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Good diagrams! I started out making my own on graph paper. Sometimes I still do that....
Originally Posted by clebergf
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10-17-2015 02:10 PM
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Mary Osborne is a personal heroine of mine.
Bucky P., omg.
And Benson's comping was just as impressive as his single note playing, imo.
Thanks for posting those clips!Last edited by dogletnoir; 10-17-2015 at 04:36 PM.
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Charlie Christian is one of the few jazz guitar players I know, where I see a connection between chords and solo lines.(Just kidding). I have the book by Stan Ayerhoff and once in a while, I sit down and try to learn a Charlie Christian solo and arrange the tune of the solo for different stringed instruments. Have to say, the indicated fingerings don't work very well for me, I have to change them so I use the 4th finger more often.
The last tune I recorded this way was "I've found a new baby". In the transcription, it's 4 measures dm, but in other versions of that tune, it's dm,dm, dm, D7, so I changed Charlie's solo a bit to fit these chord changes, I replaced every f in th 4th bar by an f sharp. (Solo starts at 0:58).
So yes, I'm interested
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Trying not to get ahead of where i am with things, i decided to try the simplest CC solo i could find,
only 8 bars but it's still challenging for me to get a good feel and sound relaxed like he does!
This is kind of awkwardly played (it goes off time with the 2 & 4 pulse...) but we all have to start somewhere.
As Long As I Live (CC solo transcription)
Last edited by dogletnoir; 10-19-2015 at 09:12 AM.
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Thanks for sharing dogletnoir. I transcribed my first song last year, Grant Green. Yeah the feel, the rhythm the swing these guys have is amazing.
A tip I was given. Can you sing the solo? I was advised and implemented this. I listened and sang the song constantly without a guitar for about a month. So much so even my kids could sing the solo. Then with the guitar I sang it out loud as I played and this really helped.
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A great rendition of "Stompin' at the Savoy" along with transcription, analysis and an overview of CC's contributions:
Stompin' at Minton's(by Miles Okazaki) - Do The Math
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Originally Posted by PMB
Great clip! And the information at the link sure helped me out. Thank you for this!
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Anyone give a lot of time to the minor 6th business discussed in the article linked to above (-in the post with the "Savoy" clip)? I made some notes and will practice these ideas (such as I understand them) later today.
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it's interesting all the love Benson and Wes get [and deservedly of course] Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
but they all go back to Christian. that solo is so far ahead of it's time it's silly.....
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Here is (popular gypsy jazz educator) Denis Chang playing through a bit of CC:
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He deserves his popularity---he's good! Great shots of his right hand. Heavy on the downstrokes, just like Charlie was. Originally Posted by Jehu
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Glad to see other people playing Charlie Christian. I have got the Stan Ayeroff and Wolf Marshall books and have been working through them. As I've learnt 3 Honeysuckle Rose solos I'm currently practicing Up On Teddy's Hill. As I can't sight-read music (I'm hoping that will come eventually) I have to memorise the solos, and with all these Honeysuckle Roses I start one solo chorus but end up in another
Currently my favourite solo, for playing at any rate, is the live version of Rose Room from October 1939. I'm saving Solo Flight for later. Hopefully I'll persevere with this long enough to get it stuck in my fingers and brain before I get distracted by something else. Earlier this year it was listening to and trying to play Mance Lipscomb...
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I would just like to add my thanks to Jehu for posting the clip of Denis Chang playing along with Charlie Christian. Not particularly for the playing, which is excellent, but for giving me the idea of trying it. For some reason it has never occurred to me to try and play along with the original recordings. So I loaded up Grand Slam as it is short and relatively simple and gave it a go. Admittedly I had to use software to slow it down a bit, but first time through I managed to nail some of the phrases, and it never felt so good!
Next up was Til Tom Special which I've been playing from the Wolf Marshall book, and I really like the head riffs. Back to earth with a bump, as although I'm playing all the right notes in the right order, my timing is way off, so I've work to do here. But I can strum chords behind Lionel Hampton's vibes all night long so who cares
Wish I'd thought of it earlier. Is this what other people do?
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I love playing along too! It really helps absorbing a solo I'm trying to copy. Originally Posted by Trumpton
I would just like to add my thanks to Jehu for posting the clip of Denis Chang playing along with Charlie Christian. Not particularly for the playing, which is excellent, but for giving me the idea of trying it. For some reason it has never occurred to me to try and play along with the original recordings. So I loaded up Grand Slam as it is short and relatively simple and gave it a go. Admittedly I had to use software to slow it down a bit, but first time through I managed to nail some of the phrases, and it never felt so good!
Next up was Til Tom Special which I've been playing from the Wolf Marshall book, and I really like the head riffs. Back to earth with a bump, as although I'm playing all the right notes in the right order, my timing is way off, so I've work to do here. But I can strum chords behind Lionel Hampton's vibes all night long so who cares
Wish I'd thought of it earlier. Is this what other people do?
I also really like playing the chords while singing the solo.
I'm learning the "I've found a new baby" solo right now.
I'm really wondering if CC played it all downstrokes, because it seems too fast to do that.
Tempo is roughly 210.
Or maybe I'm just tooslow...
Any opinions on that?
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I use 100% downstrokes, but then I don't use a pick! At the moment I can only get comfortably up to 180bpm, and although I can play faster, I lose any swing feel to my playing. So I am slow and happy. I'm sure that Charlie used upstrokes as well because of the sections that I find hard to play! For example there's a phrase of 6 triplets in Rose Room that feels like it would have to have some upstrokes in it if picked. Anyway, I thought the quote was that he played 'mostly' downstrokes so I guess its OK to pick it as you like.
Wes Montgomery played at well over 200bpm with just his thumb, so anything is possible!
I Found A New Baby is one of my favourites, and it sounds good even when played 'slowly' as every note stands out and means something.
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Absolutely, I'm sure CC used upstrokes on a faster licks, to me it always swings better if you use upstrokes for upbeat eights anyway. Also, to me the distinction between CC style and Gypsy is more use of left hand legato, pull offs etc. Gypsy players like to pick everything! Does anyone find it true as well? Originally Posted by ggjay
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Here's my recording of the "I've found a new baby" Solo.
My favourite CC solo so far.
I really like how he always plays 9's and 13's on dominant chords that go to minor I Chords and it always sounds good.
I'm really used to playing b9 and #5 so it's a cool new perspective.
My favourite thing about this solo is the places he starts and ends phrases. It sounds really spontaneous. Like it's just pouring out of him.
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Agreed, I don't think it's possible to execute at tempo using downstrokes exclusively. Originally Posted by Trumpton
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Right, "mostly" is not "only."
Little irritating things about the internet...too much talk. Stick with what you're doing, let the music itself tell you, not some book or video or anonymous internet "experts" (who read a BK quote 10 years ago and have been regurgitating it ever sense).
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Django likes a bit of slurring from time to time... I don't think there's a vast gulf in the styles in terms of technique.... Hammer on pull offs tend to be used for decorations (triplets) in both cases. At least that's how I use it... Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
If there is anyone who can do I Found a New Baby with downstrokes, I shall crown them with a crown.
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Man! That's sounding really good. Keep it up, good sir! Originally Posted by ggjay
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Thanks!
I think I'll do "seven come eleven" next.
What are you guys favourite CC Solos?
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Seven Come Eleven is way too fast for me
I've just started looking at two versions (take 4 and take 5 I think from November 7 1940) of Wholly Cats. Not my favourite Charlie Christian solos, but they are short, and I really like playing the head.
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Here's a fun one. It's a deceptively simple blues that has a few interesting quirks when you dig in.
Last edited by Jehu; 11-19-2015 at 06:23 AM.
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Here is the transcription of all 9 takes of "Breakfast Feud", in the same order as they are played in the Disc #3 of The Genius Of The Electric Guitar.
Each solo is preceded by 4 empty Bb bars, where the horns play and Charlie is muted (Charlie starts on bar 5, Eb7).
Some notes on the notation used :
On top is the chord being played (in the green box) and below the shape on which Charlie bases his line (as you know, Charlie's playing is "shape based").
I found a lot of interesting things on how Charlie approaches the Blues and the chord changes, which I will show on next post...Last edited by Vinz; 12-25-2015 at 05:36 AM. Reason: updated transcription
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