Weve now hit the 550 mark and theyre all free fellow bass players, help yourselves. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the motown records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971, and is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. These transcriptions come from my own curiositypursuit of more stuff to play what is that player doing. Chakas cover of this stevie wonder classic gives anthony jackson the chance to show that hes his own man when it comes to interpreting a track that had already been turned into something special by his idol james jamerson. Learn the improvisational concepts employed by motown bass great, james jamerson with notation, chords, tablature and analysis. Learning how to practice james jamerson s bass exercise will help you to understand james jamerson s unique chromatic style of bass playing. When bass musician contributor vuyani wakaba introduced me bite guitars onesong basses the timestandstill bass bite guitars launched a series of five oneoff basses, each one. These transcriptions are free to download and are for educational use only. This lesson transcription and analysis accompanies joe hubbards youtube video, how to improvise like james jamerson. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to do well.
I play upright and electric bass and live in brooklyn, ny. James lee jamerson january 29, 1936 august 2, 1983 was an american bass player. Many of these transcriptions are ones that ive done for myself as part of my own study. James jamerson on bernade tte february 29, 2016 dave speranza i came across an isolated bass recording of james jamerson on youtube recently, and decided that there couldnt be a better transcription project than that.
Read them on a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet, and print out pages as you wish. This page features over 180 free bass transcriptions in standard notation. Aint no mountain bass transcription james jamerson. My transcription of james jamerson s bass line on bernadette. This book with online audio pack by blues expert dave rubin provides bassists with a stepbystep breakdown of the styles and techniques of motown, with an emphasis on the legendary james jamerson the bassman in demand. Fielding a question about how he alters his playing approach for recording vocalled and instrumental tunes, joes answer shows that he thinks song first, bass second. Stevie wonders shoobedoobedoodaday is one of james jamerson essential motown bass track that every bass player should listen to. Whats happening brother from the 1972 save the children albumfilm. He asked about chord symbols in the transcriptions on thebasscase. James jamerson was basically the first electric bass virtuoso, and these transcriptions of his lines provide a great reading workout. Accurate and exhaustive transcriptions of some classic motown bass lines in tab and on the staff essential for any aspiring bass player. Bassist james jamerson was the embodiment of the motown spirit and groove the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousands and made it impossible for anyone to sit still while listening to a motown record. Free bass transcription of reach out and touch by diana ross. The bassment free bass guitar transcriptions in standard.
The first and a must have for any bass player is standing in the shadows of motown by allan slutsky aka dr licks. From the funkiest bass grooves to the most lyrical bass solos, from the 50s up until 2020. Put down your slap licks and your string crossing exercises and challenge yourself to play james jamersons sublime d major groove without deviating in any way whatsoever from the original line. James jamerson marvin gaye whats going on bass transcription sheet music for bass download free in pdf or midi. Aug 04, 2019 jamerson transcriptions fever in the funkhouse.
Theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie wonders. The most recent transcriptions are added at the bottom of the table to search for a specific song, use the shortcut on your computer. This transcription is compliments of eric beaule, at. Transcription archive sykes transcription custom music.
Heres a james jamerson transcription, being played on my 1969 fender precision bass. Marvin gaye whats going on bass transcription sheet. Transcriptions the following is a selection of high quality bass transcriptions written in standard notation and tab. This is an alternate take from the album release of.
Analysis of pitch sets, rhythmic cells and more reveals the essential character of these lines. Jamersons syncopated style frequently plays off of the bass drum, which has the effect of sounding like more notes than are actually being played. Transcription is a subject thats very close to my heart and is something that i feel is incredibly important for developing nearly all areas of musicianship. Aug 09, 2014 welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie wonders awesome keyboard bass line on isnt she lovely. This bass transcription is paul chambers full bass line from miles davis famous 1957 album, round midnight. James jamerson standing in the shadows of motown pdf. New ones include grateful dead, frank sinatra, john mellencamp, paloma faith and neil young. Whenever time permits, i plan to convert my transcription to pdf and make it available.
Jun 24, 2019 james jamerson bass transcriptions pdf bass transcriptions and more by bassist dave fink transcriptions. For tracks with very repetitive bass lines, the chart contains each section rather than the full score with repeats these are marked sections. Bassist jahmal nichols it is a very small world and the bass community is an even smaller slice of a big pie. For once time in my life james jamerson s bass line transcription by giacomo dominici for once in my life is a song written in 1967 by ron miller and orlando murden, originally recorded by jean.
Jan 23, 2017 my transcription of james jamerson s bass line on whats going on hi, im dave. Almost any student of electric bass will want to peruse this book. Put down your slap licks and your string crossing exercises and challenge yourself to play james jamerson s sublime d major groove without deviating in any way whatsoever from the original line. Please note in bar 104 it sounds as though jamerson might be playing d naturals over a bb minor chord. Funk bass transcriptions of bootsy collins transcriptions of basslines by other james brown bassists such as tim drummond, charles sherrell, and bernard odum bass transcriptions of billy cox, the funky bassist with jimi hendrix on dolly dagger and izabella complete transcriptions of paul mccartneys bass parts on abbey road reggae. The track opens with guitar and bass marking the first two 8th notes of each bar, allowing john bonham to show off his knowledge of subdivisions note the unusual five bar length of the intro. Im currently obsessed with james jamerson s basslines.
Theres basically 3 books you can buy that feature jamerson transcriptions. The following is a selection of high quality bass transcriptions written in standard notation and tab. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon. Here are bass lines for 14 beloved hits from marvin gaye, the supremes, the temptations, stevie wonder and many others. Jamerson s syncopated style frequently plays off of the bass drum, which has the effect of sounding like more notes than are actually being played. Maybe the most influential bassist ever, james jamerson was the uncredited. Recent transcriptions are highlighted in orange, and new transcriptions are highlighted in green. This entry was posted in transcriptions on august 2, 2012 by tim wolfe, jr.
The boss james brown transcribed by ian dodge paterson, 2011. Everybody digs the neat little riffs, the deep grooves, the feel good feeling when the bass player is working his motown bass line. From the isolated bass recording on the standing in the shadows of motown cd. Part ii of the marvin gaye medley whats going onwhats happening brother, this weeks jamerson bass transcription features the second half of gayes performance. I came across an isolated bass recording of james jamerson on youtube recently, and decided that there couldnt be a better transcription project than that. James jamerson whats going on marvin bass transcription. Welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions. Legendary bassist james jamerson 1989 is the seminal source on james jamerson s. The samples are in pdf format and require adobe acrobat reader to be installed. On this song you can get a sens of james improvisational skills and unshakable sens of groove and time. Led zeppelin good times, bad times bass transcription pdf. Youre my everything by the tempations by paul wolfe toplay bass.
Licks and the allstar list of contributors show you how by sharing jamerson s story and getting into the nitty gritty of his music and instrumentation. Have you ever wondered what the best sight reading books for bass are, or how to practise sight reading. Jamerson was a master of building and releasing tension in his bass lines. More than 460 free transcriptions for bass and other instruments on basslessons. Dont believe the hype and bullshit people spread about this city.
Dave speranza plays the bass, builds websites, and sometimes pretends to be an economist. At least to get a sens of the mastery and control that jamerson had of the bass guitar. James jamerson standing in the shadows of motown download. The life and music of legendary bassist james jamerson. Motown was notorious for reusing the same backing tracks for different artists, which means that the mix is often quite different. Years before james jamerson who, as one man puts it, was the schoenberg. If you find it useful why not give a small donation to a charity of your choice.
You can hear james original bass line in the youtube video below. Welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie wonders awesome keyboard bass line on isnt she lovely. Not the transcriptions of the funk brothers, james jamerson. Bass transcriptions and more by bassist dave fink transcriptions. So anyone thats listened to any classic motown hits by stars like stevie wonder, marvin gaye or the supremes will have wondered about the awesome bass playing and tone of james jamerson. Jun 07, 20 posts about jamerson transcriptions written by anonymou5. Order books and transcriptions in easytodownload pdf form. From jazz bassist to popular music icon by joshua andrew zarbo, b.
Theres a transcription of the bass part to dean town right here should you feel strong enough. Heres an updated transcription tab of james jamerson bass line for the 1967 classic from marvin gaye and tammi terrell aint no mountain high enough based on jamerson s isolated bass track. For once time in my life james jamersons bass transcription. My transcription of james jamersons bass line on stevie wonders for once in my life. Apr 30, 2016 igors chromatic exercise bass tab by james jamerson. The conference brought middle and high school teachers from all over idaho to the college of southern idaho for three days of seminars and workshops. For educational and personal use only not to be sold but please share. My transcription of james jamerson s bass line on whats going on hi, im dave. James jamerson fever in the funkhouse bass transcription. James jamerson bass lines, tab and getting that tone. If youre looking for bass tabs, then click here these free bass transcriptions are provided for educational use only click on the transcription title to view and download the pdf.
There is a video floating around the internet of marvin gaye performing whats going onwhats happening brother live with none other than james jamerson backing him. Jamerson played bass on all the classic motown hits of the 60s and 70s and had a very distinctive tone and playing style. Aint no mountain bass transcription james jamerson youtube. I just posted my transcription of james jamersons bass line on bernadette on my blog.
1281 1202 1111 8 1581 684 139 539 1170 968 604 610 929 815 792 1260 1017 368 1378 1391 79 982 811 1241 498 1150 363 934 435 292 996 639 484 132 1236 535 782 1238 709 302 795 439 1337 12 1052 820 1206 79 523 504 1369