Home > Guitar Chords > Funk Guitar Chords

Funk Guitar Chords
Funk chord shapes and voicings

In this mini-series we'll be looking at some of the staple guitar chords used in funk, from basic barre shapes to more efficient, "cut-down" chord voicings on the higher strings of the guitar.

There's a definite jazzy and often bluesy feel to the chords used in funk music, since that's where its stylistic origins are rooted. However, certain chord shapes help enhance those lively, groove-laiden rhythms heard in funk, which you'll see when you go on to learn funk rhythm/picking.

So, first we'll look at some essential funk guitar chords, then we'll move on to things like chord phrasing and harmonising. Enjoy it!

Funk guitar chord basics

Funk uses some very interesting chord voicings and, similar to jazz, most are built from a dominant 7th chord base, often extended from that to 9th and 13th chords. Don't worry if you don't know what that means, the important thing is you experiment with adding notes to the basic chord shapes you learn as a beginner, to really "big them up" for that funk sound.

First, we're going to look at the common barre chord shapes used in funk. Make sure you're comfortable with barre chords here before we move on as these are used all the time in funk!

There are two main barre shapes used in funk - E shape and A shape. E shape barre chords are rooted on the low E string, and use all 6 strings. A shape barre chords are rooted on the A string, and use the 5 strings from that root.

E shape funk guitar chords

So, rather than just use the basic major/minor barre chords, we're going to use 7th and extended voicings to add more of a jazzy/funky flavour - you'll hear it immediately when you play or hear them (click the diagrams to hear examples)!

All the audio examples are played in the key of D, but remember these are movable shapes, so they keep their formation when you move up and down the fretboard with them!

Major chords

Dominant 7th shape (e.g. D7)	Added 6th shape (e.g. D7add6)
13th shape (e.g. D13)	Sharp 9th shape (e.g. D7#9)

Minor chords

Minor 7th shape (e.g. Dm7)	Alternative Minor 7th shape
Added 6th Shape (e.g. Dm7add6)	Minor 13th shape (e.g. Dm13)
Minor 9th Shape (e.g. Dm9)

Suspended chord

Suspended 13th shape (e.g. Dsus13)

Try the above chords over the backing track below. It's in the key of D, just like the audio examples, so that means the low E string root of these chords will be positioned at fret 10.

Download the backing track >

A shape funk guitar chords

Built around A shape barre chords with an A string bass/root, you can get some really nice, classic funk tones with these positions. Again, they're movable shapes, but I'm playing in the key of E in the audio examples (that's fret 7 on the A string).

Major chords

Dominant 7th shape (e.g. E7)	Alternative Dominant 7th shape
Added 6th shape (e.g. E7add6)	Added 6th without 7th (e.g. Eadd6)

Minor chords

Minor 7th shape (e.g Em7)	Alternative Minor 7th shape
Added 6th shape (e.g. Em7add6)

Suspended chords

Suspended 4th Added 6th shape (e.g. E7sus4add6)	Suspended 2nd shape (e.g. E7sus2)
9th Suspended 4th shape (e.g. E9sus4)	Suspended 2nd Added 6th shape (e.g. E7sus2add6)
Suspended 13th shape (e.g. Esus13)

Try the above chords over the backing track below. It's in the key of E, just like the audio examples, so that means the A string root of these chords will be positioned at fret 7.

Download the backing track >

Other movable funk chord shapes

So already we have a rather large library of funk chords to play with. But there's more! Aside from the common E and A shape barre chords, there's some other nice sounding shapes, rooted on those low E and A strings, that descend rather than ascend from their root note positions. Take a look (and listen)...

On the low E string

13th chord (e.g. D13)	9th Suspended 4th (e.g. D9sus4)
Added 9th (e.g. D7add9)	Suspended 2nd (e.g. D7sus2)
Added 6th/9th (e.g. Dadd6/9)

On the A string

Dominant 7th (e.g. E7)	9th (e.g. E9)
Major 9th (e.g. Emaj9)	13th (e.g. E13)
Sharp 9th (e.g. E7#9)	Added 6th/9th (e.g. Eadd6/9)
Minor 9th (e.g. Em9)

Phew! That's a lot of chords, and by no means the limit!

In the next couple of lessons, we'll learn how to "cut down" some of the fuller chord shapes logically, allowing us to create interesting chord phrasings and complement those jumpy funk rhythms.

As always, experiment, for example by adding and removing fingers/notes from those basic barre chord shapes. There are tons of chord voicings to discover just from these core shapes.

I hope you found this lesson useful and hopefully you'll join me for the next step... when you're ready.

Part 2 coming soon!

footer for guitar lessons page

Funk Guitar Chords Funk chord shapes and voicings

Funk guitar chord basics

E shape funk guitar chords

A shape funk guitar chords

Other movable funk chord shapes

Funk Guitar Chords
Funk chord shapes and voicings