Today we’re going to talk about 6 ways to create funk beats for drum set. I’m going to take you step by step, starting with a simple electric bass groove and simple funk beat. I’ll then show you several ways you can modify that to create even funkier and more creative funk beats.
There have been lots of good books written about funk drumming. I feel though, that some of this material can be misleading for players learning the style, especially beginning drummers.
When I was studying at the United States Armed Forces School Of Music, I spent a lot of time practicing out of the book “Advanced Funk Studies,” by Rick Latham. That’s a really great book. A guitarist friend of mine at the time though, pointed out to me that he didn’t think most of the material in that book was actually funk. He said he would classify most of the material in the book as jazz rock fusion.
This drum lesson isn’t about debating what is funk and what isn’t. Ultimately, that’s just a matter of opinion anyway. What I’d like to do in this article is propose logical and various ways of creating funk beats for the drum set ranging from very simple to more advanced.
Note: After you’ve watched the video and studied the lesson, I’ve also created practice tracks for you to play each beat along with. These are on YouTube. In case you didn’t know, in “settings” on each YouTube video you can slow each track down as needed, then speed it up when you’re ready to practice at full tempo. Practice with the tracks that include a click track first. Then try the tracks without a click track.
First of all, we’re going to start with an electric bass groove. Most funk drumming beats are built around bass grooves. There are songs built around the rhythm guitar or keyboard as well, but playing off the electric bass part is a good place to start.
Electric Bass
1.The first and simplest way to create a funk beat that works with this bass groove is to play a rock beat that incorporates the electric bass rhythm. Our bass drum will just duplicate what the bass player is playing. This is very effective and simple. It doesn’t require amazing chops. Note that I did add one extra note on the bass drum as well. 
Practice with track: Wtih Click Without Click
2.Add a few ghosted notes on the snare drum. This works better sometimes at slower tempos. As the tempo gets faster adding the ghosted notes sometimes it can sound too busy. Practice this one with the medium funk backing track.
Practice with track:: Wtih Click Without Click
3. Play 16th note beats instead of 8th note rock beats. .
A. For slow tempos play the 16th notes with the right hand only. Practice this one with the slow funk backing track.
Practice with track: Wtih Click Without Click
B. For faster tempos use an alternating RLRL pattern. Practice this one with the medium funk backing track.
Practice with track: Wtih Click Without Click
4.Move the snare or bass to an unexpected place. In rock it’s common to hear the bass drum on 1 and 3 and the snare drum on 2 and 4. If you want your beat to sound more funky, or off beat, do something a little different. In the following example, I’ve moved the back beat on the snare drum from 2 to the last 16th note of beat one and removed the bass drum from that note. Moving that snare back one 16th note like that creates an anticipation and makes the beat a bit funkier.
I also turned the previous one measure beat into a 2 measure beat which I generally find more interesting. I then substituted a floor tom for the snare drum on the 2nd measure on beat 4 for some variation. Practice this one with the medium funk backing track.
Practice with track: Wtih Click Without Click
5. Add some double strokes and on the hi-hat. This makes it a bit more interesting. Practice this one with the medium funk backing track.
Practice with track: Wtih Click Without Click
6. Move your left hand off the HH and onto the snare. Again we’re still playing a RLRL 16th pattern. Leave out the double-strokes we used in the last beat. We’re then going to add a couple of fills to the end of each measure. I’m modified the right left alternating sticking a little bit for the fill on the first measure.
This is a very busy example with lots of notes. Just remember that in many situations, something simple might be more effective. Practice this one with the medium funk backing track.
Practice with track: Wtih Click Without Click
This article was written to show you some different options for creating funk grooves on the drum-set. As you can see by the examples, these options can be very simple or very complicated. When it comes down to choosing the best option, it’s a matter of personal taste. It’s also determined by the song and the type of group you’re playing with.
For further study, the first thing I recommend is listening to various examples of funk drumming. The internet has made this task amazingly easy. It’s like having the world’s largest music library in your own home.
Start with James Brown’s music, the founding father of funk. Compare that simple funk drumming to David Garibaldi’s very complex, and creative drumming with Tower Of Power. Both are effective but very different. They each worked very well with the musical situation at hand.
Some of the other things I’d recommend listening to include “Headhunters,” by Herbie Hancock, and anything by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In addition, here’s a list of some of the best funk albums of all time.
I hope you’ve found this article useful.