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What am I missing in this measure?

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I don't have an issue with the written D#...but that's me.
Also Too - I don't consider the E natural a "chromatic..." movement, as E is the #11 of the Bb7 chord. It is "in" the Bb7 chord as an upper extension, that just happens to result in a "chromatic.." movement. That's why it sounds "good/right", IMO.
But that's me, and not everybody would agree with me, IME.
Thanks!

Well there’s a key signature that tells us there are issues with both of those things
 
Somebody left out a natural sign. Play the note your ears and logic tell you to play and move on. Ray Brown wouldn't have even bothered to think about it, much less ask.
Well, it's not that simple. If this were a gig it's a no brainer, I play what I want, but it's not a gig :)

Let us take a moment to remember we are in the "General Instruction" forum :)
 
I agree, that's almost certainly supposed to be an E natural in the last note of that bar.

If a lower chromatic approach is intended, wouldn't this be the correct notation?
upload_2023-7-13_20-8-55.png


If you are feeling a little more fruity, perhaps you could throw in an upper chromatic approach :rolleyes::
upload_2023-7-13_20-16-45.png


Or, if you are feeling super fruity, a chromatic surround :wacky::
upload_2023-7-13_20-36-42.png
 
Oh and perhaps an op for you to be creative and alter that measure to your liking…
Well, I will mention to him that I'd prefer to play it this way, but I am not sure he want to hear about how I will improve on Paul Chambers. I am actually not sure he wants to hear about how I wouldn't do that, either. And I don't even know how Paul actually played it.

But there's a lot to be navigated.
 
It's written wrong. He might be a good bass teacher, but his lack of theory knowledge is showing. The first and second notes are correct. The third note should be written as an "E", which of course in this key/key signature, is really an Eb. The fourth note should have been written as E natural, as this is clearly intended to be a chromatic run up to the F chord. As someone who studied theory for five years at the conservatory level, trust me I am right :-)
 
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It's written wrong. He might be a good bass teacher, but his lack of theory knowledge is showing. The first and second notes are correct. The third note should be written as an "E", which of course in this key/key signature, is really an Eb. The fourth note should have been written as E natural, as this is clearly intended to be a chromatic run up to the F chord. As someone who studied theory for five years at the conservatory level, trust me I am right :)
I believe you are right. I don't think he has a lack of theory knowledge with his credentials, though. I think there's a different reason for this. Either an oversight or a test. Also, it's not his transcription. It'll be interesting to hear what he has to say about this.
 
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Key of Bb, bass clef 4/4

View attachment 5124262

Aren't the last two notes the same tone, since the E is flat? I understand that in certain temperaments they would be different but this is written for bass. Why would you write it like this? Why not B D E E? Is this just to convey the upward movement of the overall passage? I'm confused. Maybe it's just to test to see if I play this correctly?

You guys are going to get sick of me asking questions in this forum.
Technically, D# and Eb are referred to as “enharmonic equivalents”. It’s the same tone.

however, without seeing the first note of the next measure, it looks like the’re trying to walk on a Bb7 chord where “F” should be the first note of the following measure. If this is so, I would think the composer meant to write “Bb - D - Eb - E natural…. Then F on beat one of next measure. From what I understand, there is no “D#” in the key of Bb major.
 
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It's written wrong. He might be a good bass teacher, but his lack of theory knowledge is showing. The first and second notes are correct. The third note should be written as an "E", which of course in this key/key signature, is really an Eb. The fourth note should have been written as E natural, as this is clearly intended to be a chromatic run up to the F chord. As someone who studied theory for five years at the conservatory level, trust me I am right :)
Haha we just wrote the same thing literally 1 minute apart!
 
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A few things to take note of in all this conjecture:

- This is a transcription of a bass line played by Paul Chambers.
- My teacher didn't transcribe it, one of his teacher's other students did.
- Teacher is a Berklee grad so I am pretty sure he knows his theory.
- It'd be a seriously sad statement about Berklee if neither of them could read this as well as I can.

Is this a deliberate "mistake" that's in the book to help or assess students in some way? I don't know. But I can't for a minute imagine that they don't know it's there if half of TalkBass is chiming in to correct it.

It's certainly a talking point. Perhaps that is the intent?

Earlier I was confused, but now I'm intrigued.
 
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A few things to take note of in all this conjecture:

- This is a transcription of a bass line played by Paul Chambers.
- My teacher didn't transcribe it, one of his teacher's other students did.
- Teacher is a Berklee grad so I am pretty sure he knows his theory.
- It'd be a sad statement about Berklee if neither of them could read this as well as I can.

Is this a deliberate "mistake" that's in the book to help or assess students in some way? I don't know. But I can't for a minute imagine that they don't know it's there if half of TalkBass is chiming in to correct it.

It's certainly a talking point. Perhaps that is the intent?

Earlier I was confused, but now I'm intrigued.

It’s a typo, no doubt. The only reason to write a D# in the key of Bb is to convey an ascending line (generally accidentals are sharp ascending and flat descending to convey direction of the line), but in this case I think it’s just an oversight. I really can’t imagine a teacher would try to trick a student, as there’s really nothing to be learned from it. If you were in a session or rehearsal and played as written, the BL is either going to stop you or shoot you a glare and have you fix it in post.

I would think the point of this assignment is to get you to see how walking bassists used chromatic connectivity in their lines, not whether or not you can spot a typo. Play it as mentioned, Bb-D-Eb-E, and if you want mention it afterwards. The real lesson here is chromaticism in walking bass. Happy learning!
 
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