The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Posts 1 to 25 of 96
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    I know these are simple but humor me. It seems like whether these voicing are on the 6th or 5th string they're MOSTLY R-7-3 right?

    Second, in an ensemble doesn't the root interfere with the Bass player?

    Third, I would love to see a simple standard, (Summertime, Stormy Weather, Fly me to the Moon,...etc) written out with Freddie Green voicings so I can start applying these to a lot of my standards.

    Thanks Sailor

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    Yep they're either R-7-3 or R-3-7 chords on the 5th and 6th strings. If you are strumming them they tend to be cool with a bass player, as long as your volume is at or below the bass players volume.

    MW

  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    There has been some speculation that FG may have been playing one note chords.

    From the same site ... interesting quotes about the one note chords.

    Guitar One: "Your playing style tends to be sparse, minimalist, but every now and then you whip into Freddie Green style comping"

    Frisell: "Very momentarily. There are guys who really can do it, and who can keep it going, whereas I do it in little gestures, for four bars or so at a time. One of the first systematic things I did when I got into jazz was to go through chord inversions on the 6th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings. You hit the whole chord but the 5th and 1st strings don't ring. I started out with major 7th, dominant 7th, and minor 7b5 chord inversions. If I play an Fmaj7 in the lowest position with the root on the bottom, the next inversion would be with the 3rd on the bottom, and so forth. You can also connect these inversions with bass notes from an F major scale. Freddie Green often wasn't hitting whole chords, but rather single notes."

  5. #4
    I dig that article Stackabones. I read it before and wondered how legit the interpretation was. I was wondering if you would play FG voicings all through a song or just use them in certain sections??

    I would still like to see a score of a standard done in FG style.

    Sailor

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Sailor
    I dig that article Stackabones. I read it before and wondered how legit the interpretation was. I was wondering if you would play FG voicings all through a song or just use them in certain sections??
    I think it's pretty legit, considering that the website seems to be affiliated with FG. I think you could use the voicings (either one-note or shell) all the way through a tune. When I watch vids of Count Basie, that's what FG does.

    I would still like to see a score of a standard done in FG style.
    Just open a fake book and play through changes using the concepts outlined in the article.

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    I've seen some transcriptions of FG's work on one of the websites dedicated to him. Johnny Pizzarelli also discusses how FG did his stuff. He played a lot of 2 and 1 note chords but fingered the 3 note chord and did some muting so he got the percussive sound along with whatever note he was leading with. It's simple when you think of it but much harder in practice especially with fast tunes like Basie did.

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    Freddie did R 7 3 stuff and would not have the root in the bass of his voicing every time. Long extended parts of a chord he would invert up and down the instrument.

    As for mixing with the bass... in a big band about 4 guys are playing the root anyway (trombone 4, Bari, Piano, Bass and probably a trumpet somewhere). You'll just be joining the masses

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    Jake, you're exactly right. If there was one thing Freddie knew well was his chord inversions all over the neck. That's why I consider him the best rhythm guitarist ever. Most times I try not to over play the root. It makes the sound too "vanilla". The other thing he had was a fantastic sense of timing.

  10. #9

    User Info Menu

    Mickey baker jazz guiter method get in this direction I think.

    moveable chords with root on 6th and 5th string.
    One strum every beat.

    m6, m7, M7, M6,...
    almost no barre chords.

    A lot of common points with freddie green, isn't it ???

  11. #10

    User Info Menu

    I saw a book the last time I was at Gruhn Guitars. It was called Playing Rhythm The Ranger Doug Way written by Doug Green (No relation to Freddie) of Riders in the Sky. The music is more Western Swing oriented but the principles are the same. I believe it talks about inversions, passing chords and substitutions. I've watched Ranger Doug on You Tube and tried to see how he put his fingers down. I would start there and then go to some of the Freddie Green sites. As a side note, if you look on the Gruhn site ( I can't afford to buy guitars from there anymore but I go when I get really depressed) , there is a refinished 1950 Stromberg that Ranger Doug played. I got to play it and I didn't want to go home that day. There was also a 1941 Stromberg Deluxe that was at Gruhn's for no longer than 24 hours (before it got scarfed up) and had the chance to play that one too. Now I've had the opportunity to play a number of D'Angelico guitars and this Stromberg blew them away as far as loudness and tone hands dwon. When you played Freddie Green chords, you could actually feel the pulse like a heart beat. It went right through you. Now I know why Freddie liked his so much. I just wish I could have bought the thing on that day but at the 5 figure price tag, it just wasn't on the cards.

  12. #11

    User Info Menu

    not a book but some informations

    "Freddie Green: Birth of a Style"

  13. #12

    User Info Menu

    I used a book by Charlton Johnson called "Swing & Big Band Guitar - Four to the Bar Comping in the Style of Freddie Green" to get my big band rhythm guitar chops together.

    Most of the voicings use the 6-4-3-2 string set. 5th and 1st string are almost never used in the text.

  14. #13

    User Info Menu

    What do I need to know to be able to comp ala freddie green in any key?

  15. #14

    User Info Menu

    as far as I can tell.. you just follow the Root Chord/7 Chord/3 Chord?

    so in C it would kind of be

    CMAJ7/Bm7b5(dim) and Em7?

  16. #15
    TommyD Guest
    There's a story about Freddie Green, that he never wanted to play with amplification. Basie bugged him about it, and he resisted as long as he could. Finally the pressure got too great and he bought an amplifier. He showed up with it every night, set it up, plugged his guitar in, and smiled at Basie. But he never plugged in the amp! Basie never knew and was happy, thinking that his guitarist was amplified. True? Who knows?

    T/

  17. #16

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by hot ford coupe
    Now I've had the opportunity to play a number of D'Angelico guitars and this Stromberg blew them away as far as loudness and tone hands dwon. When you played Freddie Green chords, you could actually feel the pulse like a heart beat. It went right through you. Now I know why Freddie liked his so much. I just wish I could have bought the thing on that day but at the 5 figure price tag, it just wasn't on the cards.
    It's amazing t me how much difference any real good acoustic archtop makes for swing rhythms. I've had a number of good archtops over the years, 40s Epi Zephyr Deluxe Regent, 60s Country Gent, Ibanez "lawsuit" 175, etc. The first time I played my Artist Award, it almost begged to be played with swing rhythms, seemed to play itself. I can only imagine what one of those Strombergs must be like.
    Brad

  18. #17

    User Info Menu

    Freddie, Bucky Pizzarelli, Allan Reuss and other comp masters have been mentioned on the site here and there, though, don't know if there's a post dedicated to videos or names of others who specialize in it. Here's a gem I found today. Please share other clips like this.

    Steve Jordan Trio

    It Had To Be You - Steve Jordan Trio 1992 - ???????????

  19. #18

    User Info Menu

    Nice idea. This is instructional but I'll see what I can come up with for just playing. Saw this about a year ago;


  20. #19

    User Info Menu


  21. #20

    User Info Menu

    James Chirillo - Big Band Rhythm Guitar

    For anyone into learning Bucky's style, John Pizzarelli's DVD Exploring Jazz Guitar is excellent

    Dig the Steve Jordon vid - good thread. This is a style I've been really interested in lately, getting back to the source!

  22. #21

    User Info Menu

    Just so no one gets confused, all the examples thus far are rhythm guitar. Lower strings, usually 6, 4 and 3. Four to the bar rhythm or possibly Charleston rhythm. This is usually played in large and small swing groups.

    Comping is usually played on higher strings, 5 through 2 or 4 through 1 and is more active rhythmically. This type of playing is post-bop.
    Last edited by monk; 03-23-2013 at 09:00 PM.

  23. #22

    User Info Menu

    The Django Reinhardt-influenced jazz players are still layin' it down.
    Swing Tunes with Swing Rhythm.
    Here's Hono Winterstein, one of the best who plays rhythm for THE best, Bireli Lagrene.
    His instruction course is in French, I'm not sure if it's subtitled.

  24. #23

    User Info Menu

    And here's Hono backing Bireli in "Blues Clair"


  25. #24

    User Info Menu


  26. #25

    User Info Menu

    Chris Flory doing the rhythm thing with some comping here and there. His soloing reminds me of Al Casey in some way.

    Last edited by Eddie Lang; 03-24-2013 at 01:15 PM.