Never Stop - Lesson
Lesson time: (3min 14sec)
Simon Bartholomew teaches the funk guitar parts to 'Never Stop', including the wah-wah work and the feel that makes it sit in the groove.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Learn the Fundamentals of Funk Guitar with The Brand New Heavies
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Music Lesson
That was never a stop on the original record I just played along to. I only played the main wawa part with the basic.
Playing with Feel
This part was very appropriate for that tune. When you're playing it, there's quite a lot of feeling in it because you can't open the wawa up at the same time you're feeling an emotion. As you're playing the strings, you've almost got to squeeze it out.
- If you hit it too hard, it sounds like that.
- If you open it up too quickly, it can change the vibe again.
It's another very simple part.
Live Performances
In the live record, I do some of the stuff I was doing in the live shows; otherwise, I'd be standing there like not doing anything. I like to do stuff, basically, that's the long and short on that one. But that's a big hit for us.
Chart Success
That's the record that got us into the American R&B charts, up to number three. Because we had success in America, the label in the UK that had originally thrown our cassette in the bin eventually signed us, London Records. So, because of the success in America, it opened up a lot of doors for us.
Global Impact
Then Jamiroquai's scene kind of globally was helped by the Brand New Heavies having their success in America.
Guitar Work
I was quite pleased with the guitar part in that song because a guy called David Morales did an amazing remix of that record for the kind of house music market. We used to get a lot of remixes done; a remix usually takes just the vocal and rewrites all the music with a different beat and everything.
I was rather proud to have had my guitar used in that remix, and it helped us achieve all sorts of wonder and maybe even some greatness, but that's debatable.
Chord Structure
Well, you know, if you notice in that chord, it's actually a whole full chord, but you tend just to play the top three strings.
Funk Technique
This happens a lot in funk. Even with Kool & The Gang, you just play the top three strings.
- There's something about having keyboards going on in the middle section sonically; you don't really want to interrupt that or the bass.
- So, the guitar stays in a sort of register that is quite percussive.
It cuts through more. You don't really hear the lower notes, as they can muddy up the sound in recordings and so forth.
Top Tip
Just hit the top three strings!
About the instructor
Simon Bartholomew is the guitarist in British funk/pop/soul group The Brand New Heavies - a band known for playing their own instruments live rather than leaning on contemporary computer-based programming. That commitment to real, in-the-pocket playing is exactly what makes him such a great guide to funk guitar, and producer Mark Ronson once told Simon that he and Nile Rodgers were his favourite guitarists. Alongside bandmate Andrew Levy, Simon writes, produces, mixes and oversees the running of a fully working, touring and recording band. The pair met at high school and, after hearing funk at The Cat In The Hat club, began jamming; once the DJs at the club played one of their cuts, 'Catch That Beat', from a cassette, the band began its illustrious journey. From those early days in London to travelling throughout the US and Japan, the band has pretty much toured the whole world, helping drive the early Hip Hop scene in LA and New York and becoming the main proponents of the Acid Jazz movement of the early '90s. The Brand New Heavies have platinum and gold record sales across their many albums and have had several songs featured on film soundtracks - notably Happy Feet, which used a song from their Heavy Rhyme Experience album, cited to be the first rap album that used a live band. Simon's musical influences run deep and wide: Blues, Jazz, Soul, Rock, Punk, Psychedelia, Prog Rock, Classical and Classic Rock - and pretty much anything else, from the live bands and orchestras all over television growing up to the rarer music he discovered on the John Peel Show and through friends' record collections. While he continues to tour and record with The Brand New Heavies, he has also written music for documentaries and worked on projects such as Akimbo and 1ibear, with more in the pipeline. Simon's mission is to fuse Rock and Funk, and as he puts it: 'There is funk in everything if you just take a look and feel for it.' That is exactly the spirit he brings to Learn the Fundamentals of Funk Guitar with The Brand New Heavies. read more