F♯ / G♭ Minor Funk Backing Track

Build your own band: 16 moods and 20 styles in any key and tempo, with drums, percussion, bass, two chord instruments, a pad and lead fills, each with its own sound and volume.

This is an F♯ minor funk backing track: sixteenth-note funk: popping bass, scratchy muted strums and short chord stabs high on the neck. It plays the i7 – IV7 (Dorian vamp) progression in F♯ minor at 100 BPM in 4/4, round and round, so you can practise soloing, rhythm or both.

F♯ and G♭ are the same pitch; the chords are spelled in F♯. The player above is set to this track. Press Play, slow it down or speed it up, mute the guitar to play the chords yourself, or mute the bass to play the bass line. You can also switch key or style without leaving the page.

How the band plays it

Sixteenth notes everywhere: the hi-hat, scratchy muted strums and short stabs, with a bass that pops octaves. The groove stays on one or two chords so the rhythm is the song.

The chords

A two-chord Dorian vamp: a minor seventh chord and the major IV7 chord a fourth above, the IV chord’s major third being Dorian’s bright sixth. In F♯ minor that is F♯m7, B7.

1F♯m7

2B7

In numbers: i7 = F♯m7 · IV7 = B7. The numbers count from the key’s root, so the same progression works in any key.

The shapes the guitar plays

Small shapes on the top strings, short and crisp.

Play the rhythm part yourself

Keep your strumming hand moving in sixteenths. Lift the fretting fingers to mute for the scratches and press down only for the stabs. Mute the guitar in the player and the band leaves the part to you.

What to solo with

F♯ dorian: F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ E. The IV7 chord comes from it.
F♯ minor pentatonic: F♯ A B C♯ E. Safe on every chord.

Dorian over the minor seventh vamp: its sixth gives the bright, funky sound. Play short, rhythmic phrases and repeat them.

Notes to aim for

Scales get you through the track; landing on the chord tones makes a solo follow the changes. The strongest notes over each chord are its 3rd and 7th:

Chord	Root	3rd	5th	7th
F♯m7	F♯	A	C♯	E
B7	B	D♯	F♯	A

How to practise with it

Listen to one time round the progression and count the bars.
Play the root note of each chord on the beat, then the whole chord with the band.
Solo with F♯ dorian, starting and ending phrases on F♯.
Aim for the 3rd of each chord as it arrives (the table above).
Raise the tempo by 5 BPM when it feels easy, or try the same track in another key.