While looking for something else, I found a transcription for the bass line for Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" on my HD.

For you young 'uns that may not be familiar with this tune (hey, it was a big hit back in '67!! ) here's a link:



This piece has 5 verses and an outro - no chorus. Interesting to hear how the arrangement makes the absence of a chorus almost unnoticeable. The bass line is very simple - pretty much a repeating of R-b3-2-5 with a b2 (a tone of the bIII7 chord) thrown in near the end. After the first two iterations of the verse in Em, it modulates by semitones from Em to Fm to to F#m to Gm.

I pulled out my bass to learn this piece, then switched to my Stick to try to duplicate the effort. It falls very nicely under the left hand.

Note that the transcription should include a "swing" directive, but that becomes obvious when you listen to the piece.

It's a great exercise for improving my ability to "pedal" on a single note, the accuracy of which is critical to getting the feel of this right. It's also a good exercise to keep the tapping on the left hand accurate as the piece modulates one fret at a time up the fretboard.

There's a stick transcription for the song on this web site. For a nominal fee you can have the melody side, plus bass.

https://www.stickmusicscores.com/catego ... ions/jazz/

And for additional "Sunny" inspiration, some Pat Martino

https://youtu.be/syercy760YQ

Thanks for that - going to give it a shot next time I practice!

MAN, whoever played bass on this tune is really laying back! Kids, if you want to hear what it sounds like to lay a bass line back as far as it can go, give this one a listen.

I did a tiny bit of research on the song, and I never knew that song was written in response to his brother's killing; my perception was so different. Funny, in the midst of info about several covers of this song, Wikipedia makes no mention whatsoever of Stevie Wonder's cover, which is the version I'm familiar with.

Anyway, thanks again!

Thanks Steve. I'll give that a go.

PS. Just a couple of days ago I had a 'revelation' when I decided to loosen my Stick belt & drop the Stick a couple of inches. I can now have the Stick a bit more vertical giving a better left hand angle AND also have a better view of the upper frets (avoiding the 'prisim' effect from my strong glasses that was an issue in the 'old' position). Only two sessions with the new position but I think I'm going to like it. Wow, I wish I'd done that earlier...!

Thanks! Saved me trying to transcribe the melody!!

I’m finding that hitting those frets up over my shoulder without having to look is an important skill, which I needed for this piece, as well as the Bach Minuet I’ve been working on.

There's bound to be an element of different hands (& bodies), different needs.
Some people are comfortable with the headstock almost above their heads, others have the headstock way out to the side with Stick at an almost guitar like angle.

Some people find the 'usual' chord shapes fine, others need to be 'creative'.

Some people prefer 3 fingers, some 4.

And so on.

All part of the big experiment & adventure that is Stick playing.