Here's a couple more example tunes with Rhythm Guitar chords.
"Undecided" is a very simple tune: the A sections go I-IV7-II7-V7, and the bridge goes I7-IV-II7-V7. I've presented the changes as simply as possible, which is how you might play them when the tempos get fast.
"I Found a New Baby" is another standard tune that highlights movement between minor and relative major, in this case Dminor to F major and back. Several tunes feature similar structures, such as "Love Me or Leave Me" and "Blues Skies."
I've presented two alternative versions. Both are simply example etudes, and I would generally use bits of both in each chorus, and move between them freely. The first version starts with the Dm6 at the 10th Fret, and the second at the 5th Fret. As you can see the voice leading chages based on where you start.
When I first started focusing on Swing guitar, one of the most useful sites I found was Greg Hansen's Charlie Christian Site: Legend of the Jazz Guitar. Aside from the discographies, trivia, photos and other biographical information, it also had a small primer on Charlie's playing style as well as many transcriptions. The transcription pages were particularly helpful because they had the solos in notation and tab, and a link to a real audio file of the solo. Given that it was in real audio format, that should give you an idea of when the site was created.
Well, a couple of years ago the site vanished. It just wasn't there anymore. This was particularly frustrating because some of the tunes were not transcibed anywhere else, and where they were transcribed, the approach to fingering was very different. I'd forget a small piece of a solo that I'd learned a while back, and not be able to just double check it. It was a bummer. I then read on the Charlie Christian Yahoo Group that Greg Hansen had taken the site down, and wasn't planning to put it back up anytime soon. Damn.
To borrow a term from jazz piano, block chords are how most big band rhythm guitarist took solos during the Swing-era, especially before the Charlie Christian revolution. In an earlier post, I posted links to several excerpted block chord solos. Perhaps the finest practitioner of the style was (again) Allan Reuss. Take another listen to Allan’s ripping solo on “Bye Bye Blues” with Arnold Ross and Benny Carter. Awesome, right?
When approaching the style, I find the easiest place to start is to find chord shapes that leave the pinky free to play a melody alternating with the fretted notes. I'll start things off with a couple examples to show the idea in action.
Example 1 - "On the Sunny Side of the Street" Introduction
Here is the first two bars of the intro I generally play for "On the Sunny Side of the Street." It uses a couple different voicings that leave a finger free to fret additional notes.
Examples 2 and 3 - "Honeysuckle Rose"
Here is a two-bar excerpt that I use over quick ii-V vamps, like on "Sweet Sue" or "Honeysuckle Rose." Again, the basic idea is using voicings that allow the pinky free.
Example 2
This example is something I would play over the next 4 bars in "Honeysuckle Rose." This time we'll add in another technique common in block chord soloing, chromatic approaches. It is pretty common to slide up or down a fret to a chord.
Example 3
This is clearly not the alpha and omega of block chord soloing, but these are some simple ideas to get you started.
When working on my electric single-note playing, I've been really focusing on Charlie Christian for over a year now. I've been learning some of his solos, but even more so I've been trying to internalize his phrasing - to get in his headspace. To do that, it's useful to see where a person comes from.
Charlie Christian was a huge Lester Young fan. It clearly shaped both his phrasing and compositional approach to soloing. What better way to get inside Charlie's head than to learn some of Lester's solos.
Lester's most lauded and analyzed solo is his two choruses on "Lady Be Good" from 1936, recorded with a Basie small group credited as Jones-Smith Inc. The solo became almost a jazz etude - something that musicians learned as a part of their education.
A couple years ago, I took a lesson with Howard Alden at jazz festival we were both playing at, and that solo came up. Howard has transcribed and forgotten more tunes and solos than anybody, but he said he'll always know Lester's choruses on "Lady Be Good."
On gig with my big band a couple years ago, we had to play an extended version of the song "Lady Be Good" for a dance contest. Dan Barrett was playing with us, along with our regular lead trombone, Dan Weinstein. I signaled to have either one of them take a chorus, and they both stood up and played both choruses of Lester's 1936 solo in unison.
I'm going to be honest here and say that I have never been particularly good at transcribing, mostly because I don't have the patience. I found Lester's 1936 solo in Gunther Schuller's "The Swing Era" along with a full analysis of the solo.
I was planing to post the transcription when I stumbled upon a blog called Do the Math. Do the math is the product of Ethan Iverson, pianist of the Bad Plus - darlings of the modern jazz scene for their blend of jazz tradition and indie rock ethos. Clearly, the thoroughly modern music of the Bad Plus is not the reason I bring this up on the swing guitar blog.
Last year, for the Lester Young Centenial, Ethan wrote a suite of posts about Lester. Two of the post are particularly amazing. The first I noticed, is a tribute to the 1936 "Lady" solo. But even more than transcribing the solo, Ethan also transcribes 16 other "Lady" solos for comparison - two from Coleman Hawkins, one from Chu Berry, two choruses from Herschel Evans, a couple from Charlie Parker, and the rest from Lester himself.
The second post I want to highlight, is a Lester listening session / interview with Lee Konitz. Ethan and Lee listen to 18 Lester Young solos - ALL WITH TRANSCRIPTIONS and commentary! Amazing. Personally, I can't wait to learn Lester's chorus on "Jumpin' at the Woodside" from 1938.
Once I work out some of the fingerings, I'll post some transcriptions with tab.
Electric guitars do not work for Swing Rhythm Guitar.
Let me say that again. Electric guitars DO NOT work for Swing Rhythm Guitar.
Amplified electric guitars have way too much sustain, plus they overamplify bass strings. What you end up with is mud, and not the crispness of an acoustic archtop. That inherent lack of sustain is part and parcel of getting properly short notes. Plus, the overemphasis on bass frequencies makes the possibility of playing too loud almost impossible to avoid.
But sometimes, even for a total rhythm guitar geek like me, you have no choice. Here is the best possible advice I can give for making the best of it.
Making Electric Guitar Work for Swing Rhythm
1. Roll down the volume knob
When playing acoustically, you would generally be hiting the strings fairly hard. Roll the volume knob down so that you can play as hard as you normally would, without being to loud for the band. Basically you want to avoid altering your right hand technique as much as possible, so change up the amount of signal going to the amp.
2. Consider rolling off some of the bass
Depending on the situation, you may not be able to do this but, rolling off some of the bass frequencies of the amp can be helpful. Electric guitars and amps over amplify bass frequencies - it's one of the things that makes electric guitars sound, well, "electric." Since you are trying to ape an acoustic sound as much as possible.
Generally, if I'm stuck playing rhythm on an electric guitar, it's because I'm playing mostly lead guitar all night. In that setting, I wouldn't want to compromise the lead tone, so I just make due.
3. Emphasize the D and G strings, and avoid the low E and A strings
I have in the past emphasized and urged the use of classic three-note Allan Reuss voicings. As I may have mentioned previously, there is something out there called the "one note theory" - which holds that after the Swing-era, Freddie Green leaned heavily on single-note and two-note voicings, on the D and G strings. These evolved from playing standard 3 note voices and leaving out the bass note.
I'm prefer to stick to three-note voicings normally, but switching to two-note voicings is a great workaround for the bass frequency problem.
UPDATE: Here's a simple example of how to change 3-note voicings to 2-note voicings just by leaving out the bass note:
I do not claim to be an expert on the vast expanse that is gypsy rhythm. There are numerous historic and regional styles among gypsies and other gypsy-jazz guitar players, which they're own variations and ideosyncracies. I suggest Michael Horowitz's book Gypsy Rhythm, available at Djangobooks.com.
However, I think I can cover the difference between the basic Pompe and Swing Rhythm Guitar. Again here is the notation of Swing Rhythm Guitar:
Now compare to this notation of Le Pompe:
Think of it sounding like this: "a-short, long, a-short, long."
In playing Le Pompe one of things to keep in mind is that the upstroke note shouldn't be thought of as an offbeat eigth note, but rather as a grace note. You should make a very, very small upstroke, and then in the same motion, turn the pick back down for the downstroke. That downstruck chord should be played short. The next downstroke is played long. Among gyspies in different locales there are some varying approaches, but this is a pretty standard "Le Pompe."
Try expirmenting with "Le Pompe", but remember, four-to-the-bar is essential to the rhythm of Swing music, so "Le Pompe" is more of an accent flavor, and not to main dish, unless of course you are playing in a Django-type hot club band.
UPDATE:
Here's a sound sample I quickly recorded of "Minor Swing" in both styles. 1st chorus is 4-beat, 2nd le pompe, and then half a chorus of each. Also, try soloing over each to see the differnce in how they make you play.
I am occasionally asked if I teach private lessons. Well, I do. If you're in the Los Angeles-area and would like to work on swing rhythm guitar, swing-era jazz improvisation, or swing-era harmony, then I can be of help.
If you just want to learn how to play guitar or are just starting out, then I'm sure there's a guy at your local music store who's cheaper and has way more patience.
Just give me a call or email, if you're interested.
Hopefully you’ve read the last post about Swing-Era Time-Feel, and if not, stop and go read it and listen to the examples first. Ok, now that we have that out of the way, today’s post will be focused on the left-hand and right-hand technique necessary to achieve the right sound for Swing-Era Rhythm Guitar
The sound
As we discussed in the last post, the unique rhythmic feel of the swing-era involves the chunky, pumping, four-beat rhythm.
It’s important that each note be separate and distinct from the next. Short, fat little round notes. But, you don’t want them to be so short as to be choked.
Left Hand Technique
The left hand is the most important part of the equation, since the left hand is responsible for how long fretted notes ring. You’ll want to “pump” your fingers for each beat; pressing down only as much as is necessary for notes to sound, and releasing only as much as is necessary to mute the strings. Your fingers will never completely leave the strings.
Notice how each note is even, and there is no particular accents. There is clear separation between each note, but the notes were not choked, or stunted.
Right Hand Technique
Picking technique is also important. You’ll want to avoid emphasizing the low E string, because it can easy buzz against the fretboard if you hit hard. Rather, you should emphasize the D and G strings. These notes do the real work, anyway. As far as picking position, there are two schools of thought. Some prefer to just strum away over the end of the fretboard, basically where a neck pickup would be, if you had one. See, just look where Freddie Green is pickin':
Others alternate between the neck pickup area on beats 1 and 3, and the bridge pickup area on beats 2 and 4. I generally strum in the neck position, because I like to really keep the beats even, however I will alternate if there is a really heavy shout chorus, and I want to even further accentuate the back beat.
Guitar selection
A quick note on guitar selection. Much of the sound signature sound of swing-era rhythm guitar is tied to the instruments used – the acoustic archtop. Acoustic archtops have just the right amount of sustain, so getting the right time-feel is second nature. Selmer-style “Django” guitars come in at close second, and then flattop acoustics. Electric guitars, even hollow-bodied ones will have way too much sustain when plugged-in and amplified through an electric guitar amplifier. In a pinch, it can be done on a hollow-body electric, but there you will have to change up your technique a bit to compensate. More on that particular problem to follow.
*By the way I'm just playing a I-vi-iiV7 pattern in Bb, and my strings are kinda dead.
Here's a long overdue overview of the most important parts of swing-era rhythm guitar: Time-Feel
(way, way more important than all those cool chords!)
Before you figure out what you're supposed to sound like when playing Swing music, it's a good idea to understand what Swing music itself sounds like, especially because most musicians on earth play it with just the same feel as most other post-swing jazz. I've described the difference between Swing and later, straight-ahead jazz many times, but I think I've found some dead-on audio clips to demo the difference.
A. Swing
Swing, meaning the jazz of the Swing-era, is all about a thumping, pumping four-beat. "Chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk." It's the sound of a round, fat bass drum, of gut string bass, or rhythm guitar.
This is the section where it's basically just Benny wailing over that solid pulse. The rhythm section, Allan Reuss, Gene Krupa, Harry Goodman and Jess Stacy are all focused on the solid four. By the 2nd or 3rd bar, you can actually hear Allan Reuss pretty well. Just listen - straight four. There's not even the "chick" of the hi-hats closing on beats 2 and 4.
(as an totally non-scientific testament to this thump - the Windows Media Visualizer was totally pumping each quarter note, despite all of the other aural activity in the song; awesome)
This example is from practically the end of the Swing-era, but the cats on the session were solidly in the "swing" and not "bop" camp - Allan Reuss, Zutty Singleton, Barney Bigard, Red Callendar. This is a little more laid back than Goodman, but still foused on that thump-thump-thump-thump. I prefer my music to have be more driving, like Goodman, but this is definitely Swing.
B. STRAIGHT AHEAD JAZZ
This is NOT Swing. It just isn't. It's "straight-ahead jazz." That term has been applied a bit inconsistently through time, but it's most used meaning is that of post-Parker, bebop-influenced (if not overtly bebop-y), swung-8th note, mainstream jazz. Basically anything after swing, that isn't fusion, smooth jazz, or completely avant garde would count. So, Bebop, Cool Jazz, Modal Jazz, Hard Bop all fit under the "straight-ahead" umbrella.
In contrast to Swing music, the pulse is way less defined and the bass notes blur into each other. "Doo-doo-doo-doo." The washy ride cymbal obscures some of the definition of each "ding." There is no rhythm guitar chunking away to define the beat. Lastly, the only thing that clearly defines the beat is the "chick" of the hi-hat on beats 2 and 4.
Frankly, modern musicians think hammering the beat clearly was square - but it's what makes Swing sound like Swing.
Here on this trio recording, these guys are the quintessence of post-swing grooving. Bassist Ray Brown was certainly able to at times chunk it out, the sound on this track is the template for all straight-ahead jazz. Notice how each of Ray's notes blurs into the next one; notice how he mixes in 8th notes. Both obscure the punch of each downbeat. Also, listen to Ed Thigpen's ride cymbal - how it rings into the space between each "ding." There's also definitely not any bass drum audible (although he was probably playing it - what they boppers call "feathering"). Each and every one of these things tends to obscure that "chunk". And notice how far the beat lays back. It's a lot harded to lay back with a solid beat.
There are very few images of Allan Reuss in general, let alone floating around on the web. Gettyimages.com has a great shot, but it is really expensive to get without the watermark over top of the image.
Then I found this ad on ebay, and it just arrived today:
Awesome shot - check out the engraved truss rod cover "A.R."
Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five featuring Hilary Alexander
