What are ghost notes?

Very quiet snare hits between the backbeats. They fill the groove without shouting, and locking your playing around them is the fastest way to tighten your pocket.

What tempo should funk rhythm practice use?

Start at 95 BPM. James Brown era funk lives from 90 to 110, and the discipline is in staying relaxed while subdividing sixteenths.

Funk drum backing track

Funk is a sixteenth note language. These grooves run subdivided hats with ghost notes rustling under the backbeat and a kick that lands where you do not expect it. There is a lightly swung feel on the grid, the thing that separates a funk pocket from a drum machine.

Funk100 BPM

stopped

Variations and fills

Mixer

Kick

Snare

Hats

Cymbals

Toms and perc

Download

Downloads and the song builder are Pro. Playing in the browser stays free.

Song structure builder (Pro)

40 bars total

Fills land at the end of each section and a crash marks every new section. Loop mode ignores the structure; turn it on to play or download the full arrangement.

Classic funk sits at 90 to 110 BPM. It sounds easy and it is not: the test is whether your strumming hand or bass line can stay inside the ghost notes without rushing. Loop the half time strut variation at 95 and find out.

Questions

What are ghost notes?: Very quiet snare hits between the backbeats. They fill the groove without shouting, and locking your playing around them is the fastest way to tighten your pocket.
What tempo should funk rhythm practice use?: Start at 95 BPM. James Brown era funk lives from 90 to 110, and the discipline is in staying relaxed while subdividing sixteenths.

Keep exploring

Guide: How to practice guitar with drum backing tracks