Rick James - Super Freak - Guitar Lesson

Street Songs (Deluxe Edition)

1981 3:25

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About Super Freak

The bassline in "Super Freak" gets all the glory, but the guitar has its own essential role, locking in tight with the groove and delivering choppy, percussive funk rhythm work throughout. Playing it well in A minor at 115 BPM means your right hand needs to be disciplined: clean muted strums and precise upstroke chops are what glue the part together. Sloppy timing or letting notes ring too long will immediately muddy the pocket. Rick James built the track around that relentless, clipped feel, so treat every note you don't play as important as every one you do. In E Standard tuning, nothing is physically tricky, but keeping the rhythm feel locked and funky under tempo is harder than it sounds. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main groove slowed down until your muting is automatic, then bring it back up to 115 BPM and focus on staying in the pocket without rushing the upstrokes. This is a great workout for anyone building Funk Rock rhythm chops.

• The guitar part relies heavily on muted, percussive rhythm chops in A minor, making clean right-hand muting the primary technique to practise.
• At 115 BPM in E Standard tuning, the part is physically accessible but demands strict rhythmic discipline to sit correctly in the funk groove.
• Focusing on short, clipped upstrokes rather than full strums is the key to nailing the tight, staccato feel the track requires.