Teen Town - How Jaco Played It! (Tabs & Tutorial)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- This week we're going to take a look at an absolute bass classic in the shape of Teen Town by Weather Report played and written by the legendary Jaco Pastorius.
This is one of those tunes that has become the standard for any bass players looking to develop their playing and technique. It’s a pretty difficult line, especially for beginners and it’s one of those pieces you can be working on for months and months or even years, but in all that time you’ll be developing almost every area of your bass playing to such a level that most other pieces you previously struggled with will seem without your reach.
Tab and tracks here: www.talkingbas...
#talkingbass #teentown #jacopastorius
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Tab and tracks here: www.talkingbass.net/teen-town-how-jaco-played-it/
Great video as usual, thanks a lot. Can we expect more Jaco tutorials in the near future? Would be insane to have a tutorial on the "Port of Entry" solo haha!
But talking about Teen Town, during live shows the band would completely drop the original song after around one and a half minute and they would transition into an improvisational segment, where Jaco would play a very catchy groove... If you listen to the '8:30' (a live album) version of the song you'll hear what I'm talking about. Btw Jaco plays it in the gig where you've taken the video clip from in this lesson, albeit a bit differently. I prefer the '8:30' version though, would be cool to have a short vid on that aswell, as an extra. :')
Just want say - thank you! I’m a guitarist more than 20years, but taking to hands the bass and opening wonderful incredible new world, much more than I think in past so long! You did big thing with right seen on transcription, to helping understanding his voice from inside.
Great video. This is a standard daunting piece. Your video does a lot of good to musicians, approaching a difficult tune by breaking it down into approachable chunks.
4:37 Phrase #1
8:42 Phrase #2
13:54 Phrase #3
14:29 Phrase #4
16:14 Phrase #5
17:35 Phrase #6
19:54 Phrase #7
22:28 Little transitional bar
23:07 Phrase #8
26:53 Phrase #9
You can thank me later. Like this comment so other people can see this!
Thanks
Thanks
Congratulations
Cheer! Finally, an intelligent and respectful approach to this irreplaceable creator, Jaco Pastorius. Thanks. I saw Jaco several times in concert in Paris in the 1970s and I worked on his pieces for a long time with, like you, these fingering problems. And your deductions join mine at a time when there was neither transcription nor internet! Bravo again!
Jaco played fretless, so he uses the open strings to check his intonation and tuning while he is playing. It's an old upright bass trick. I agree that your fingering is much easier for fretted bass, that is why Jaco did it the way he did
It's not a trick, it's a more economic way of playing and sounds funkier, there are actually several positions to learn on upright bass to play it proficiently (and subsequently electric bass) and long before the bebop and hard bop eras and I'm more than sure you know this already (Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers and later cats like Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Eddie Gomez. It's actually.."bass playing" which uses a lot of arpeggios for those pre 20th century classical music compositions, even within Jaco's 'notey' soloing style you can hear it, although, I think he may have discovered easier ways of playing or maybe he learned some of those positions during the short time he had an upright bass. I believe James Jamerson played that way on those Motown recordings, but he actually played the upright bass in the late 1950s, and Ralph Armstrong played violin and upright bass. Most of today's electric players post John Patitucci Chick Corea Electric Band, and it seems like advanced soloist type bass players all want to play the lead guitar part at some point and to me, they always seem to sound more 'scalely' and guitar-ish. Well, Stanley Clarke actually is the one who really started that 'guitarry' bass vibe but when he just plays 'holding it down bass', he stands out more for me, especially on those 2 1970s red album cover RTF albums and that 1 RTF album with Bill Conners on guitar named Hymns Of The Seventh Galaxy. You can see Jaco with WP playing "Teen Town" in some old concert videos here on YT.
Also, most electric bassists check their tuning while the are playing and have been for decades. As you know, Jaco's intonation was on point because he still had the fret markings on his Fender Basses he ripped out from the neck and that makes total sense, especially if he was going refine and perfect approach, which I believe "he did it the way he did it" because if he was going to play pop and funk gigs in that early 1970s era, the bass would really have to stay in tune or the intonation be precise if he wanted to keep working. Alphonso Johnson played a smooth blank fretless bass when playing jazz or fusion gigs, at least most of the times I've seen or listened to him.
exactly what was thinking too!! and besides I'm pretty sure on the second line from F, the A right after, is an open string as well (I played it like this and is way more fluent!!) also Jaco has very giant fingers and pretty sure that to finish that same line instead of moving the index from C to D on the G string he just uses his 4 fingers and get the E with his pinky and that make sense with the next notes as well...
The studio recording he used his fretted bass
@@Steve-mp7by NO!!!!!😱 Really?😜
Superbly explained & demo'd Mark. That Enfield sounds great through headphones. Jaco's technique to play that line with immaculate, clean technique on a fretless bass was truly incredible 🙏🏻 So glad I had the privilege to see him play it live with Weather Report at the Brighton Dome in the late 1970's
Oh, good.....a nice sounding beginner piece.....
Compared to Havona, it is....
😁😁
I think it's for intermediate
Yep,, I feel like we are back in kindergarten.. lol
Pretty sure he was joking
RIP Jaco! 23 years ago today I was friends with Jaco. I loved that guy. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met in my 71 years. Every time I think about him and how he was brutally beaten to death by Luc Haven, a club bouncer at an after-hour bar, in the City of Wilton Manors FL, who only spent 120 days in jail for the murder, it makes me cry. I was never a famous bass player. But Jaco would bow down and kiss my hand and call me, "Victor the greatest bass player ever." I can't explain how that made me feel, coming from the real "Greatest Bass Player Ever" except that it is hard to type this because my eyes are watering and my tears are falling on my keyboard.
From 1970 to 1975 I was booking all of the top bands for the biggest venue in a major US city. I met every famous band from 1960 through 1975 (except the Beatles and the Stones). I met them all, and partied all night with most of them. There were egotistical A$$ holes like Rick Wakeman and Chris Squire from YES. But I spent at least 3 hours with Jon Anderson in his limo, while we rode around the city in a snow blizzard looking for a pay phone that was working, so he could call his wife and children. He did not want to go to an all-night party, like every other rock star, he just wanted to talk about his wife and children and how much he missed them. Then he (and his chauffeur) drove me home! How many people can say that the singer of the most famous band, (at the time) drove them home after their concert?
Back to Jaco. I could play every famous bass line from every song from the 1960s through the 70s. Every time we met he wanted me to play for him. I would play the bass line for about 30 seconds from each song and sing along. In an hour I would play over 100 songs. He would jump around and dance like crazy. When we were in a bar he would borrow the band's bass guitar (when they were on a break) and take me into the men's room to play for him (without an amp) so of course I had to play a lot louder. That is why he called me the greatest bass player ever. I could not even imagine how to create and play the bass lines that he did. In the 60s and 70s, there were only a few bass players who could even play a sixteenth note! Playing in a Jazz Trio in clubs, I would have to improvise a "Bass Solo" in every song, but they were always based on walking bass, traditional Blues, and Jazz lines. Jaco opened a whole new World to the bass. That is why he will always be "The Greatest Ever" even though others have expanded his style since.
I called Jaco "Daddy Long Legs", (like the spider) because he had very small palms and extremely long fingers. I have very large palms and very short fingers. His fingers were over an inch longer than mine. He was always trying to show me a chord, and there was no way possible I could reach 2 more frets on a Jazz bass. So he would pull on my fingers to stretch them an extra inch. I would laugh even if it was hurting me because I knew there was no way he could stretch my fingers another inch, but he was so determined and kept on trying, so it was so funny to me that he kept trying!
These are just a few of the many reasons that I love Jaco and miss him, maybe more than I miss anyone else. Our friendship and mutual love of the bass was growing. And to be informed of the gruesome details of how he was brutally beaten to death from our friends who were there and saw it, (Jaco sustained over 50 broken bones and the bouncer continued to jump on Jaco's head and kick him, even after he was unconscious and laying on the ground), just 2 hours after we were out having a great time together.
The media talks about Jaco's bipolar condition and his drug abuse, which is why his life was so flawed. That may be true. But it was very apparent to me that he was being "seduced" and "used" by everyone from the record companies down to his local fans. All of these people claimed to be his "friends", but all they were doing was using him. I always tried to warn him, but he always said they were his friends and fans. No one ever said how Loving and Kind Jaco was. Or how naive he was to the evil people around him. That is my Jaco Pastorius story.
People should be very grateful for your tutoring. Your playing is spot on in point . Thank you
Just a superb lesson. Precise and clear ...no flash -- just telling it as it was. I can't play it to speed ( but I think it sounds just fine slow and soulful ) --
This is a greatest breakdown for Teen Town and thanks so much for teaching and breaking down the entire beginning of the song.
Greetings from across the pond, here in
NYC, USA.
You are a consummate music teacher and bass player and your video is
one of the best, current dissections of Jaco's "Teen Town" and how he played it.
Jaco's style is ubiquitous today.
No tabs for me back in '77, just the just the transcribed notation from a music book of the entire "Heavy Weather" album and a very good pair of headphones, so I could hear every part and the touch and playing positions Jaco actually used when he recorded "Teen Town".
I played it on my 1976 Fender Fretless Precision Bass that I bought that year and still have today, including the music book.
Cheers from a Yankee.
Damn Mark! I'm so glad I got you in my corner when I finally tackle this song!!
It took me about 2 years of halfassed practice to nail this along with the album.
The live versions are even worse!
But you’re spot on how everything else became accessible.
Barbary Coast next!
thanks, Mark. i’ll never understand why someone would hit the dislike button on this. it was great
Because people are dicks
Thank you for clearing this mess up. Lots of slop transcriptions out there. Great site btw!
Amazing...you hit every issue i had in this lesson. I think in the Weather Report video you're talking about....there's one shot of Jaco just smiling..but hitting all the open strings at the top of the riff
Excellent lesson. 11/10.
Mark, I love your tutorials! You explain and demonstrate the notes so well. It’s so beneficial how you also show and explain which picking finger you should use too. Your technique is impeccable from the picking hand to the fretting hand. Thanks to you I’ll learn this song in a couple of days! 😂🤣 All joking aside you make learning this song so much easier. I know it’s going to take a lot of practice on my part but thanks to you I know the proper way to execute this incredible song.
Great job mate,ur a very good bassist, do u take requests?
Hey Mark ! Thanks, I don't like too much this song, but I like what you're saying : "You can working on this for month, or even years ! But in all that time you'll be developping almost every area of your bass level... etc" This is a great encouragement to work on some songs that I give up after one hour ;-) Thanks again for all that you give to bass players all over the world !
Ha ha everybody’s playing it wrong except for you. I just checked a video of Jaco playing it. You’re 100 proof on everything.. Grest job . Thanks and wow !
Absolutely fantastic Mark. Clear and succinct no messing about
OMG thank you for the 23:07 Phrase #8 I was always in trouble playing it properly but with those open strings is way more easier now!! and it sounds fabulous 🙏
Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous. One of the most valuable lessons on line. The open string idea is so perfect. Thx! The commentary about the complexity, technical value to the player and the amount of work needed (months or years)to learn this piece is true and validating. thanks again, Mark.
Nailed it ! thank you, ok now its time for Come on come over ?? Pleeeeeeeease.
Awesome! Anything by Jaco is great for technique.
Great lesson. I've been meaning to learn this for yonks. Thank you, Mark.
Best bass channel out there
You really enjoyed with Jaco open strings .So did I thanks Mark
Been looking for this for a while. What a nice material! Thank you.
Thank you for showing the clever use of open strings.
My former bass teacher who was a student of Michel Hatzigeorgiou who studied with Jaco himself told me that the G on the 3rd 16th of beat 2 in measure 1 was played with an open string. It seems logical to me as it enables an more efficient and easier transition to the following notes😉
Yeah. Could be right.
Flows much better for me when I tried it that way! Thank you 🙏
@@guitarjr You're welcome ! 😉
Awesome. Cheers Mark
You are a great man Mark J. Smith thanks so much
Gràcias por este tutorial en recuerdo del gran jaco, 😔 👍
You play it with the right feel, sound and groove..And those open notes really sounds akin to what Jaco originally did on there.Top job..
Always good to see common misunderstandings corrected.
This bassline i think is the most challenging I've ever attempted to learn, even Portrait of Tracy was more forgiving haha
Check out Jaco’s solo on Port of Entry.
Thank you I thought Jack was using open strings and I watched the video saw that he did. You have confirmed!
Possible explanation for all the open notes: Jaco probably worked this out on a fretless and later decided it was better on a fretted. When your playing fretless and have an opportunity to use an open note, in most instances you take it because you don't have to worry about doing intonation correctly.
I also favor the explanation that he simply likes the timbre of the notes better. I certainly do!
@@orbitsc2 I do too, and tend to construct lines with lots of open strings, if only to shift positions faster. Also, if I'm hitting an A or D or G twice in a row, I like to hit one open and the other on the V fret. But here, on the lick that features hitting the 2nd string D with your pinky - around 23:13 - why doesn't Jaco just play it with an open D? The lick would be much easier that way. Or maybe I just need a stronger pinky.
@@aquamarine99911 again I feel he just likes the timbre or he doesn't want to mute the open string for some reason. Personally this note is not one that I'm willing to play fretted, and I play with my pinky a LOT (I generally use Simandl fingerings until about 12th fret...context is everything of course)
Incredible, Mark. Well done!!
I think you perfectly right on this Jaco uses open string on that line for sure!! and by the way I'm pretty sure on the second line from F, the A right after, is an open string as well (I played it like this and is way more fluent!!) also Jaco has very giant fingers and pretty sure that to finish that same line instead of moving the index from C to D on the G string he just uses his 4 fingers and get the E with his pinky and that make sense with the next notes as well... 😉
Brilliant Mark, thank you for a great lesson.
You are a great teacher!!
Thanks a lot.
8:33 You missed the last 4 notes off of phrase 1 but thanks for taking the time to explain one of my favourite basslines.
Yep, I thought I was mistaken, but I am missing these 4 notes too. It means a little more thought after the 1st phrase. But Mark's advice is still valid: finishing off the 1st phrase at the top of the neck makes more sense.
Been playing three months decided this was pretty easy
Hi Mark ! Great Video. Most of the time jaco's fingering is easier than the fingering we use. I guess there is a mistake at 25:55 in the tab . In the last part of the second bar of the (3 bars) phrase, you say that we play Eb on the D string after the open G but "2" its written instead of "1".
I came to the comments to see if anybody caught that. It should be noted in the description. That being said this video has tremendous value. I'm transcribing the song by ear and then coming back to this video to check my accuracy.
first of all thank you very much. In the staff and the tablature that you have put I see a note that is wrong. It is in the second bar of the staff that you see at minute 25 and a few seconds: that bar should end with:” G, E flat, D, C. Well, the mistake is that you've put that mi natural instead of flat, and you've also put it in the tablature as mi natural. It's an E flat. thank you very much for your work, greetings to all.
Good technical breakdown, thanks. I find that part at the end of the song that wasn't covered in this video, really hard to get down. I must have played it hundreds of times and it's still not quite clean sounding
Thanks for this lesson Mark!
spot on
Excellent lesson , like allways
Well done, thanks.
cool,you play it the right way!
Greetings from south Texas!
Fantastic tutorial bang on , thank you.
watching this again
I just wanted to know if you would show one of my bands songs on one of your videos. If so I'll send it to you
bravo , come sempre lezione esaudiente
Yes!! Jaco is the man!!
(Was, RIP 🙏)
Almost got it. 🤘
Thanks, Mark!
Thank you!! Perfect lesson and I truly appreciate you don't waste time talking about your cat or whatever; seriously: have you seen some of these "instructional" videos!
great stuff
very good ! thanks
Mark, thanks for this! Even years after, still fantastic to explore and study!
I have this theory of why Jaco played with more open strings (like you have here) than one would normally do -
Could this be a way of checking/ensuring 100% intonation accuracy on a fretless?
i.e. the reference back to the open strings would be a built-in place to check/reset fingering positions etc?
Tell you why I think that - 'cos that's what I'm using it for! LOL
Cheers and thanks much for your great piece, still super relevant over 2years later
!
Yeah, I think that's it. Just tried this on my fretless - and I'm sure glad of the open-strings fingering - the inconvenience of the hand positions is a small thing to give up to be able to check intonation so often throughout the piece against the open strings. So I'd say that this way would be better for fretless, for sure! And the other, the way that Mark plays it ("his own fingering") would be mo betta for a fretted bass where intonation isn't a problem. JM2c of course, and IMO, IME, YMMV etc.
There's a missing flat at around 26:00 on the 2nd E-note of the 2nd bar.
Awesome!
A brilliant video instruction to this impossi-blest-est of tunes? One question though: Why is that that every instructional video for Teen Town ignores the super melodic runs that occur towards the end of the tune (@ 2.00 mins on the original)???
Just heard the life version some hours ago while bringing the kids to bed and decided i wanted to learn this piece! Coincidence or is mark connected to my deezer account ? just played along ace of spades with him on sunday... perfect timing in every sense!! teen town and ollie before 50 ( eight years seems realistic)
THANKS MARK VERY GOOD VIDEO !!!
Great lesson. I think the open strings make it a bit easier!
great work, only a little mistake on the 14th measure on the transcription: it's a E flat, not a E, but you played the right note
I read Bil Miloskys book about Jaco. Or maybe I saw a video.
Said that Jaco hated Joe doubling the bass part.
Guess maybe they were at odds at that time period.
What scales is he playing around, jw,what the base if the phrases, do they follow the chord changes ? 7 mixo for each chord? What's he doing?
Slight notation issue - you have an E natural in the bar where he goes down the Bmin and Cmin arps, (next to last measure) but you play/demo an E flat so it makes a 5-3-2-1 of a Cmin arp.
This is only part of Teen Town, when will we get the rest?
Idk why no one mentions it but the note after the second open G is Eb, not E
Gr8! Thanks!
Thanks. It's a challenge.
I had to put Teen Town through the 'Amazing Slow Downer' app for a student who's learning Teen Town.
Now, I've been playing this tune for over 30 years now and while listening to it slower than usual there was one note that kept sounding wrong. I mean, I play (and have been playing) it pretty much the same way that is played on this video.
The note in question is the second last night of the first bar of the tune.
I have always played this note as a D natural (just like on this video and on countless other transcriptions).
But the more I listen to it, the more it sounds to me like it's a D sharp.
Any ideas...?
What kind of bass is that? It Sound awesome! How much do they go for?
@@paulhemphill8204 Enfield Lionheart. They’re custom built. Depends on how much stuff you have. This one is roughly 4k.
here before it starts
@14:34 I always thought he played a C and not a C# as the sixth note in this phrase. Sounds like it the first time he plays it in the studio recording, but not the second time. He obviously is playing fretless, but I kind of think it sounds cooler playing a C there since the phrase lands on a C#. More chromatic. Just a thought.
Thanks for that video! just for perfection: I am pretty sure, the 13th note in the very first bar is a d#, not an e. It goes down chromatic: d#, d, c#...
you're an angel
New found respect.
Hmmm... well at least it’s in C. I wasn’t doing anything next year anyway.
C? Piano players, have fun
In the phrase @ 23:12 Jaco actually plays the D (4th note in the second bar) as an open string and not fretted on the 5th fret on the A string. You can see it here @ 4:50 th-cam.com/video/I63bOi477cA/w-d-xo.html
You are 100% correct. This was shown to me by Jaco in the mid 80's on a street corner and Mark did a great job. Mark plays Eb, but also make the correction in the notation that says E natural in Phrase #8, second bar, beat 4.
Thanks for your efforts....❤
Been werking on this one for months
I would appreciate it if yiu xan tell me what kind of vadd you gave and what kind of strings you use.i really like the definition and carity
Sorry for my typos but you get what I am saying. I basically earned the song .y way bSwd on my training.However I want to buy that bass as is with sMe strings.please help
I am sorry for typos.y question is what kind of bass you use with what strings please let me know.iove it.
Sorry to bother you about trivial things as these, but I wanted to ask you how durable those Minotaur straps are. I'm waiting for mine from Thomann, and there were some really bad reviews amond the countless stellar ones. Now I'm afraid the positive ones were written in the "honey moon" period :/
Храни Вас Всевышний!!!🙏🙏🙏
@ Aaron Singer, I can't even find my comment I posted to which you've responded, so I don't really know how to respond to your comment, therefore I cannot clarify my comment nor tell you "foh", because TH-cam makes it impossible to find the original comment(s) for which to reply. Again, I have no idea where to find you so I can't respond.
@ Aaron Singer, I read my comments back to myself and I could understand the vitriol with which you displayed. So, as for my 2nd message, I was totally joking and as for my 1st message, I don't think I typed anything offensive, so now.., I have to say gfyrsf and I can play and probably played on things you actually dig, but again, f##+ you.
There are wrong notes on this tab!
Hey I think I found a minor error...maybe...Bar 14 your transciption and tabs have the end phrase written as G-E-D-C, but in video you are saying it is G-Eb-D-C...
I've started practicing bass about a year ago and while learning the basics I strickly stuck to the alternate picking and that's how I learned to play all the lines. However, Mark here uses raking quite often, which definitely seems logical but it somehow messes my picking while playing the lines I've learned in the past. So what type of picking is preferred in general, or it depends on the piece? Should I be able to use both? Now it seems I cannot have good control of both simultaneously.
It boils down to what you prefer. You can use raking but you don't have to and vice versa. Raking does make a lot of sense though as does legato playing.
Hi, late reply, I pretty much started off the same way with just strict alternating. Then I decided to learn raking, and it was pretty tricky and difficult at times but I realized that raking was not a technique that was mutually exclusive to alternating, but just another tool set. I really highly recommend learning raking after building alternating fundamentals.
As to knowing WHEN to use raking vs alternating, it is almost always more efficient to rake when possible.
@@HerroVincey Hi, thanks for the comment. In the meantime I realized that and I agree with you.
Any word on that scales app for android yet?
.
Hi ! Was this piece of bass originally entierly written ?