Transcription: Ain't Misbehavin'

Composer: Thomas "Fats" Waller / Andy Razaf / Harry Brooks
From the album: Two-Handed Stride
Leader of the session: Judy Carmichael
Recorded: April 4, 1980
LP: Progressive Records Pro 7065
Transcription starts at bass solo

Freddie guitar is quite audible in this brief transcribed passage as the only other instrument is Red Callendar's double bass. This is another recording that disproves two widely held beliefs about Freddie's style: 1) He always played three note chords. 2) He always changed the chord voicing on every beat.

Freddie places the majority of the clearly sounded notes on the 4th string and the 3rd string. The transcribed notes show only the pitches that can be definitely discerned. The chord diagrams provide suggestions on what muted notes may have been sounded simultaneously with the transcribed notes.

Important: The chord diagrams illustrate probable fingering forms used by Freddie Green based on extensive research conducted by the primary contributors to this web site. As there is no video record of this recording session, Freddie's exact fingerings will never be known.

An "x" indicates that a finger is placed on the string, but the string is not fully pushed down to make contact with the fret.
A "black dot" indicates that a finger is placed on the string, and the string is pushed down to make contact with the fret.
A "white dot" indicates that a finger is placed on the string, and the string is pushed down to make contact with the fret. A white dot also indicates that the note is added to the chord form on the previous beat. Adding an upper note on beat 2 or 4 is a typical Freddie Green technique.
If there is no "x", "black dot", or "white dot", the string is fully damped by a finger of the left hand.
Left hand fingerings are not included; experiment to find fingerings that work for your technique. Note that Freddie often used his left thumb on the sixth string.

Transcribed by Michael Pettersen
February 2005