How to make Funk music with creative constraints

What makes Funk tick

A single chord (a dominant seventh or ninth) or a two-chord vamp such as Am7 to D7 (the i and IV of A Dorian) can carry a whole funk track, because rhythm does the work that harmony does elsewhere. The interest is in the sixteenth-note interplay between drums, bass, guitar and horns, all of them converging on the first beat of the bar and scattering across the rest of it. Tempo usually sits around 90 to 110 BPM, the scale is Dorian or Mixolydian when a melody shows up, and the rests matter as much as the notes, as in a full band stab followed by silence.

Funk depends on the pocket, which means where each instrument places its notes relative to the others. The guitar plays short, muted chords and sixteenth-note scratches, the bass locks with the kick on the One and syncopates around it, and the horns punctuate the spaces. The sixteenths the band leaves empty are as much a part of the groove as the ones it plays.

Constraints that work in Funk

• Bass Guitar as Lead Melodic Instrument: write the bass line first, as the melody, and treat the chords and the drums as its accompaniment.
• Strategic Silent Breaks (Grand Pause): stop the full band for one beat, twice per chorus. In funk, silence is the loudest hit.
• 7♯9 (Hendrix Chord): stay on one chord for sixteen bars and play it on guitar in short bursts. The dissonance in the chord keeps a static vamp from going flat.

Mistakes that flatten a Funk track

• Too many chord changes. Two chords is a lot. One chord for sixteen bars, with the bass and drums doing the moving, is normal.
• Quantised sixteenths. Funk played dead on the grid sounds like a drum machine demo. Push the guitar early, drag the snare late, or record it live.
• No space. If every instrument plays through the whole bar, there is no pocket. Give each part its own sixteenths and leave the rest empty.

How to use the 42 Funk cards

The rhythm card goes first in a funk brief, and a syncopation or displacement card is enough of an assignment on its own. Use Dorian Mode or Mixolydian Mode for the melody when one is needed, and keep the harmony to whatever chord card you pulled, for the whole sketch.

The 24 cards below are a selection of the 42 tagged Funk in the deck. The button above opens a draw with Funk already selected; the hand you pull is your brief for the session. Pull cards, accept the brief, ship a sketch.

Funk constraint cards

• Chord Minor 9th Compose using a minor triad with added minor 7th and major 9th. Creates richness with a darker quality.
• Chord Dominant 7th Incorporate a major triad with an added minor 7th. This creates tension seeking resolution.
• Chord 6/9 Use a major triad with added 6th and 9th. Creates a bright, contemporary sound without 7th tension.
• Chord Min11 Use a minor 7th chord with added 9th and 11th. Creates a rich, atmospheric minor quality.
• Chord 7♯9 (Hendrix Chord) Feature a dominant 7th with a sharp 9th, famously used in rock and blues. Creates bluesy tension with an edge.
• Chord 7sus4 Use a dominant 7th chord with the 3rd replaced by a 4th. Creates an open, ambiguous dominant quality.
• Scale Dorian Mode Compose using this minor scale with a raised 6th (e.g., D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D if D is tonic). Creates a minor sound with brightness.
• Scale Mixolydian Mode Use this major scale with a flat 7th (e.g., G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G if G is tonic). Creates a dominant, bluesy sound.
• Scale Pentatonic Minor Scale Compose with this five-note scale (1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7 of natural minor). Essential for blues/rock with versatile melodic application.
• Instrument Brass Section Feature Include a section (at least 2-3 instruments like trumpets, trombones, saxes) playing harmonized lines or soli. Create a powerful ensemble sound.
• Rhythm Syncopation Focus Heavily emphasize off-beat rhythms and anticipations in melodies and accompaniment. Create rhythmic interest through unexpected accents.
• Instrument Saxophone Solo Section Include a dedicated section for a saxophone solo (alto, tenor, soprano, or bari). Feature its distinctive expressivity and timbral possibilities.
• Instrument Acoustic Drums Only (No Electronic) If using drums, use only sounds from an acoustic drum kit (no 808s, electronic samples, or drum machines). Explore natural drum textures and techniques.
• Instrument Bass Guitar as Lead Melodic Instrument Use the bass guitar to play the main melody or a significant solo, not just a supportive role. Explore its melodic potential beyond foundational function.
• Challenge Strategic Silent Breaks (Grand Pause) Incorporate at least two or three distinct moments of complete silence (at least 1-2 beats long) for dramatic or structural effect. Use silence as a compositional element.
• Form Call and Response Structure Build your piece around a call-and-response pattern, where one musical phrase (call) is answered by another (response). Create conversational interplay.
• Chord 7♯11 (Lydian Dominant) Use a dominant 7th chord with a sharp 11th. Strongly implies a Lydian Dominant scale (4th mode of melodic minor). Creates colorful tension.
• Chord 7♭13 (Dominant 7th Flat 13) Employ a dominant 7th chord with a flat 13th (enharmonically a sharp 5th, but functions differently). Adds specific tension quality.
• Rhythm Metric Displacement / Rhythmic Shift Take a rhythmic phrase and repeat it, but shift its starting point relative to the beat or measure, creating syncopation. Maintain the phrase's internal structure while altering its relationship to the meter.
• Style Emulation Afrobeat Groove Create a piece featuring the characteristics of Afrobeat: extended song formats, complex polyrhythmic structures, call-and-response vocals, and politically conscious themes.
• Harmony Parallel Harmony / Planing Move a specific chord shape (e.g., all major triads, all dominant 7ths) in parallel motion up or down. Create coloristic effect through harmonic parallelism.
• Melodic Displacement of Melodic Phrases Take a melodic phrase and repeat it with its position shifted relative to the meter or bar lines. Maintain the phrase's internal structure while changing its relationship to the underlying meter.
• Production Prominent Filter Sweep Incorporate a noticeable filter sweep (low-pass or high-pass) on at least one key instrument or the master bus for dynamic effect. Use filtering as an expressive tool.
• Dynamics Sudden Dynamic Shift (Subito Forte/Piano) Incorporate an abrupt, unexpected change from loud (forte) to soft (piano), or vice-versa (subito changes), for dramatic effect. Use sudden contrast for emotional impact.

Keep going

• 20 chord progressions to steal
• 25 production constraints to finish a track
• Odd time signature exercises
• 33 songwriting briefs
• Working with creative constraints

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