A starting point for beginners

fast eddy · #1 03-07-2010, 11:30 PM

I've come across what appears to be a pretty good point of departure for those (like me) who would really love to get into straight four swing guitar. YouTube - Big Band Rhythm Guitar #1
I'd be very interested in the thoughts of those who have already got this style under their belt (I want to join you). Would this be a good beginning or could your recommend something that doesn't require too much theory and more melodic progressions to get us going and keep us moving forward.
What I'd like to do is to get some nice sounding progressions (I have the facility to make the chords now as I've been practising them for many years but in a very unorganised manner so not much progression apart from loosening my fingers and improving my facility to create chords) without passing single notes at this stage. Then go into something a lot deeper and requiring a lot more time and committment such as Mickey's theory course which is well documented/recommended on this site.

Can anyone point me and others in this direction?

cheers

FatJeff · #2 03-08-2010, 01:28 PM

I haven't used Kent Murdick's stuff.

Here's the book I used:

Amazon.com: Swing and Big Band Guitar: Four-To-The Bar Comping in the Style of Freddie Green (0073999951479): JOHNSON: Musical Instruments

I thought it was very good and I learned a lot from it.

fast eddy · #3 03-08-2010, 08:36 PM

Cheers Fat Jeff.

I'll check it out. Out of curiosity, Jeff, what problems did you come up against trying to get Freddy's chords down and how did you get over them?

what are you up to now?

FatJeff · #4 03-08-2010, 09:27 PM

So, I should start off by saying that I don't typically employ the usual Freddie Green voicings for most big band situations. Freddie was a unique musician who solved the specific problems of his day in his own way, and I don't think his approach is particularly well suited to today's instruments and amplification systems. I don't personally like the "one-note chord" sound and I just use stock 3-note chord voicings for the main chord types I come across in a big band setting. Depending on the tune and the other instruments involved, I either play chunky down low, in the mid-range, or on the top 3 strings. My main goal is to just basically stay out of the way. With 17 instruments, my contribution to the overall sound is pretty limited. I want to blend in, not stand out.

Laying out is often the best solution for the guitar.

For me, the biggest thing was learning that I didn't necessarily need to need to play the exact chord specified on the chart, in time, complete with all the extensions. Big Band charts are typically a freakin' mess when it comes to the guitar part. Half the time, you don't even have your own part - you play off the piano or bass chart. Even when you do, the chord symbol is usually the specific result of all the horns put together - e.g. GbMaj13, or D9#11/F#, changing sometimes as often as once per beat (and a lot of these tunes really cook when it comes to tempo!). Even if you could play all those extensions in time, chances are you would clash with another instrument (particularly the piano), so I just learned to keep it simple. Maj7, Maj6, dom7, dim7, m7b5, m7. That's about it. And triads - maj, min, dim, very rarely aug - you see those a lot. The guitar is actually there (in a traditional big band setting) more as a percussive instrument than a harmonic one.

Things get different when you do more modern pieces, from the likes of Maria Schneider..you can start using quartal voicings, shadowing the piano in the upper registers, etc.

I'm not currently in a big band - I'm in a smaller 7-piece combo - totally different scene. Both are really fun though - I'm sure I'll do more big band stuff in the future.

cosmic gumbo · #5 03-09-2010, 12:33 AM

That youtube video has some good info to start with. 2, 3, and 4 note chords, all downstrokes. Knowing enough theory to construct chord voicings. The challenge is following the charts and having all your voicings right under your fingers, because you can't look at your hands and the chart at the same time. Like it's been mentioned, lot's of those charts are very intense, sometimes 4 or 5 changes to a measure in sections, so the voicings have to be close to each other. Take your eyes off the chart, and you may never find your way back!