The Hybrid Funk Scale For Bass

What if I told you there was a ‘hybrid’ funk scale for bass and you could start using it today?

One super common question I get asked is what scale should you use over funk music; or what scale will make you sound funky.

What I usually say when I’m asked these kinds of questions goes along the lines of, ‘Any scale can sound funky if you treat it the right way’. For example, give James Jamerson the major scale and he’d be able to make some funky bass lines.

But you still need to know what notes are going to work, right? That’s where the ‘hybrid’ funk scale for bass comes in.

In reality, there’s not a single scale that’s going to work over every funk song – and even if there were, it’d get super boring really quick. Like eating the same dinner for years on end. Even if it’s delicious, you’ll get sick of it eventually.

The hybrid scale you’ll learn in this lesson will make sure that you always have fresh ideas to use that will always sound good and will be fun to use.

You’ll also learn some classic devices and ideas that you can inject into your playing right now. Whether you’re playing solid funk every day or just want to funkify your bass lines or improvisations, you’ll learn how in this lesson.

Check it out here:

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Make sure that when you use this hybrid scale that you’re not only going up and down the scale and that you’re still using your ears. In this lesson, we played over a C7 chord so E – the major third – works great. However, if it were a C minor 7 chord, then that same E would sound terrible.

As always, if you have any questions, just leave them in the comments below. If you use the kind of ideas you see in the lesson to make your bass lines funkier, I’d love to hear about it!

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,