“THE JOKER”
Steve Miller Band
STEVE MILLER’S ETERNALLY cool acoustic rock classic is a masterfully arranged musical tapestry of guitar and bass parts, which, due to his use of different tunings, as well as a capo, are each performed as if the song were in a different key, with all the parts coming together to sound in the concert key of F. Starting right on the verse, the song’s signature hook-y bass line is doubled an octave higher by an acoustic guitar (Gtr. 1). The guitar, however, is tuned down a whole step (low to high, D, G, C, F, A, D), and the notes and chords are played as if they were in the key of G, which is ideal for using open “cowboy” chord voicings and fingerings, especially on an acoustic guitar. Notice how, on the last beat of each successive four-bar phrase, namely in bars 4 and 8, Miller momentarily deviates from doubling the bass line and inserts a high melodic fill, with the last note being the open G string, which, due to the tuning, sounds an F note. Be sure to let this open note ring out while beginning the next four-bar phrase, taking care not to inadvertently mute it as you pick the lower strings.
During the song’s choruses (sections B and D), Miller’s Gtr. 1 part serves up some jangly, bluegrass-style accompaniment, with a “picky-strummy” feel that has single bass notes followed by double down-up chord strums or pairs of single 16th notes that ring together. In the spirit of accuracy, we’ve gone after just about every note heard on the recording. But since the song has a loose, laid-back, “goodtime” vibe, you needn’t be overly concerned with trying to cop every single note verbatim during this part. Just be sure to fret the complete G, C or D open chord shapes, and you’ll be guaranteed to hit all the “right” notes, even if you inadvertently pick unintended strings.
Miller’s electric slide guitar part (performed in open D tuning and labeled Gtr. 2 throughout the transcription) offers a great study in pitch accuracy, which is achieved by positioning the slide directly over the fret for each note, as opposed to behind the fret, where you would ordinarily place your finger when fretting a string conventionally.