About Ballin' The Jack
Ballin' The Jack is a trad jazz tune in B♭ major — intermediate, running from F to e♭ and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Jazz tune
- Key
- B♭ major · 4/4
- Range
- F to e♭ · first position
- Notes used
- C C♯ D♭ D E♭ F G A♭ A B♭ B
- Level
- Intermediate
Ballin' The Jack — sheet music
B♭ major · 4/4
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
d d B B G A | d B G G A A♭ | G G A A B♭ A G | B♭ B♭ A A G F F G G A G F | C A F F d C♯ | d C♯ d B♭ C B C A | B♭ A G A A d d B B G A | d B G G A A♭ | G G A A B♭ A G | B♭ A G G B♭ C d♭ B♭ d♭ B♭ | d C B♭ B♭ G | C d e♭ C | d C♯ d B♭ B♭
Ballin' The Jack — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Ballin' The Jack — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| A|-5-5-2-2---0-|-5-2-----0---|-----0-0-1-0---|-1-1-0-0---| D|---------5---|-----5-5---6-|-5-5---------5-|---------5-| G|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------|
E|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------| A|---------0-----|-3-0-----5-4-|-5-4-5-1-3-2-3-0-|-1-0---0-0-| D|-3-3-5-5---5-3-|-----3-3-----|-----------------|-----5-----| G|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------|
E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| A|-5-5-2-2---0-|-5-2-----0---|-----0-0-1-0---|-1-0-----1-3-| D|---------5---|-----5-5---6-|-5-5---------5-|-----5-5-----| G|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------|
E|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| A|-4-1-4-1-|-5-3-1-1---|-3-5-6-3-|-5-4-5-1-1-| D|---------|---------5-|---------|-----------| G|---------|-----------|---------|-----------|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Ballin' The Jack — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| A|-5-5-2-2---0-|-5-2-----0---|-----0-0-1-0---|-1-1-0-0---| D|---------5---|-----5-5---6-|-5-5---------5-|---------5-| G|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------|
E|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------| A|---------0-----|-3-0-----5-4-|-5-4-5-1-3-2-3-0-|-1-0---0-0-| D|-3-3-5-5---5-3-|-----3-3-----|-----------------|-----5-----| G|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------|
E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| A|-5-5-2-2---0-|-5-2-----0---|-----0-0-1-0---|-1-0-----1-3-| D|---------5---|-----5-5---6-|-5-5---------5-|-----5-5-----| G|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------|
E|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| A|-4-1-4-1-|-5-3-1-1---|-3-5-6-3-|-5-4-5-1-1-| D|---------|---------5-|---------|-----------| G|---------|-----------|---------|-----------|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Ballin' The Jack — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-------------|--------------|----------------|-------------| A|-3-3-1-1---0-|-3-1-----0----|-----0-0-L1-0---|-L1-L1-0-0---| D|---------3---|-----3-3---H3-|-3-3----------3-|-----------3-| G|-------------|--------------|----------------|-------------|
E|------------------|----------------|--------------------|------------| A|-----------0------|-L2-0-------3-2-|-3-2-3-L1-L2-1-L2-0-|-L1-0---0-0-| D|-L2-L2-3-3---3-L2-|------L2-L2-----|--------------------|------3-----| G|------------------|----------------|--------------------|------------|
E|-------------|--------------|----------------|----------------| A|-3-3-1-1---0-|-3-1-----0----|-----0-0-L1-0---|-L1-0-----L1-L2-| D|---------3---|-----3-3---H3-|-3-3----------3-|------3-3-------| G|-------------|--------------|----------------|----------------|
E|-----------|--------------|------------|-------------| A|-2-L1-2-L1-|-3-L2-L1-L1---|-L2-3-H3-L2-|-3-2-3-L1-L1-| D|-----------|------------3-|------------|-------------| G|-----------|--------------|------------|-------------|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Ballin' The Jack — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| B|-3-3-0-0-----|-3-0---------|---------------|-----------| G|---------0-2-|-----0-0-2-1-|-0-0-2-2-3-2-0-|-3-3-2-2-0-| D|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| A|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------|
e|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------| B|---------------|-1-------3-2-|-3-2-3---1-0-1---|-----------| G|-----0-0-2-0---|---2---------|-------3-------2-|-3-2-0-2-2-| D|-3-3---------3-|-----3-3-----|-----------------|-----------| A|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------| E|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------|
e|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| B|-3-3-0-0-----|-3-0---------|---------------|-----------1-| G|---------0-2-|-----0-0-2-1-|-0-0-2-2-3-2-0-|-3-2-0-0-3---| D|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| A|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------|
e|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| B|-2---2---|-3-1-------|-1-3-4-1-|-3-2-3-----| G|---3---3-|-----3-3-0-|---------|-------3-3-| D|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| A|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| E|---------|-----------|---------|-----------|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Ballin' The Jack — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-5-5-2-2---0-|-5-2-----0---|-----0-0-1-0---|-1-1-0-0---| E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| C|-------------|-------------|---------------|-----------| G|---------0---|-----0-0---1-|-0-0---------0-|---------0-|
A|---------0-----|-3-0-----5-4-|-5-4-5-1-3-2-3-0-|-1-0---0-0-| E|-1-1---------1-|-----1-1-----|-----------------|-----------| C|---------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------| G|-----0-0---0---|-------------|-----------------|-----0-----|
A|-5-5-2-2---0-|-5-2-----0---|-----0-0-1-0---|-1-0-----1-3-| E|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| C|-------------|-------------|---------------|-------------| G|---------0---|-----0-0---1-|-0-0---------0-|-----0-0-----|
A|-4-1-4-1-|-5-3-1-1---|-3-5-6-3-|-5-4-5-1-1-| E|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| C|---------|-----------|---------|-----------| G|---------|---------0-|---------|-----------|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Ballin' The Jack chords
B♭ major · 13 chords: G7, C7, F7, B♭, D7/A, E♭7, D7, G♭7, B♭/F, F♯dim, Gm, Cm, E♭m/G♭
One box per bar, in the same order as the sheet music. A faded chord carries on from the bar before. A slash chord like D7/A means play D7 with A as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Ballin' The Jack
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Ballin' The Jack
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Ballin' The Jack
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More jazz tunes and tunes like it
This melody comes from The Public Domain Song Anthology (David Berger & Chuck Israels), released CC0. The song is in the public domain. Tabs and letter names worked out by The Music Arcade.