Just watch Freddie for a bit

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a 30fps video must worth 30,000 words a second.

With that in mind, just watch Freddie Green for a bit. This the Count Basie Octet from a 1950 Television transcription playing "Basie Boogie." The horn line up a pretty modern sounding one (just listen to how laid-back they are), but the rhythm section keeps things solidly thumping away. Here's the line up: Count Basie, piano; Wardell Gray, tenor sax; Buddy DeFranco, clarinet; Clark Terry, trumpet; Freddie Green, guitar; Jimmy Lewis, bass; Gus Johnson, drums.

This video is probably one of the best for watching Freddie Green's hands working, at least in the "Old Testament" era of the Basie band. Freddie's position just behind Basie means that he's in the frame for much of the clip.

Notice how Freddie is using the "back and forth" strumming method, hitting closer to the bridge on the back-beats, except that he's pretty much staying right in the area around the end of the fretboard. Most people who use the "back and forth" method, have a much greater distinction between the two. Listen the Bass solo especially, because you can clearly hear Freddie seperate from the Bass, and you'll hear four even beats to the bar.