The Summer of Rhythm Guitar 2026: Take a Walk on the mild side

[joe2758]

Charlie, you are very good at rhythm guitar. May I call you Charlie?

[mr. beaumont]

This is how I'm playing these days. Quite old school. Notice that I'm using only grips from the Jonathan Stout hand out lol.


I was enjoying this gig honest. playing with Sousa is fun.

If you get a chance I'd like to hear a bit about how you approach playing like this on an electric guitar.

[joe2758]

And here's a bit on a Sel-mac styl

I generally aim for more of 30's rhythm guitar sound than a more modern Manouche one.

so the alternative being sort of dryer..more staccato?

[Christian Miller]

If you get a chance I'd like to hear a bit about how you approach playing like this on an electric guitar.

In general, roll off the volume. You can see me turn up slightly at the start of my solo

You need a percussive attack. And you also need to not have too much bass.

The secret of rhythm guitar is to develop a percussive touch without necessarily being loud

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[Christian Miller]

so the alternative being sort of dryer..more staccato?

In general, simpler chords. Moving bassline type figures. Not many II-7 chords. I think maybe less staccato as well. I like to have plenty of chord on the 1 and 3.


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[Christian Miller]

Charlie, you are very good at rhythm guitar. May I call you Charlie?

Thanks. It’s probably one of my main saleable musical skills. Maybe my only one lol.

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[djg]

This is the reason I started this thread

Making the solid body guitar sound acoustic with palm-muting.

I wanted to know if people have done this kinda thing.

hono winterstein does palm muting:

[Christian Miller]

hono winterstein does palm muting:

Yeah, I saw Bireli a few years back and came out a bigger Hono fan.

His demonstration of the ‘pompe Manouche’ at the start is similar to my default right hand approach FWIW, what I mean by 30s style.

I should give the palm muting thing a go. Good for quieter instruments.

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[joe2758]

What exactly did you change on your actual guitar, for example, when you switched from rhythm to rippin solo on the sousa vid

[Christian Miller]

What exactly did you change on your actual guitar, for example, when you switched from rhythm to rippin solo on the sousa vid

Just turned up a bit - you can see it after the first couple of phrases

I have worked quite hard at balancing my rhythm and single string playing - but I still usually need a solo boost.


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[joe2758]

Ok I'm stealing some moves.

public domain man, nothing I invented haha

Coolest move in here is playing a 4-5 turnaround to a jazz audience

iykyk

[joe2758]

actually i think he copyrighted that one

[Christian Miller]

yes public domain is awesome...I know i said before that im more into melody than lines now, but im trying to learn that shreddy ascending lick in Christian's video... Very entertaining!

That’s my only lick. I won’t even know who I am if you nick that


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[Mick-7]

The Charlton Johnson book really changed my approach to playing rhythm guitar.

This one? -- https://www.amazon.com/Swing and Big Band Guitar

[joe2758]

I second that book, stuff from there is all I use..it is totally complete.

[joe2758]

the second chorus of my video is all or mostly examples from that book

[pamosmusic]

I don’t know this book. Amazon examples look pretty great.

[joe2758]

i mean the guy is basically freddie Green's replacement

[AllanAllen]

There are dozens of transcriptions here

Freddie Green Style: Transcriptions

[mr. beaumont]

For anybody starting out, the Charlton Johnson and Ranger Doug books are both good.

The FG site is pretty much gold, imho.

But really and truly, just take the Stout shapes (or if you want even fewer, the "elite eight" i posted and start playing tunes. The fretting hand is the easy part (as least as far as the chord shapes go)...the picking hand is more nuanced and a lot more difficult to explain in print.

[AllanAllen]

4:03 It seems like he hasn’t tried both styles in a big band setting.

Single note rhythm guitar cuts right through a big band, where chords add density. It’s immediately clear when you try both in a big band.

Other styles can work, but it’s like a hot fudge sundae with a pickle on top.

[mr. beaumont]

The brushing thing is HUGE in my opinion. Its not just the pick hitting the string.

This was a realization I had a few years ago during the first summer of Rhythm Guitar (was just a month back then)

[joe2758]

i have seen guitarist go CHPP CHPP CHPP CHPP

no. just... no.

what's that, what I did?

[djg]

i assume you guys know this? the comping is stellar.

[djg]

or this. i think the rhyhm guitarist is playing a western guitar.