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Tutorial - Funk 101
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Funk 101 - Funk Soloing: Bonus Round 2

Richard Lundmark 307 lessons
Tutorial

Funk 101

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Bonus Round #2

As with regular blues and rock playing, many songs are constructed using dominant 7th chords, which in effect means we should be playing a major scale (Mixolydian to be exact). However, in most blues and funk, it's not exactly the same. Why is this? It’s really a matter of tradition more than anything else. We have grown accustomed to hearing people playing the minor pentatonic scale over dominant seventh chords so many times, that this slight dissonance is second nature to us.

In this example though, I have chosen to remedy that. I have exchanged the minor third of the A minor pentatonic used in Bonus Round 1, for the major third, thus creating a Mixo-penta scale (Mixolydian Pentatonic). This scale is a personal favorite of mine, since it gives you that major sound without loosing the bluesy, funky vibe. It’s also very different from using a major pentatonic scale for example, which doesn’t have the dominant 7th. This is waaaay more bluesy and funky. Try it out!

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