Jazzin' On 4 Strings

[JazzinOn4Strings]

Hello fretted-instrument friends of 1920s-30s jazz:

For fellow guitarists curious to explore the exuberant hot jazz of the 1920s-30s on the tenor banjo and tenor guitar --- a new book worth checking out is Jazzin' On 4 Strings: Hot Jazz in Chicago Tuning for Tenor Banjo, Tenor Guitar, Baritone Ukulele, Banjo-Uke, and More.

The 288-page book is an introduction to the genre and a guide to the application of the guitar-like DGBE Chicago tuning on a variety of 4-string and 4-course instruments ... for a more varied sonic palette. The copiously illustrated book includes history, recommended listening, theory, application of rhythm & chord basics, 20 hot jazz standards (notation & chord symbols), fretboard diagrams, string tension charts, a gallery of 4/8-string instruments, endnotes, appendices, bibliography, and index.

The book is by author/historian Reginald W. Bacon, veteran guitarist, tenor banjoist, vocalist, comedy tap dancer, and acrobatic juggler, now retired after 35 years with a succession of touring theatrical shows and revues. (Hey, that's me ... now getting around to sharing knowledge and insights from all those years in published form.)

To learn more about the book, and to read the introduction, contents, and sample pages, visit the publisher's website at VarietyArtsPress.com.

Wishing all good fun and good fortune to my extended musical family of 4-string jazz enthusiasts ... and 6-string, 8-string, & 10-string players too!

Reg Bacon

[pingu]

Hi Reg
Thanks for the heads up

Is the book applicable to me a 6 string player
if I ignore (or remove) the 5th and 6th strings ?

[_bix_]

I love 4 string guitars! Here is my approach (on one page) for Bill Evans style rootless comping.

[JazzinOn4Strings]

Hi Reg
Thanks for the heads up

Is the book applicable to me a 6 string player
if I ignore (or remove) the 5th and 6th strings ?

Thanks for the inquiry: Certainly on the 6-string guitar, by playing the "inverted" chords using the 4-string fingering on the DGBE strings as indicated in the purposefully simple arrangements, you will get close to the astringent quality of sound ... as you would when playing uptempo rhythm on the 4-string tenor guitar.

One aim of the book is to serve the six-string guitarist who wants to explore the hot jazz of the 1920s-30s ... and who may want to experiment with the 4-string tenor banjo to achieve the sound so evocative of the era.

Just thinking!: This is the book that I wish I had more than 50 years ago, when I was just a 6-string blues player curious about 1920s jazz. I should have written that in the introduction! - Reg Bacon