Top 5 Funkiest Nile Rodgers Riffs + Funk Tone Tips

[@crapweasel17]

Playing Chic while wearing a Bad Brains t-shirt is one of those things that makes you my favorite GuitarTuber.

[@mairenared]

Great video Adrian, I've alway loved Nile Rodgers's style of playing. It's much more complicated than you think. He told a lovely story about making "Let's Dance" with David Bowie. Bowie came to him with the original idea of the song and he changed the arrangement so it came out much funkier. He was a bit worried that Bowie might think that it was too funky but Bowie's reply was "Can anything be too funky?"

[@acpg]

Great story! No such thing as too funky...

[@culcharmediaproductions3201]

@@acpg always love that STANK

[@nicholaschacon6503]

Both cool people and I am glad Bowie said that ! That's a cool way to respond to a very funky Nile Roger's.

[@thirty3point3_904]

Was fortunate enough to see him last year. He opened for Cher -- if you can believe that. Should have been the other way around. Great lesson. Putting this one in my "Return to - Many Times" folder.

[@AndyDion]

7:06 YES!! This is such a cool Niles riff! Thank you so much for showing us!

[@edwinmontgomery1182]

Totally Agree!

[@Mrfuzzypants26]

I dont think he says. What song is this?

[@dobs407]

@@Mrfuzzypants26 Thinking of you

[@Mrfuzzypants26]

@@dobs407 ❤

[@garethbruce6475]

Nice fun lesson Adrian 👍 Nile is the best example of a player that has everything and doesn't need a grand solo to prove his worth or reputation. Not many guitarist's like that I can think of? Johnny Marr that's about it

[@acpg]

Yes, I agree you certainly don't need widdly-woo solos to be a great guitarist.

[@andrewparker7016]

Curtis Mayfield is good too

[@maryfield9730]

Yes! Johnny Marr cited Nile Rodgers as an influence, in his book.

[@uknowme1811]

@@maryfield9730 named his son after him.

[@granap]

Thanks! Another cool one is I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross.

[@awrebyawe]

"Thinking of you" is my favourite riff as well! "lose yourself" is up there as well. Great playing and teaching!

[@ootrip40]

As someone who had to listen to many guitarplayers screwing up Niles' genius playing, I have to say: you've got that down very nicely, Sir. Respect.

[@RayzaEFC]

Excellent lesson mate, Nile is one of my favourite guitarists

[@nicennice]

Yeah excellent lesson Adrian. Whenever I am getting slightly bored or stale on guitar you always have something to peak my interest again. Brilliant content on your channel.

[@Twitexter]

More Nile Rodgers stuff! Detailed whole songs tutorials, please! Those songs are the reason I bought a guitar 😍

[@moreorlesslikeso]

Great tutorial - as always! Competent and to the point, yet so modest and respectful to the music and the artists you cover. And the sound is definitely spot on!

[@kenjones6441]

Sir, you are fantastic. Absolutely love this video, as I , like you admire Nile Rodger’s playing. So so helpful. Thank you, will keep me practising for hours.

[@michaelv1986]

Continued from my last post…The first thing that I noticed watching Diggin Dirt was that each and every band member are incredible players. As I dove into old funk bands, it was the same thing… Every player kicks ass. The recordings are honest and if a guitarist is using effects…. They only use one or two at a time in a cool & creative way. Not like today’s albums that use 10 digital multi effects all smashed together. My dive into the funk legendary bands uncovered TONS of bands I never had heard of before. I was floored how many albums and live recordings James Brown had. A special treat was finding Dyke and the Blazers !!!! I beg your subscribers who are not familiar to check them out, especially the guitar work. Shame on me for knowing so little about these great funk bands and the incredible guitarists in them. Other funk band favorites and awesome funk guitarists; The Average White Band, Mandrill, Parliament, Sly and the Family Stone, Bobby Byrd, Stevie Wonder, Ohio Players. *** Don’t just listen to the bands Top 3 Hits. At least preview every song on each album. You won’t regret it.

[@markuspboeddeker5930]

A fellow Dyke & the Blazers fan! Cheerleader!

[@markuspboeddeker5930]

I hate autofill..Cheers!

[@boeliewinter7492]

Just 3 things you need..... The feel, the drummer and the bass with all these 3. Great video

[@BedeLaplume]

You always come up with really cool ideas for tutos!

[@jakehunt4144]

I think you're the first KZbinr that has the closet guitar tone and playing style to Nile I've seen! Definitely subbing!

[@DaveKaplowitz]

Dude, you are really bringing the funk! Great choice of riffs!

[@ayushgvrg]

killer lesson. Got tons to work on thanks Adrian.

[@kbiggs49]

One of the best videos on Nile's playing style thank you .

[@meadish]

Niled it.

[@RDNZL1000]

Well, I got the joke!

[@stephenfiore9960]

Very Funnky

[@-GuitarZero]

This was fantastic. I love the range of styles you demonstrate in these videos.

[@robertbuilder8001]

Superb video. There's my Sunday afternoon tomorrow sorted out. Well this afternoon now actually 🙂

[@patrickmaloney8717]

Awesome. Niles is one of my favorites. Thank you!!!

[@theescapetomusic101]

Been watching your vids since high school. So glad you’re still making content. Thanks for the great vid!

[@damocarew]

“Thinking of you” defo my fave ever 👍

[@martynspooner5822]

I don't know how you work all this stuff out but I am so happy you do. Thanks a lot truly appreciated.

[@tennysonelbow9565]

Excellent. So clear with every detail

[@jayogden773]

Your lessons are awesome Adrian! Spot on and detailed!

[@DolphCas]

Excellent lesson. Thank you. More REM please!

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Nice production Adrian, very fitting for a Nile Rodgers special. I particularly liked your segways, skills!😎🎙🎸✅

[@marktruslow1376]

Thank you Sir. Love the Ron Asheton vid lesson too.

[@JessesAuditorium]

What a beautiful strat, and your voice is calming lol. Cheers.

[@ralphcundiff5180]

You are a great guitarist and teacher

[@PureMadMetal]

Smokin stuff Adrian, Nile Rogers riffs and chords just smashin stuff to add to your funky guitar know how.

[@chuffa1130]

Definitely interesting when wearing a bad brains t-shirt, in correlation with a Niles Rogers tutorial very well done, being from the United States I've seen the bad brains quite a few times back in the '80s, I will say I did see them back in 1987 when they played in Camden Town in the UK

[@Electricaztec777]

I really dig your awesome presentations and this is no exception!

[@MrWhitey222]

Ooh, I like this lesson ! I don’t listen to much funk to be honest, but it’s so much fun to play these funk rhythms.

[@franciscowolffleal899]

That was awesome. Thank you very much for the lesson, Adrian!

[@markstacey2906]

Wicked Mate I've been waiting for exactly this lesson...Many thanks for sharing 👍

[@alexZZGuitar6447]

Many thanks Adrian really useful lesson :) a lesson on a full song by Nile would be awesome like you mentioned in the video.

[@mikeford9176]

Perfect been looking for a good nile rodgers lesson. Thanks a lot my friend

[@danapplebee4408]

Great video. I love Nile’s playing. But I love that Bad Brains T-shirt even more 🤘🏼.

[@michaelv1986]

Hey Adrian, thanks for this video !! This was one of the best guitar & tone tutorials I’ve found. I recently was at Hueneme Beach Festival in So Cal, & discovered a great funk band called DIGGIN DIRT. They were sensational and I encourage all you subscribers to check out their KZbin channel. I was so inspired by Diggin Dirt that I dove in head first to see what bands their influences must have come from. I also wanted to learn more about the chords, riffs, right hand tactics and how to get those guitar tones! This video was a great help !!!

[@klisher]

Thanks for that, i just checked them out. Top notch. Singer is amazing. 👍👍

[@jarekpilachowski8541]

Great lesson Adrian 👍😁 I love Nile Rodgers songs and his way of playing guitar. BTW Beautiful 60's Strat 👍

[@emilioalonso6011]

Amazing. You're so talented as a guitarist and such a good teacher. Greetings from Argentina!!

[@harleygrandpaernie]

Great job. I love your acoustic lessons as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. You Rock brother

[@bluesman7703]

Bloody great lesson ! Another outstanding job mate !!!

[@guitarjonn7103]

Thanks, Rodgers is one of the best at this and it's good to showcase him. Another one of my favorite riffs by him is on Diana Ross's "I'm Coming Out". But I have to respectfully disagree on Get Lucky. To my ears, for each measure, starting on the 3rd 16th note of beat 1, it fundamentally goes like this: ==/==/==/==/==/= (with variations). Of course, there's a second guitar playing sparsely placed single lines, as well, sort of similar to how James Brown might do it. It's a great groove, played it on many a gig when it was new. What I recall most about it, though, was how tricky it was playing that part while singing the chorus as well.

[@simdoyle]

Fabulous video mate. Thanks for sharing.

[@thedoc1210]

the discipline in this type of playing is top

[@thommeinert9072]

Excellent tutorial and demonstration!!! Musician USA

[@colinsmith4014]

Great vid mate. Super helpful! Thanks

[@keesh7]

This is fantastic! I never knew Nile Rodgers but some of my favorite guitarists (Tom Misch) clearly has learned some things from him. going to spend several days learning from this vid

[@awrebyawe]

You may not know him, but you certainly know his songs! His guitar is called "The Hitmaker" for a reason

[@Podjack]

Great tutorial about the style of Nile Rodgers. Thank you!

[@ottodrone6173]

Thanks for the great lesson. I enjoy your videos very much!

[@Drpiwi]

Great t-shirt from an underrated band!

[@tobleramone]

I'd love an At The Movies lesson!

[@nbase2652]

Yeah, picks really do make a difference. You might wanna give the Dunlop ULTEX Sharp .73 picks a shot. I love using them for funky stuff as they allow for a particularly strong & crispy "chick" sound. They also appear to last a little longer due to the rather hard material, which is always a plus when you're grinding them down with a lot of accented 16th notes. By the way, you can always re-sharpen your picks by dragging them across a rough carpet (in case you didn't know already)

[@tikitikibamboo]

Sharpen em` Steve Vai style hahaha

[@PiotrHryncyszyn]

Some people have an EQ pedal balance between single coil and humbucker guitars. I just take a thinner pick. O.1 mm can be a difference between a meh sound and an OK sound.

[@jesusbarreraperez1893]

Great. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@andreapassetti2366]

“Good Times” , if you see all the live video in YT, how he plays the 3” chord, is from E (bass) string: X77787

[@acpg]

Yes, I've watched tons of live videos. He seems to now play that chord differently in certain live videos than on the original recording. Not sure why he changed it, but both work and sound good. so use whichever option you prefer the sound of.

[@MusicFed]

Get lucky is tricky. I think there are 2 guitars and one is playing upper structure chords. I think one of his secrets is recording direct with tons of compression, but with a relatively light touch (le freak)

[@CAP21]

Thanks Adrian👍. I would of never figured out these Nile Rogers riffs. Very cool breakdowns🍺

[@user-qf4zs6qj4c]

Great lesson, thanks! I've tended to use a compressor for a bit of extra spank when trying for these tones.

[@acpg]

Yes, compression definitely helps with funk. I did actually add some in the computer when I was mixing the audio.

[@Renav21]

@@acpg what settings would you recommend me for the compressor? I have a BOSS CS-3 (with Attack and Sustain controls)

[@PiotrHryncyszyn]

I think with this setup it’s wasn’t needed back then. Tube amp even at low volume and clean settings, does compress the signal somewhat. DI was done with analogue mixing consoles, which also had some compression, especially if gain was upped on them. With a weak guitar signal, the inputs probably were hot on the mixer. And then blending 50/50 on an analogue mixer You would get some compression on the peaks. But with DAW or solid state amp, I would add compressor or channel strip emulator. With live setup - stomp box compressor to emulate this.

[@photus03]

Yo Adrian, fantastic tutorial yet again. thanks . great teacher!

[@reyramirez5695]

if you ever get to do a full lesson of "thinking of you" by sister sledge that would be awesome. thanks.

[@graybonez]

Please!!!!!!!

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

@@graybonez Seconded

[@danadams8649]

yesss

[@caesarchoi4017]

yessss

[@auss1eman]

Amazing lesson ...thank you

[@namename5917]

Refreshing to hear great info amongst the Oceans of Hackers on You tube! Thank You!

[@vincentpelliccia3207]

Love the work.. Great to learn.

[@ashfordp676]

Nice guitar bro!

[@GuyDanielsMusicEtc]

Thank you for clearing up that mysterious third chord. (1st song)

[@nomepredefinito1174]

sorry but this is the first time I spotted Adrian misunderstanding a chord.

[@marcgib2000]

Grand merci à vous ( de France) , cette vidéo grâce aux sous titres est vraiment très bien faite et l'explication globale est très bien réalisée , ça m'aide pour acquerrir les riffs de good time et get lucky.

[@talktokale]

Ayyyye, my boy rocking a Bad Brains shirt!

[@johnl.6930]

Thank you so much! So well explained!

[@RaffaeleDonisio]

Great video!

[@phillipclarke8871]

First time watching one of your videos. Terrific! The amp sound is super nice to my ears but I get the mix. Be good totalk over the amp settings. Thankyou.

[@MrMight-vd7lo]

I love this video. I’m more funk lessons please

[@MikefromAlabama]

Love Nile Rodger's style.

[@mraggrovator]

Brilliant lesson.

[@jefft5854]

Great lesson and great t-shirt ;)

[@michaeleaster1815]

Fabulous lesson... thanks so much! Suggestion for another lesson: more on syncopation with 16th notes. I've seen videos by Mark Lettieri re: looping, where he casually says "or you could accent the 'and' on 2-ee-and-uh" and I not even sure how to get started on that kind of thing.

[@ustino85]

nice tone,nice talk..thank you

[@capitaldharma]

Great idea for a lesson. And cool shirt!

[@nickgreen2497]

Great stuff Adrian, thanks. Just realised I've been playing Le Freak wrong for years...

[@shresthazepplenzepp496]

Awesome riffs

[@FenixShephard]

Bad brains. Banned in DC is a stroke of genius 🤘also love Nile Rodgers. Seen him a live 3 times and the man puts on a show

[@lylenesse6066]

Well done, thank you!!

[@herbitre]

So cool, thanks man.

[@KUDGHAT1]

Maann it's super just got bk home.... Only heard the first riff n working on it.... as said it's melodic !!

[@joyoffilming9500]

Awesome video!

[@zoomankat]

You just have to dig those Nylon picks,great on banjos too.Some more Cliff Gallup would be nice Adrian.Thanks.

[@Ogma3bandcamp]

This is gold.

[@michael_caz_nyc]

Great stuff. Enjoyed it. Listen to: Chic = "So Fine" ( also killer guitar solo ) Nile is phenomenal. oNe LovE from NYC

[@wsurfn]

Love this. Thank you!

[@TheDeedeeFiles]

Sounds amazing nice guitar lessons

[@DavidKemp]

Riff 5: Le Freak by Chic at 18:49

[@teaboyuk]

Great video thank you soooo much.

[@tigertuft]

lovely stuff, thanks Adrian. Iconic riffage :)

[@kalonjijones362]

I appreciate your shirt.

[@MercurialToys]

I don't know how you figured out Thinking Of You, that was intense. I love playing funk guitar, it's a very satisfying style to play. Also a fan of thin picks, good for jangly stuff too, which is about 70% of what I play. 😄

[@OriginalOldSkoolFunk]

@Oliver Jones Nice list especially anything from RPJr. Let me add a few more. Tony Maiden from Rufus and Chaka Khan, Sugarfoot from the Ohio Players, Al McKay, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Bruno Sleight, SOS Band, Roger Troutman from Zapp, Jimmy Nolen and Catfish Collins from James Brown, Garry Schider, Michael Hampton, Eddie Hazel from PFunk, George Johnson from Brothers Johnson, Freddie and Sly Stone, Lloyd Smith of The BayKays...Prince and many others. These are the guys I grew up learning to play R&B and Funk rythm guitar from in the 70's and 80's. Different genres...but I also got a lot from Stax Records Colonel Steve Cropper and Al Greens Teenie Hodges. Bobby Womack and Curtis Mayfield had unique styles that are fun to play also and Peter Tosh and Bob Marley laid it down nicely in Ragae. I could go on and on but anyone wanting to learn the essence of this style would be well served to look these guys up...IMHO.

[@patricklavastre7053]

Thanks burthow the chords on tabalatures