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Giants of Bass – Duck Dunn

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'Who Dunnit' was written to represent Duck Dunn's simple but effective work at the Stax record label during the sixties and seventies, as well as his work with the Blues Brothers. The track features many stylistic elements that were common to Duck's basslines, such as a heavy use of chord tones, the use of additional scale tones such as the sixth, and the use of chromatic passing notes to ease the transition between chords. In accordance with Duck's playing style, there are only a few fills, which makes the line effective, but unobtrusive.

If you enjoy working through this piece, you might also find the following courses useful (Access to ALL of our courses is included in the subscription cost):

Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF transcription and the audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).

This course is 39 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. 'Who Dunnit?'

This video is a full demonstration of 'Who Dunnit?', performed on a Fender Custom Shop Precision Bass strung with stainless steel Rotosound strings.

2. Course Overview

This video gives a brief overview of this piece and the challenges that it presents. Advice is also given on instrument choice and finding the right tone for the piece.

3. Intro

This short video will show you how to play the two-bar intro section, which is bars 1-2 in the accompanying transcription.

4. A Section (Part 1)

This video covers the first half of the A section, which has a bassline built on chord tones, with walking figures used to connect the chords. This lesson covers bars 3-10.

5. A Section (Part 2)

This video covers the second half of the A section. The bass continues to play the established line here, with variations. This lesson covers bars 11-18.

6. B Section

This section has a slightly simpler bass part. Major pentatonic-based fills are played in the final two bars. This lesson covers bars 19-26 in the transcription.

7. C Section

This video will show you how to play the C section. The line here is based on the A section, but with further variations. This lesson covers bars 27-42.

8. D Section

This section is based on the B section. A simple double stop-based fill is played in the final bar. This lesson covers bars 43-50 in the transcription.

9. E Section

This section acts as a middle 8. The bassline contains all of the elements that have been present in the line so far. This lesson covers bars 51-58.

10. F Section

This section is once again based on the line from the A section. The focus here will be on the variations that are played. This lesson covers bars 59-66.

11. G Section

In this final lesson you’ll learn how to play the G section, which is largely a repeat of the line from the earlier B section. This lesson covers bars 67-75 in the transcription.

12. Tone

This lesson covers Duck Dunn's tone and offers advice on how you can achieve something similar.