Things Ain't What They Used To Be: As Played by Herb Ellis

As a tribute to one of my favorite guitar players I thought it would be nice to share my transcription of the head of this Duke Ellington classic as played by Mr. Herb Ellis. We are in the key of Eb for this version.Click Here For Printer Version

In this tune Herb plays some simple but effective chordal accompaniment which is a good example of a trio playing guitar style. The video here is a 30 minute program which is great to watch in its entirety but the tune we are talking about starts at about the 12' mark which is preceded by a nice rubato solo by Herb.

The fingering that Herb uses might be a little different than what I would use but I can't argue with the master, I just play more horizontally in this case. I do use the economy picking style on adjacent strings which gives the melody a nice "zip". I have taken some liberties with the exactitude of the transcription but for the most part it is what Herb plays. Enjoy!