How to Play Funky Rhythm Guitar Riff in Key of A

Hey, this is George Meyers with Guitar Control, I do hope that you enjoy this lick, let’s check it out.


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This is quite a funky little riff in the key of A and it’s basically based on a counter-melody. What I mean by that is there is a melody going all the way through and the bass notes change. So you’ve got this melody. And then the bass notes change. So we start in A on the 5th fret, then we’re going to play A on the 7th fret of the B string, then G and A again. So all together.

We’re going to play C on the 5th fret of the G-string and then we’re going to go back to A on the 7th fret of the B-string and then play G. So all together.

In terms of picking, I can’t say that I’m really thinking about it. I think the important thing is to have your muting technique sort of nailed so that you can just kind of feel it thing. When it comes to groove-based music I have found if you get too clinical about it, it kind of loses the point. So as long as you feel the groove and you’re confident about your muting, it should work.

For the first part what you’re going to do is you’re going to go to G on the E- string and then you’re going to play the exact same counter-melody. Then you’re going to go to F sharp. All together.

Now there’s a slight alteration, we’re going to go to F, and then we’re going to head to A on the B-string, then G on the 5th fret of the B-string, then back to A and that’s as far as we’re going to go this time. So we’re going to play the entire counter-melody and we’re going to conclude the lick by playing the low E and then play G and A. So all together, slowly.

I hope you really enjoyed this and feel free to stay tuned for more licks. Cheers.

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