Web to get funkier with Bootsy's bass school

No doubt, Bootsy Collins put the fun in funk.

All the showmanship aside--the wild costumes and glasses--the guy can play bass. Now, Collins is preparing to go online to share his knowledge about the instrument. On July 1, Collins, 58, is opening up what he says is the world's first "Funk University."

Collins wrote at Thefunkuniversity.com: "This sonic learning institution will be unlike anything before as Professor Collins and the finest bassists in music will unleash an intense curriculum on the Web for intermediate to advanced funk disciples." Musically.com first reported the story.

Collins' credentials are legendary. You might say he obtained a funk undergraduate degree at the school of James Brown, playing behind the "hardest working man in show business" during the late 1960s. As the story goes, Brown was known for dancing across the stage with his back to the audience in those days. This enabled him to slap fines on any band member who may have misplayed a note.

Collins went on to earn his own fame with the group Parliament-Funkadelic during the 1970s.

Collins is just one of a growing number of actors, musicians, painters, and athletes who are taking to the Web to teach. Scores of musicians and dancers have posted "how-to" clips at YouTube. A big proponent of this is Dutch actor Rutger Hauer ("Batman Begins," "Blade Runner"), who told me last year he wants to see more mentoring by professional actors and filmmakers done via the Web.

According to his Web site, Collins says his reasons for turning teacher are "because a groove is a terrible thing to waste."