-
I amended my post to 'upper voices'. In Freddie's case (and Bucky's), that inner 'D' string really comes through, more so perhaps than with players such as George Van Eps, Alan Reuss and Dick McDonough.
-
06-02-2026 07:59 AM
-
There's a place for all of it, in my opinion.
For Freddie, as the bands got bigger the chords got smaller. Others played more, and sounded great too.
There's a lot of connection between what sounds good in the smaller groups and bossa and Hot Club style chords too...isn't that interesting?
-
Then move along. This is like Brent's thread on It Could Happen To You. If you don't have an interest in a thread just leave it be. Other people are trying to talk here.
Originally Posted by ragman1
-
I'm viewing it as a avenue to not only have an excuse to spend more time playing my Eastman AR610 archtop acoustic (instead of the 5 other guitars I own), but to also break out of the musical rut I've gotten into.
At age 62, and 47 years of guitar playing, I've gotten my band fix playing brass instruments in symphonic music and jazz band (until my 2nd year in college/university), lead guitar in rock bands (in the 90s mainly), and nowadays playing acoustic guitar weekly at a local church. I'd love to do the jazz group thing, but I'm not holding my breath, considering my age. This is a way for me to indulge in my hankering to play more jazz guitar in a solo context.
Ellen
-
You’re a youngster. Next time you pass through Toronto let me know and you can sit in with my big band, average age late 70s, most senior 93. Originally Posted by EllenGtrGrl
-
Your band looks like a lot of fun. Originally Posted by Webby
-
The Charlton Johnson book really changed my approach to playing rhythm guitar. I'll never forget the reaction of the 90 year-old bass player when we locked in on the first big band gig we played together.
I thought he was gonna have an orgasm right on the stand.
I had a similar reaction. It was like we were playing one golden instrument. The beautiful sound of the tenths and the fifths locking in in time was almost too much for us to handle.
And this guy was no jiver. He had played in clubs with Johnny Smith, and worked steady with some famous clarinet player that Chuck Wayne played with. He even had his own big band that he composed and arranged for. He had some type of job in electronics, and if a cable ever went bad, he'd take it home and fix it for me for free, and have it ready for me on the next gig. He was playing gigs with heart failure. He couldn't carry his amp and bass, so he'd get his wife to carry it for him, until they reached a bush near the outdoor stage. Then he'd carry it the rest of the way, so no one ever knew he couldn't carry it himself. He developed CTS, and his doctor told him he was risking his life if he decided to get his hand operated on. He told the doc to operate on it anyway, and he passed on the operating table. RIP. Roy Salanitro, a true music lover
.
Lately I've been fooling around with the strum that sounds like it would be more compatible with Gypsy jazz or old time swing and country music. The strum is using an up-stroke on beat one, and a down-stroke strum on beat two, resulting in an accent on beat two.
Freddie Green always used all down-strokes with Basie, so I wouldn't use it on any big band things except up-tempo things, because it makes it easier to strum faster. Still, I don't know if it would work with more modern things like Thad, Goodwin,Mintzer etc...
One things for certain, it doesn't work with a guitar- bass duo I play in. It destroys any attempt at dialogue between the two instruments during bass solos.Last edited by sgcim; 06-05-2026 at 07:27 PM.
-
Funny, I unusually switch to 4 to the bar rhythm for bass solos so we stay in time with each other.
-
Musings on a Freddie transcription.
-
We react to what each other are doing. This type of strumming is like a metronome. It just keeps ticking. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
-
Allen, I think you're still being grumpy. Well, that's your business. You apparently got as far as 'I'm bored' but didn't read the rest of it which explains it. Mr. B did the same as far as I can see. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
So far I've done ATTYA which is non-stop 4-to-the-bar thumping with 2 chords per bar. That's Freddie Green rhythm guitar. Then, exactly like Bowden's chart, I did Rhythm Changes which has a moving bass line with chord punches.
Seems to me that's more than acceptable but apparently the RC is not rhythm guitar, that's comping. But no one's said a word to Bowden. I also got handed a 16-page thread from yesteryear which apparently told me the difference between rhythm guitar and comping, not that I read it. And I'm also getting snarky remarks from this Joe character who has contributed absolutely nothing of his own musically.
So I asked Jeff straight to clarify exactly what he wants here and he was ambiguous again. Great.
Now I'm being told if I don't like it I can eff off.
I think this is a funny thread...
-
Adults Only:
-
Lucky you! Originally Posted by pcjazz
I moved from my hometown (which is north of Milwaukee) back in 2004 for my job (I am a Quality Engineer). It was bad enough that the live music scene and musician's network was pretty much dead in my hometown, but it's been downright frustrating trying to find anybody to play with, due to being unable to find any musician's networks or much of a musician's community in a metro area of 1.5 million people. Playing solo is nice, but I prefer an ensemble setting - playing with other musicians can be magical/very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the individual parts. I play at mass at a local Catholic church to get my band fix, but the music director (who plays piano) is very much piano and vocalcentric. Also it gets kind of old playing nothing but "chinga chinga chinga" on a flattop acoustic guitar (the music director prefers that - It keeps things straightforward "to avoid confusing the singers").
Last edited by EllenGtrGrl; 06-03-2026 at 05:40 PM.
-
Now you're talking. I'd say a very slow pace was much harder than a faster one. There are some YouTubes I've seen where the rhythm is almost indiscernible and defy tapping along with. Originally Posted by brent.h
I can't remember which exactly but I seem to remember a Bill Evans one and possibly a Miles Davis one. Definitely one was in 3/4 and it was almost impossible to say where the beats were coming. If I find one on my travels I'll post it.
-
Well, that's churches for you. Sit up straight and don't pick your nose Originally Posted by EllenGtrGrl
-
I'm trying to think of some cliches that always come in useful doing rhythm. There's the usual one:
| G / Am Bbo | G/B |
And in C:
| C / Dm Ebo | C/E |
There's the minor ones:
| Gm GmM7 | Gm7 C9/G |
| Dm DmM7 | Dm7 G7 |
And starting from above:
| F/A Abo | Gm7 F#7(b5) | FM7 F6 |
Or the Rhythm Changes one which combines them:
| BbM7 Bo | Cm7 C#o | Bb/D C#o | Cm7 B7(b5) | BbM7 |
In fact, almost the whole of that kind of RC arrangement is a mess of those things.
And lastly but not least, the m - m/M7 - 7 - m6 run played with other chords with the descending line in the bass. This can be very useful:
| Dm C#+ | G/D Bm7b5 |
-
I daresay you might be enjoying this a little, rag.
-
Of course I am, silly :-)
-
I did these a while ago for some reason. They may help. Who knows! :-)
-
"When in doubt, put in a diminished"
Words to live by.
-
We don't know how well off we are. OTOH, it's very likely their ears were much more acute than ours because most of this stuff is given to us.
-
Originally Posted by Christian Miller
I did these a while ago for some reason.
- You did them for a cool rhythm changes video. I bought the pdf.
- what does “This sits around so we’ll put in a 6/4” mean? I see Bb/F F7. But 6/4 in Bb I would think G/Eb and in F it’s D/Bb.
-
That's correct. Originally Posted by brent.h
6/4 is figured bass originally, but is commonly used in modern theory. As in 'cadential 6/4.' You'll hear people like Jeff Schneider and Adam Manness refer to this chord as a 6/4, so it's good to know the term.
It's extremely common in music where you have a clear, composed bassline. So early jazz, gospel, Motown etc. The classic walk up:
C C7/E F F#o7 C/G G7 C
For example
It's not really a tonic/I function chord BTW. Without getting into the weeds too much, it actually functions as a suspension of the dominant/V chord, like a sort of Sus chord.
However - in modern Real Book type jazz charts - where it's understood that the bass player is improvising a bass line - it's usually written in root position:
C C7 F F#o7 C G7 C
Which is why that progression confused me so much haha.
A good bass player might well play G in the bass anyway.
-
Jonathan Stout: 20 Most Used Basic Rhythm Guitar Voicings
https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/atta...0-voicings-pdf
I'm sure most forum members have seen this Jonathan Stout pdf before.
-
dont forget that rhythm comes first
try the m6 voicing 5x45xx and move it around in a minor blues. see how much mileage you get out of that one voicing. add a voicing for maj like 5x46xx and you can play *any* tune. in my opinion there are mainly two factors for good rhythm guitar in this style. a good bouncing left hand that controls the length of the chord, and a right hand that hits the strings with pick and *a bit of flesh*.
also not every stroke has the same length. the length of the chord is used to form variations in these tenor lines that freddie is playing. every quarter note in a bar can be played long but usually no more than one long chord per bar. so you get stuff like:
doo dap dap dap| dap doo dap dap| dap dap dap doo|doo dap dap dap etc. so to practice this i'd keep movement minimal. in fact i'd try to make a point of moving the tenor voice as little as possible and improvise sequences with one long note per bar. to me that is the freddie sound.
Reply With Quote
JJ music sales Ontario canada
Today, 04:01 PM in For Sale