Music Lesson: Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry

Featuring the legendary Ronald Beitel on drums.

Great drum track, great function. Every drummer in the world will play this tune at some stage.

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Introduction

This is the Rock School interpretation of this tune. It's very important when you come in to feel 16th notes. There are a lot of eighth notes in the tune in terms of the right lines on the hi-hat and ride cymbal, but it's got that underlying 16th note feel.

So, you want to be thinking 16th notes, especially when you come in with these two and four hi-hats. It can feel very empty:

1, 2, 3, 4. Jiggy, Jiggy Jackie ba jiggy.

Timing Practice

I wouldn't just leave those big empty spaces; instead, try to find those notes. As simple as it sounds, it's very important to get a good time feel from the start there.

Chick, chicky, chicky, chicky, chicky, chick, chicky, chick, chick, chick, chicky chic.

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Introduction Fill

What I like to do when I play this tune because it usually has a very standard introduction fill is whether I play on the toms or a combination of snare and toms. This is written on the snare drum, just like the record:

One, two, Takata, Takata, boom.

Mental Preparation

When I play this track, I sing that figure in my head before I play. Just going 1, 2, 3, 4, do, do, and in my head, I'm thinking:

One, two, dagada, dagada, boom.

So, have a think about that. It's a big snare fill.

It's an integral part of the tune because it just sets up the whole groove.

Conviction and Energy

Sing that figure in your head:

One, two.

See what you mean? Mean what you say, guys. Conviction and energy, straight in there.

After that, we've got quite a lot of repetition of this really nice tight eighth note feel.

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Bass Line Interaction

You can hear the bass line:

Boom, gap, boom, boom, ba boom, ba bom bom bah.

I would play this with a really nice big backbeat and a nice inflection on the higher.

1, 2, 3, 4.

It's a regular kind of dynamic, repetitive sound.

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Chart Overview

Now, if you just have a glance through the whole chart, we've got a lot of almost single stroke roll rudiment kind of ideas going on. Most of the fills have been written just on the snare drum.

We also have some space there where you've got to make up your own fill.

Keeping It Simple

What I would do when playing this is just keep it really simple, just work around 16th notes.

If you look at the end of the bar in the A section we go:

1, 2. Takataka Takata. 1, 2.

It's just hand to hand, a really nice, confident 16th stroke. As you move through the chart, in the B section we've got fills where you have to make up your own:

1, 2, 3, fill.

You can play whatever you want.

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Filling Techniques

You can play around the toms. I'm just going to keep it really simple:

1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.

I guess that's what I would play. Just keep it really simple and make sure I can get back to the next section.

Right Cymbal Approach

When we move to the ride cymbal later on in the tune, I'm going to approach this open hi-hat section in one second. Just to remind you of a dynamic idea instead of...

I'm going to take this dynamic flow from the hi-hat and move that to the ride cymbal. In this tune, it's very repetitive and dynamic.

I don't want this monotonic choppy sound like this:

1, 2.

It's too washy.

I would interpret those figures with a downbeat like I do at certain tempo ranges in certain styles.

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C Section Dynamics

We've got this nice funk:

1, 2.

That just gives it a nice flow, nice consistency.

Let's backtrack a bit.

Key Section Transition

Very important section before we head into that ride cymbal. There's a lot of bass drum stuff going on here.

This is the C section. Coming out of the fill before the C section:

1, 2, 3.

So, remember that this is preempting a lot of open hi-hat and bass drum activity:

1, 2, 3.

And then we're into that C section of literally playing:

1, 2, 3.

There's a lot of stuff going on, got to keep it nice and tight, nice and smooth.

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Final Section Insights

Open hi-hat should not be too loud or too washy.

Keep it nice and tight; nice and short.

Then we've got these eighth notes on the bass drum with a very definite rhythmic figure on top.

You can see the figure:

1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.

You can see I'm playing this hand-to-hand, nice, clear, and concise.

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Transitioning to the Next Section

That takes me to the next section, the D section, and onto the ride cymbal.

The next thing to really watch out for is a few fills in there again, which are predominantly snare drum based.

Attention to Detail

This is a very deliberate arrangement. Check out those snare drum 16th notes:

1, 2.

These kind of fills, these repetitive 16th note fills.

The next main thing here is this four on the floor section with the open hi-hat midway through the D section of the piece.

Practicing Techniques

I'm just going to run you through that. Technically, I'm going to play this with my bass drum just wedged into the head.

It's not a technique I'd use all the time, but for me, when I play four on the floor, whether it's a reggae track, disco, funk, or soul, I always keep my foot buried in just for that purpose.

So I practice this feel. It's a very integral part of the tune.

You can really hear the breakdown section there, and it's very important that I'm not too slushy and washy on the hi-hat.

Clarity on the Hi-Hat

I'm on top of the hi-hat, and those open hi-hats are very crisp.

This takes us into that classic ending, back into the groove.

This section repeats and finishes on the second time, ending with a real classic snare drum fill. It's a very definite ending there, coming off those 16th note hi-hats.

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Conclusion

Alright, that's about it for Play That Funky Music. There's a lot of stuff going on, lots of changes between 8th notes and 16th notes, some single stroke rolls, and open hi-hats.

Piece it together:

• Don't forget to read the walkthrough in your package.
• Listen to the backing track.
• Listen to the original track.
• Experiment playing with a click and without a click.

Just get a feel for the geography as you move from section to section.

It's a great track to play. Every drummer should play this track at some stage.

I hope you enjoy it. I'll see you soon!