Jack the Bear Transcription

[musomark]

I've just heard jack the bear for the first time on the Duke Ellington juke box:

http://www.tuxjunction.net/56kjukepages/bellington.htm

WOW

Does anyone where I can get a transcription of the bass line.
Notation or tab - I'm not fussy. I just want to play it!

Many thanks.

[JohnBarr]

The solo is transcribed in John Goldsby's "The Jazz Bass Book"

It's a good book to have for a lot of reasons.

Check it out at http://bassbooks.com

Best,

John

[musomark]

Many thanks John. I have the book on order from amazon already.

Can't wait to get to get going so I'm transcribing it very slowly - I think I've got the intro sorted.

[musomark]

Hi Jason,

Just got the book!

I've played through the solo a couple of times and I'm trying to figure out a good fingering. While some bit seem to be playable up the g-string using standard 1-2-4 fingering, much of the solo seems to call for an extended hand position.

Have you any tips about fingering?

Many thanks

Mark

[HotPoop621]

If you are talking about the opening bars of the solo in A flat I play the root with 2 on the D string and then 1-1-4 on the G string and not 1-2-4. I would keep 3 and 4 working together because that's what high action players probably used to keep those strings down. And Blanton always had a bell like clear tone for the era so he must have a firm but agile left hand.

[musomark]

Thanks for the tip!

I've been working the the extension exercises in Ray Brown's Bass method and find I can play comfitably (and in tune) down to the Eb scale - i.e. third position (5th position in BG talk). This means it's feasible for me to play the 1st half of the solo without shifting.

I'm still exploring playing with 1-2-4 fingering all the way through as well.

I feel my intonation is better when I don't shift as much - especially at this speed!

Has anyone else got any thoughts?