitar Toolkit
Tune / Play / Shred
Tap a string for the reference pitch. Tap again to kill it.
Fret positions relative to the barre. Slide anywhere on the neck to change key.
Pick a key. See concrete chords for each progression.
The theory, voicings, and rhythms behind Parcels, Daft Punk, and L'Imperatrice.
Basic major/minor triads sound too "resolved" for funk. Add the 7th and 9th to get that floating, unresolved tension. Every chord wants to move but never fully lands -- that's the groove.
Most of these songs live in Dorian, not natural minor. The difference: one note -- the raised 6th. In A Dorian that's F# instead of F. This gives minor chords a brighter, more hopeful quality. Get Lucky (B Dorian), Parcels, L'Imperatrice -- all Dorian.
Nile Rodgers never strums all 6 strings. Target the top 3-4 strings for tight, percussive chords that cut through a mix. Full barre chords sound muddy in funk -- you want crisp stabs.
Your picking hand moves in constant 16th notes and NEVER stops. You create rhythm by choosing which strums are voiced vs. muted (ghost notes). The ghost notes are the funk. Without them it's just pop.
Lightly release fretting-hand pressure between chord stabs for "chucka-chucka" muted sounds. These fill the space between voiced chords and create the percussive backbone. Your guitar is a drum kit.
E9 and 7#9 are the quintessential funk chords. The partials are how Nile Rodgers actually plays.
Hand moves in constant 16ths (down-up-down-up). Orange = voiced. Gray = ghost/mute.
Select a key to transpose. All use Dorian or minor tonality.