Freddie Green style

AcornHouse

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For an upcoming Jazz Ensemble concert (and mini-tour), I need to do a lot of Freddie Green comping. Thanks to James Chirillo’s videos, I pared my voicing down to just 2 notes (and yes, it really works best.) But I was having trouble strumming just 2 strings without getting extraneous noise from the other strings. I’d resigned to finger picking; effective, noiseless, but hardly authentic.
But when I tried it on my NS Aristocrat, it all fell into place. I don’t know if it was the fretboard radius (compared with my A-350 and X-150) or my position, or things just clicking, but there it was. I’d been thinking about using this guitar anyway, so that works out (and I don’t have to fret about something happening to the A-350 on the road.)

(Here’s his video about the Freddie Green style, in case you’re interested. So many other’s videos try to use too many notes.)

 

walrus

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I like what he says about the 4th string!

For the two string rhythm he's got a great left hand doing a lot of string muting. Isn't that percussive "noise" what you want, Chris? Or no?

I have some John Pizzarelli music where he really does that well, too.

walrus
 

AcornHouse

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I like what he says about the 4th string!

For the two string rhythm he's got a great left hand doing a lot of string muting. Isn't that percussive "noise" what you want, Chris? Or no?

I have some John Pizzarelli music where he really does that well, too.

walrus
Yes, I want the “chik” of the strings, but I wasn’t getting all of their pitches damped. Btw, a thin pick works best (finally a use for them!), at least with a pickup equipped guitar.
 

walrus

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Ah! +1 on left hand string muting being a difficult skill to master!

In the Paul Gilbert (rock music) video lessons I'm doing, he also spends a lot of time on left hand muting - it is a skill that apparently crosses over many genres. I need a lot more work on it!

walrus
 

Antney

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Interesting vid Chris, thanks for posting. Was Green doing this for technical reasons, or did he just know what sound he was after? I mean the Beatles wrote and performed a lot of parts that technically and academically worked but they had no formal training, they simply played what they wanted to hear.
 

AcornHouse

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It was the style and technique he developed over his career. This was before amplified guitars, so it was really a rhythm instrument in the big bands. Along with the bass, it was providing the feel of the beat. Because of all the horns, and the piano, it wasn’t needed to hear the harmonies, so just the one or two basic parts of the chord (3rd and 7th) is enough. The bass had the root, and the piano and horns had the chord extensions.
 

Guildedagain

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It's explained at great length in the video, this is relevant info for all guitar players, but especially acoustic players, and ultimately goes bas back to the design characteristics of the archtop guitar. The highest up strings drive the top harder, provide more thump, and are the most audible.

At one time, before the advent of the horns in particular, Green needed to cover more sonic ground with his guitar. With additional accompaniment, it gave him the freedom to concentrate on less notes.

As the speaker put it (I can't remember exactly and I'm halfway through my first cuppa), Green's two note "chunk chunk" is a re-affirmation of the chord that the band is playing.

The beautiful part is, wow, this is Jazz even I can play ;-)
 
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AcornHouse

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He has many other videos; including setup on electric and acoustic for rhythm playing.

 

Guildedagain

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The guy is amazing.

There's so much I don't know about (stuff that you're already doing but don't know what it is) that once you explain it all, I'm almost afraid to pick up the guitar, does that make any sense?

Is that a Guild, his electric?

You gotta love this guy "crushing golf balls all day, like on this one", he says, looking at the acoustic ;-)

Damn, it's nice to see somebody admit how damn hard it is.

Really profound, what he says about listening, and this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solfège

Trippy, I'd just recently learned about the Solfeggio Frequencies, a minor coincidence.
 
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AcornHouse

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After being reminded that we will be playing at the famed Apollo theatre, I've reconsidered and decided to take my X-500. I want to represent with the best. I've found that by keeping my right hand close to the bridge, I can do some extra damping of the high strings as needed.
 

shihan

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Thanks for posting those excellent videos. Although I’ll probably never play with a big band, if I do, I’ll at least have a clue. New knowledge is always welcome, you never know when it will come in handy.
Congratulations on getting to play at the Apollo! The X-500 should serve you well there. Have a great gig.
 
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