The Chicken | TAB
Let’s start with The Chicken’s signature bass line, it may annoy the bass player if you double up on it, but still, you should learn it so you know what’s going on.
the last beat is the beginning of the melody for the main theme which looks like this using TAB:
I’ve added some bits here, mainly the sliding min7b5 chords, I just couldn’t help myself, or does it just help to know when the melody comes in again? You decide.
IN the second to last bar I’ve added the response of the horns to the melody, you could put that in twice before as well, or not at all.
The last line is a Bb Minor Pentatonic. Do compare this riff with what happens in Think and then try to not confuse the two!
I was going to transcribe the original James Brown guitar part but realised that I need to hold something back in case this becomes an 8 step by step lesson series, it feels inevitable…
Until then, practice the TAB above, modify it and see if you can use only the chord chart for The Chicken to remember it.
The Chicken TAB | Related Pages
The Chicken | Chords
Learn to play The Chicken by Jaco Pastorius and Pee Wee Ellis using chords, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recordings.
| Bb7 (Em7b5 Dm7b5) | Bb7 | Bb7 | Bb7 |
Instrumental.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Jaco Pastorius tunes
The best bass player in the world, Jaco Pastorius started out with co-tutor Pat Matheny, releasing genre-defining albums in 1976.
His best-known tunes include The Chicken, Coyote, Bright Size Life, Birdland, and Donna Lee.
Jaco Pastorius on the web
James Brown tunes
The hardest working man in show business, the Godfather of Soul, Michael Jackson’s biggest influence – Mr. James Brown!
Biggest tunes include I Feel Good, Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World, Super Bad, and Living In America.
James Brown on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB covering The Chicken. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.