Charlie Christian Study Group

**ggjay** · 10-02-2015, 07:04 AM

I hope this is the right place to post this...

In the next three months I'm going to learn as much Charlie Christian Solos as possible and I was wondering if some of you out there would be interested in a Study Group where we can share Recordings, Transcriptions, etc...

**MarkRhodes** · 10-02-2015, 09:01 AM

Sounds great to me. If others are interested, I will "stick" this thread so that it will remain easy to find.

I've been playing the "Grand Slam" solo this week. One of my favorites.

**MarkRhodes** · 10-02-2015, 09:15 AM

Some resources.

Charlie Christian - Legend of the Jazz Guitar

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Charlie-C...rlie+christian

Charlie Christian - The Genius Of The Electric Guitar - Amazon.com Music (<<<<<This is a great set but if it is too pricey, check with your local library. Mine offers this.)

Amazon.com: Charlie Christian - The Definitive Collection (Guitar Recorded Version) (Guitar Recorded Version Tab) (9780634047329): Charlie Christian: Books

http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Electri...rlie+christian

Mel Bay Swing to Bop: The Music of Charlie Christian: Stan Ayeroff: 9780786673193: Amazon.com: Books

**ggjay** · 10-02-2015, 09:23 AM

Cool, thanks!

Yesterday I started with "As Long As I Live"

Just listened to the "Grand Slam" Solo.
Sounds really good! And it's a blues, so maybe I'll make it my second one to learn.

**MarkRhodes** · 10-02-2015, 09:36 AM

"As Long As I Live" is one of my favorite Harold Arlen tunes. Love Charlie's solo.

Here's a vocal version by Anita O'Day for those who don't know the words. (And Barney Kessel plays guitar on it!)

**ggjay** · 10-02-2015, 10:18 AM

I learned the solo of a different version.
Here's a recording of me playing it:

**dasein** · 10-02-2015, 01:48 PM

i took the old compilation "The Genius of Electric Guitar" -- not the boxed set, but the old Columbia single disc compilation -- and edited out everything that wasn't a Charlie Christian solo.

put them on a playlist, listened to them on loop over and over again, every chance i got. must have heard each solo dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

when i finally went to transcribe them, they were all pretty firmly embedded in my head. just a matter of finding the notes on the guitar. that was the easy part, considering how guitar-friendly his lines/fingerings were.

**MarkRhodes** · 10-02-2015, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by dasein

i took the old compilation "The Genius of Electric Guitar" -- not the boxed set, but the old Columbia single disc compilation -- and edited out everything that wasn't a Charlie Christian solo.

put them on a playlist, listened to them on loop over and over again, every chance i got. must have heard each solo dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

when i finally went to transcribe them, they were all pretty firmly embedded in my head. just a matter of finding the notes on the guitar. that was the easy part, considering how guitar-friendly his lines/fingerings were.

That sounds like a great idea. How long a recording was that, just the solos? Five minutes, maybe?

**ggjay** · 10-02-2015, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by dasein

i took the old compilation "The Genius of Electric Guitar" -- not the boxed set, but the old Columbia single disc compilation -- and edited out everything that wasn't a Charlie Christian solo.

put them on a playlist, listened to them on loop over and over again, every chance i got. must have heard each solo dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

when i finally went to transcribe them, they were all pretty firmly embedded in my head. just a matter of finding the notes on the guitar. that was the easy part, considering how guitar-friendly his lines/fingerings were.

Did you play and practice the solos also and if yes, what effects did it have on your playing?
I'm really curious because this is the first time in my life I'm really gonna dig into someone elses playing.
Awesome idea btw.

**pubylakeg** · 10-02-2015, 05:17 PM

I'm in.

**ggjay** · 10-03-2015, 09:53 AM

Great!

I started learning the "Grand Slam" Solo.
I got the first chorus down. I'll post a recording when I'm done.

**ggjay** · 10-03-2015, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

Some resources.

Charlie Christian - Legend of the Jazz Guitar

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Charlie-C...rlie+christian

Charlie Christian - The Genius Of The Electric Guitar - Amazon.com Music (<<<<<This is a great set but if it is too pricey, check with your local library. Mine offers this.)

Amazon.com: Charlie Christian - The Definitive Collection (Guitar Recorded Version) (Guitar Recorded Version Tab) (9780634047329): Charlie Christian: Books

Amazon.com: The Genius Of The Electric Guitar: Charlie Christian: MP3 Downloads

Mel Bay Swing to Bop: The Music of Charlie Christian: Stan Ayeroff: 9780786673193: Amazon.com: Books

Thanks for posting these!
I'll try to learn everything by ear but the transcriptions site should be really helpful for checking if what I heard is correct.

**pubylakeg** · 10-03-2015, 12:14 PM

I'm posting a link here to Leo Valdez's CC site for ease of access via this thread. Unfortunately, it seems his excellent transcriptions are not available anymore, but there's still a lot of useful info for reference.

SOLO FLIGHT (Home Page)

PS, Does anyone have a contact email for Leo Valdes, or know him

**Eddie Lang** · 10-03-2015, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by pubylakeg

I'm posting a link here to Leo Valdez's CC site for ease of access via this thread. Unfortunately, it seems his excellent transcriptions are not available anymore, but there's still a lot of useful info for reference.

SOLO FLIGHT* (Home Page)

PS, Does anyone have a contact email for Leo Valdes, or know him

It would be great if his website was restored entirely for future reference. I for one would be ready to park it free of charge on the webserver I use. Same with Charlie Christian The Legend of Jazz Guitar. (Both sites are now only partially available through the captures made on web.archive.org's Wayback Machine.)

**monk** · 10-05-2015, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by pubylakeg

I'm posting a link here to Leo Valdez's CC site for ease of access via this thread. Unfortunately, it seems his excellent transcriptions are not available anymore, but there's still a lot of useful info for reference.

SOLO FLIGHT* (Home Page)

PS, Does anyone have a contact email for Leo Valdes, or know him

I've said this before but it bears repeating if all of you plan on delving deeply into CC's playing. Most of the Valdes transcriptions were very good but the tabs were wonky. Valdes had some peculiar ideas about how Christian fingered notes. Christian played out of simple triadic chord shapes with three fingers not with two fingers as Valdes asserts.

IMO, the best online resource was Greg Hanson's now defunct website mentioned above.

As far as books go, the Stan Ayeroff and Dan Fox are the way to go but there is no tab. The Wolf Marshall book is good but he gets off-base by needlessly inserting scales and modes into the discussion.

The beauty of CC's system was its simplicity. Chord shapes and downstrokes.

**MarkRhodes** · 10-05-2015, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by monk

IMO, the best online resource was Greg Hanson's now defunct website mentioned above.

For those who don't know the reference, this is a link to that archived site. Lots of good stuff there.
Charlie Christian - Legend of the Jazz Guitar

**Hep To The Jive** · 10-05-2015, 12:38 PM

I transcribed a few solos in the past, and I recorded one, Seven Comes Eleven. I haven't touch it since, and listening to it now(my recording I mean), it's a bit embarrassing, the technique is not there, and the tone sucks, but at least I got the phrasing right, I hope! So maybe it can help someone here.

personally, CC is all I got in terms of a concept. Playing jazz, I see the fretboard as a road map, with all these chord shapes, and I practice phrases based on them, so I can actually hear what I'm playing. It's very guitaristic, but if it was good enough for CC, it's good enough for me. I think, regardless, CC's concept of playing over changes is a perfect starting point.

**MarkRhodes** · 10-05-2015, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive

personally, CC is all I got in terms of a concept. Playing jazz, I see the fretboard as a road map, with all these chord shapes, and I practice phrases based on them, so I can actually hear what I'm playing. It's very guitaristic, but if it was good enough for CC, it's good enough for me. I think, regardless, CC's concept of playing over changes is a perfect starting point.

Curiously, Fred Sokolow uses that very phrase, "fretboard roadmaps", and has written a few books about it. Basic stuff but as foundations go, it's a "solid rock."

Herb Ellis worked out of chord shapes too and his books (Swing Blues, Rhythm Shapes, and All the Shapes You Are) teach his approach to it. Lots of great lines and ideas.

**dogletnoir** · 10-05-2015, 03:26 PM

i have to declare 'in'...
Any time spent with CC's music is time well spent!

**christianm77** · 10-05-2015, 04:53 PM

I'm in, although I may not have time to contribute much... look forward to seeing other peoples contributions...

**Jehu** · 10-05-2015, 07:43 PM

What the hell, I'm in too.

**gggomez** · 10-05-2015, 08:07 PM

Am in. I need a new song to transcribe.

**ggjay** · 10-06-2015, 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by monk

The beauty of CC's system was its simplicity. Chord shapes and downstrokes.

Do you know if he used downstrokes exclusively for his solos?

**ggjay** · 10-06-2015, 07:18 AM

Here's me playing "Grand Slam"
I tried to use downstrokes only but the beginning of the second chorus is still a little too fast for me.
I'll try to post a downstrokes version too.
Any feedback is welcome.