How to play Motown?? anyone have advice?

[jwmtele]

I would like to learn to play some of the Motown songs i grew up listening to, i play mostly blues rock.Anyone have any advice or tips?Is there a good songbook i can learn from?
thanks
james

[JonPR]

Lots. Such as:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-50th-...town+song+book

[mr. beaumont]

The guitar parts can be very small...Guitar is even more of a rhythm instrument than bass in a lot of motown tunes...

[srick]

See if you can Google any video of Pete Huttlinger playing Stevie Wonder's songs. His thumb pick bass technique may be the 'hook' you're looking for.

Rick

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by jwmtele

I would like to learn to play some of the Motown songs i grew up listening to, i play mostly blues rock.Anyone have any advice or tips?Is there a good songbook i can learn from?
thanks
james

I suppose a song book is a good place to start, but then the question is: How do I do this right?

Go to youtube and listen to any of the clips titled 'Funk Brothers'

They are, for the most part, the instrumental tracks with very few, if any, vocals.

It is absolutely scary what you'll hear going on, especially because they often used 3 guitarists………..for a perfect example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ukCg-p_L0

Turn off the woofers, or risk wanting to become a bass player.

HE

[Captain Jim]

I do several acoustic covers of soul/R&B/Motown songs: My Girl, The Letter, Hold On I'm Coming, Midnight Hour, and others... you don't have to play "just the guitar part" for people to enjoy the song. I do some other horn-band songs (Tower of Power, Chicago) - sing the horn parts with a harmonizer. It is well received.

Make your own arrangement. I was raised on that music. I played it in bands in the 60s and 70s, and still like to play it as a solo... you just go with what works for you.

Have fun with it - your audience will, too.

Jim

[Themusicmaam]

Steve cropper gave some funny/ interesting tips on playing " knock on wood"
- follow the dots. Plays the whole thing in an e shape barr chord following the dots up the neck ( except it ends on the 10th fret and starts on the open e). Too funny. Also works in reverse for midnight hour.

[Themusicmaam]

And, just add an A7 bar chord and E7 ( c7 form) both played at the fifth fret and you have the whole song. Fun to play and easy to figure out.

[Davis Webb]

I think there are 3 things I might add of value here.

1. learn some 9ths and 13ths and other jazz chords and use those
2. learn to pop your strings, you can do it with a pick, just dig, think of Sly and the Family Stone..."I want to thank you for letting me be myself, again..", get that groove going, its a great gateway into funk pops
3. do some one fret slides resolving into a chord, for example, in the key of E, put one finger on the top 4 strings on the 11th fret and slide up into the 12th, gives you that smooth mowtown feel

Motown is all about syncopation, play just slightly ahead of the beat. Its about finding a groove and holding it. Not that interesting from a pure guitarist point of view, basically you work along with the high hat, following it.

Have fun. Stevie Wonder covers are a great intro. Note how he uses lush, rich chords with lots going on in them. But Sly and the Family Stone covers will really unleash that sense of funk.

[RRuskin]

If you're looking for a magic bullet, there are none. Take each tune on its own. Learn the progression, melody, and the various elements of the original arrangement that make it special. Then try to distill it all down so it works well within the confines of 6 strings. A change of key may be involved.

P.S. It's not material for anyone still relying on patterns.

[malky]

Have a look at this, :
http://youtu.be/RwhHRlJwoqM
nice one to do

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

I suppose a song book is a good place to start, but then the question is: How do I do this right?

Go to youtube and listen to any of the clips titled 'Funk Brothers'

They are, for the most part, the instrumental tracks with very few, if any, vocals.

It is absolutely scary what you'll hear going on, especially because they often used 3 guitarists………..for a perfect example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ukCg-p_L0

Turn off the woofers, or risk wanting to become a bass player.

HE

I agree with Howard Emerson. The Funk brother were Motown, funk is all about finding the pocket, meaning how you put the space between the notes and where you put the pulse/accents. Is it behind the beat, is it in front of the beat, does it push the grove or pull the groove. That is what made the Funk brothers great.

[leatherguy]

I've been playing around with "Ain't that peculiar" by Marvin Gaye.....nice easy strumming tune...my friend says I've ruined another perfectly fine tune by countryfying it...

[Davis Webb]

Originally Posted by leatherguy

I've been playing around with "Ain't that peculiar" by Marvin Gaye.....nice easy strumming tune...my friend says I've ruined another perfectly fine tune by countryfying it...

No!!! You improved it! Making Motown country is your own spin. If I want to listen to Marvin Gaye I will put on his songs. Now if I heard someone making it country, I would sit up and take notice.

I do "Enough for the City" countrified with some blues scales, its nice. Its a simple progression, E, D, A.

E D A
A boy is born, in hardtime Mississippi.. X4 with other lines

Chorus

C D E

Living just enough, just enough for the city

The bridge

Bmaj7, Cmaj7, Fmaj7 up to 2 steps to Gmaj7
Bmaj7, Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Amaj7

Have fun! Add you some pops on the 5-7th position on the A string and off you go.