Hey Beginners: Can You Play This Funky E9 Strum? GuitarTricks Instructor Mike Olekhy demonstrates what might be the most basic and popular funk strumming rhythm, and here it uses an E9 chord. If you're a beginner, or just getting into funk, this is a great place to start. It's in 4/4, but it's broken into: • 4 groups of 3s • then a group of 4 to turn it back around (otherwise it would only be 3 measures long). The loop adds up to an even 16th notes in 4/4. It's a "syncopated" rhythm because the