Swinging Strategies for Jazz Ensemble Guitarists Dave Ness

Swinging Strategies for Jazz Ensemble Guitarists Dave Ness, presenter Outline

I. Freddie GreenA. THE Big Band Swing StyleB. Count Basie

II. EquipmentA. Guitar

1. Full Hollow-body Guitar2. Amp

III. Chords for Swing chartsA. Freddie Green Style

1. 4 to the bar2. Chord Shapes3. 5th and 6th String4. Theory5. Tablature and chord charts

B. Bb Blues examplesC. Freddie Green listening Example “Hail to the Chief”

IV. Reading NotesA. All the Notes in 1st position

V. Other stylesA. Bossa

1.Girl From IpanemaDave Ness [email protected] [email protected]

Chicago Jazz Magazine said of Dave Ness, “there is no denying his superlative skill on the guitar.” A sought-out educator and clinician for nearly 25 years, Dave has directed jazz ensembles for several colleges and high schools, including Northwestern University and Carthage College. Dave has been studying Freddie Green guitar style since 1990 and in 1999 his article on Freddie Green was published in the Jazz Educators Journal. Currently Dave teaches guitar and jazz ensemble as well as AP Music Theory and Music Production and Sound Engineering at

Libertyville High School. Dave has released three albums (with all original compositions) with the Dave Ness Trio: “Sketches,” “Layers,” and his 2018 release “Grooveness.” His website can be found at www.daveness.net

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.daveness.net/

Freddie Green: Birth of a Style by David Ness

Background Frederick William Greene, born 1911, anchored Count Basie’s rhythm section from 1937 until his death in 1987 with few interruptions. A self-taught guitarist, Green (as he preferred to spell it) was a devoted member of the band. Basie, in Good Morning Blues, tells: When we came back to New York, we became a septet. We didn’t include Freddie Green in that group that we took out to Chicago, but when we got back he just came in on his own. One night we were playing somewhere in midtown, and I came to work and there he was with his guitar and everything. “What...are you doing here?” I asked. And he just looked at me and looked at the wall or out in space or somewhere and shook his head. “What...do mean what am I doing here? You working tonight, aren’t you?” And that was it, and he’s been right there ever since.1

Freddie Green rarely soloed but instead favored playing rhythm guitar. Different stories purport to explain this: Harry Edison recounts in Jazz Anecdotes that the rhythm section would fall apart if Green left his timekeeping role to solo; so the band ripped the guts out of his amplifier to discourage him from soloing.2

Certainly Green heard more than just chords, as he wrote charts for the Basie Band: Down For Double, Right On, and Corner Pocket. And you can indeed hear an example of his playing more single-string ideas on the tune Boll Weevil (from a recording of Brother John Sellers listed in the discography of this article). No matter what the reason, the fact that Green rarely improvised single lines is not as important as his contribution to big band guitar playing, where Green helped define the sound of the Basie rhythm section. His role in that section was so important that we have a style of playing named after him: the “Freddie Green style” is characterized by small chords (or implied chords) strummed “four to the bar.” Hear the Difference Rhythm sections of every level can share common problems, and one of the most common is that many guitarists have never heard Freddie Green play. Frequently a big band guitarist is strumming “bar chords” (the first finger stretched across the whole neck). With the six notes thus played (often doubling notes) and the bottom interval usually a perfect fifth, the result is what the rock world calls a “power chord.” In a jazz context, these elements add up to a very muddy sound.

● The Freddie Green style actually makes it very easy for a beginning guitarist to play on big band swing charts:

● The guitarist doesn’t have to deal with all the notes in a chord. They only play the Root, 3rd and 7th. Bb9, Bb11, Bb13= Play Bb7 Bb7 alt(#11, b13, b5, #5, b9, #9), Bb+7= Play Bb7

Copyright Dave Ness 2018 1

BbMAJ7#11 or Bb△7= Play BbMAJ7 Bbmin7b5 or Bb-7b5 or Bbø7= PLAY Bbmin7 Bbo7, Bbdim7, or Bbmin6= PLAY Bbdim7

● The lighter sound produced (because less notes are played) leads to a more swinging rhythm section.

● By playing “four to the bar” they help anchor the rhythm by grooving with the walking bass. This also allows the piano player to “comp” different rhythms without getting in the way of the guitar.

● This style assists the understanding of the important notes in a chord: the thirds and the sevenths.

● It is an excellent springboard to learning more complicated chords. Acoustic Sound Freddie Green’s style is defined by an acoustic guitar quality: he was more felt than heard. An acoustic guitar or a hollow-body electric will get the closest sound. A student using an electric guitar should keep the volume fairly low, with the tone control on a more bass setting. Have the neck pickup selected (usually chosen by setting the pickup selector up). The percussive quality of the pick hitting the strings is a very important aspect of this style. Freddie Green’s playing was light, understated, and rhythmically precise with a driving pulse. Think like any other member of the ensemble: blend with the band; don’t stick out. Equipment Freddie Green used a Gretsch Eldorado and a Stromberg Master, which are archtop acoustic guitars. For today’s jazz ensembles, where a student will also have to play non-swing styles,the ideal guitar for the swing style is a full hollow body jazz guitar. This is basically an archtop acoustic guitar with pickups. A semi-hollow body guitar can work, such as a Gibson ES335. More expensive models are made by Gibson and other luthiers. Cheaper full hollow body guitars are made by Godin, Epiphone, Ibanez, Gretsch, and more companies. At Libertyville High School, where I teach guitar and direct one of the jazz bands, we have one Gibson ES175 and one Godin 5th Ave. guitar. For amplifiers, I would recommend a small amp with enough wattage. I would also recommend getting an amp that sounds good “clean.” You don’t need an amp with effects already in the amp. You could always add those later with effect pedals, if needed, for a rock chart. I personally recommend the Henriksen’s Jazz Amps. https://www.henriksenamplifiers.com/ At LHS we have “The Bud” amplifier. “The Bud” is 9X9X9, 120 watts, and 17 pounds and comes with a carry case with shoulder straps. It also has two inputs with separate controls for each input. It sounds great and I don’t have tell any directors the benefits of a small, lightweight


https://www.henriksenamplifiers.com/

amp that sounds great. In 2018, Henriksen introduced “The Blu,” a one channel, 12 pound version of “The Bud.” There are also great clean sounding amps by AER, Roland, Fishman and others. Swing Feel For swing feel, hold the pick between your first finger and thumb of your picking hand. The thumb alone can be used for more mellow sounds; but the percussive, acoustic quality of the pick hitting the strings is an integral part of the Freddie Green style. Start with a three-chord blues to become familiar with your voicings: practicing three chords in this repetitive form will speed the learning process. Play chords on all four beats of the measure, accenting two and four. Think of snapping your strumming wrist on beats two and four, and practice with a metronome clicking on those accents, Use only down strokes (toward the floor): strumming the chords both up and down is contrary to swing feel. Move on to jazz blues with more chords, playing in as many different keys as possible so as to get really comfortable moving chords around. But most importantly, listen to the Basie band with Freddie Green. Freddie Green Chord Voicings One way guitarists blend with a jazz ensemble is by using the correct voicings. Seventh chords are the most common chords in jazz: a student who has mastered seventh-chord voicings will be able to cover most chords in a big band chart. As in improvising, the thirds and the sevenths of a chord are the most important. Play the third and seventh of the chord with the root in the bass; you can find sample seventh-chord voicings for the sixth and fifth strings in Example 1:


EXAMPLE 1: 6th String Shapes

-Root on the 6th string -7th of the chord on the 4th string -3rd of the chord on the 3rd string. Mute 5th string with the finger playing the note on the 6th string.


5th String Shapes

-

-Root on the 5th string -3rd on the 4th string -7th on the 3rd string Chord simplification In a big band swing chart, the guitarist can simply the chords. They can ignore all extensions (9,11,13) and play the 7th chord. They can ignore all alterations (b5,#5,b9,#9, b13, #11) and play the 7th chord.

Bb9, Bb11, Bb13= Play Bb7 Bb7/F= means Bb7 with an F in the bass. Ignore alternate bass notes and PLAY Bb7 Bb7 alt(#11, b13, b5, #5, b9, #9), Bb+7= Play Bb7 BbMAJ7#11 or Bb△7= Play BbMAJ7 Bbmin7b5 or Bb-7b5 or Bbø7= PLAY Bbmin7 Bbo7, Bbdim7, or Bbmin6= PLAY Bbdim7


Roots on the 5th and 6th string Students should memorize all the notes on the 5th (A) and 6th (low E) string because all the roots of the chords are here; every fret on the guitar is a ½ step. If you’re unfamiliar with these notes, see Example 2:

The chord forms or shapes in Example 1 are consistent all the way down the strings: a D7 chord on the fifth string, fifth fret looks exactly like an E7 chord on the fifth string, seventh fret. After a little practice, these shapes should be easy for a beginner to recognize and move up and down the neck according to the root of the chord. Encourage students to understand the notes they are playing as soon as possible. While shapes can be a good learning aid, they should not limit the understanding of theory or knowledge of the guitar neck. Notice that the 5th string voicings are root, 3rd, and 7th in order. The 6th string puts the 3rd up an octave, so the voicings are root, 7th, 3rd. This is done to create a “lighter” sound. When the 6th and 5th string are played together they can create a very “muddy” sound. Students that learn the 3rds and 7ths of these chords can then incorporate that into their improvisations. *When the students master these shapes, have them lose the root, just play the 3rd and 7th. **By learning where the 3rds and 7ths are, guitarists can learn to add extensions and alterations when appropriate (generally when they are comping, not doing the Freddie Green style) ***Also by learning the 3rds and 7ths, it is a gateway into understanding improvising over changes because the 3rds and 7ths are the most important notes in the chord. They are the notes that define a 7th chord.


Example 3 Sixth chords are also encountered frequently in jazz and are shown in Example 3. Note that the sixth scale degree takes the place of the seventh. Also note that the min6 shape is the same as diminished because we are not playing the 5th:


Example 4 Another chord encountered in jazz charts is the SUS chord, or suspended chord, where the 4th scale degree takes the place of the 3rd of the chord. Here are examples of the 6th string shape and 5th string shape.

Tablature Tablature, included below the staff, is best if used as a guide for the correct shapes and positions. The six lines represent the six strings: the top one being the first string (the smallest) and the bottom the sixth string (largest). The number denotes the fret designation. Notice that some strings will have to be muted by one of the other fingers playing the chord so that only chord tones will sound, Any string that does not contain a note in the chord must be prevented from ringing: a finger on an adjacent string can gently rest against a given string to mute it. While tablature is a valuable tool for “seeing” the chords, students will still benefit most from learning the notes on the guitar and the theory behind them. 1st string (E string) ______________________________________________________ 2nd string (B string) ______________________________________________________ 3rd string (G string) ______________________________________________________ 4th string (D string) ______________________________________________________ 5th string (A string) ______________________________________________________ 6th string (E string) _________3____________________________________________

↑(this means you would play the 3rd fret on the 6th string)

Chord Charts Copyright Dave Ness 2018 8

Vertical lines are the strings. Horizontal lines are the frets. You place your finger before the fret. The fret the chart starts at is notated. This example starts at the 6th fret. If there is not a fret notated, it would start at the 1st fret.

6th String 1st string ↓ ↓

↑ Fingering for the fretting hand:

1= index finger 2=middle finger 3=ring finger 4=pinky

Technique note The Thumb on the fretting hand is generally not used for fingering, it should be in the middle of the back of the neck. Guitarists should try and keep their fingers over the fretboard and use their fingertips to play notes and chords.


Chord Charts

Example: Solo section for “Clues Blues” by Scott Ninmer

This is an example for a standard 12 bar Bb Blues from the 2018 ILMEA chart “Clues Blues.” The top staff is “as written” in Ninmer’s chart. The bottom staff is the guitar part I have created with Freddie Green chords. I have an asterisk next to the chords where I ignored the extensions and alterations and simplified it to the root, third and seventh of the Freddie Green chords. Tablature is also included on the bottom. Here are the 8 chord shapes that the guitarist would need to play for this section. This simplifies it from the 14 or so different chords that are on the original chart.



Freddie Green listening example “Hail to the Chief” transcription by Michael Pettersen. Composer: Butch Miles Transcription starts at 0'01"; ends at 7' 40" Album: Hail To The Chief! Butch Miles Salutes Count Basie

http://www.freddiegreen.org/transcriptions/hailtothechief.html

This transcription shows how Freddie Green often only played one or two notes.


http://www.freddiegreen.org/transcriptions/hailtothechief.html

Reading Notes Some big band charts require guitarists to play single notes. Here are where all the notes are located in 1st position (the first four frets) and a few higher notes. Please note that the guitar sounds an octave lower than written. So technically if a guitarist is given a non-guitar specific chart, they should play it up an octave. This may be challenging for many younger guitarists, though. It is best to start by learning to read in 1st position.

Bossa nova Another style that lends itself really well to Freddie Green chords is Bossa Nova, a brazilian jazz style. The guitar usually used in Bossa Nova is a classical, nylon string guitar, but the style can be played on any guitar. The guitarist generally uses their fingers instead of a pick. The fingers of the fingerpicking hand are labeled as:

p= thumb i=index m=middle a=ring finger

Here is the A section to “Girl From Impanema.” I am playing the bass note with my thumb (p) and the other two notes with my index (i) and middle fingers (m). The second time through the A section, I play the 5th of the chord on the second half of the beat.


%TAB

α 33 ˙ ˙œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ

38 897

97

97

FMAJ7

1 42

7fr.

FMAJ7

A

pi

m

˙ ˙œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ

38 897

97

97

G α7

˙ ˙œœµ œœ œœ œœ œœ

510 10109

109

109

G 7

2 43

9fr.

G 7


510 10109

109

109

% α ˙ ˙œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ

5

510 10108

108

108

Gmin7

3 1 4

8fr.

Gmin7

˙α ˙œœα œœ œœ œœ œœ

49 998

98

98

G α7

2 43

8fr.

G α7


38 897

97

97

FMAJ7

1 42

7fr.

FMAJ7

˙α ˙œœα œœ œœ œœ œœ

49 998

98

98

G α7

2 43

8fr.

G α7


9

38

8

97

97

97

FMAJ7

1 42

7fr.FMAJ7/C

1 42

7fr.

FMAJ7 FMAJ7/C

A2


38

8

97

97

97

FMAJ7

1 42

7fr.FMAJ7/C

1 42

7fr.

FMAJ7 FMAJ7/C


510

10

109

109

109

G 7

2 43

9fr.G 7/D

2 43

9fr.

G 7 G 7/D


510

10

109

109

109

G 7/D

2 43

9fr.G 7

2 43

9fr.

G 7 G 7/D


13

510

10

108

108

108

Gmin7

3 1 4

8fr.Gmin7/D

1 43

8fr.

Gmin7 Gmin7/D

˙α ˙αœœα œœ œœ œœ œœ

49

9

98

98

98

G α7

2 43

8fr.G α7/D α

2 43

8fr.

G α7 G α7/D α˙ ˙œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ

38

8

97

97

97

FMAJ7

1 42

7fr.FMAJ7/C

1 42

7fr.

FMAJ7 FMAJ7/C

A2


38

8

97

97

97

FMAJ7/C

1 42

7fr.FMAJ7

1 42

7fr.

FMAJ7 FMAJ7/C

Girl From IpanemaAntonio Carlos Jobim

©

Guitar part by David Ness 2018

fingerpicking:p= thumbi= index fingerm=middle fingera= ring finger

End Notes 1 Basie, Count and Murray, Albert. Good Morning Blues; The Autobiography of Count Basie. New York: Random House, 1985, pp. 283. 2 Crow, Bill. Jazz Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press. 1990. pp. 158. 3 Cerulli, Dom. “Freddie Greene.” International Musician Vol. LX, No. 7 (1962), pp. 26.

Resources Links to the original article in the 1999 IAJE Journal Freddie Green: Birth of a Style By David Ness

https://www.garciamusic.com/educator/iaje.journal/jej.article.archive/freddie.green.html

http://www.freddiegreen.org/technique/ness.html

Album: Hail to the Chief! Butch Miles Salutes Count Basie

Dave Ness’ youtube channel- lessons/examples of the Freddie Green style https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX8N5A1hcv5BfuMtg6J6EwQ

Additional Resources to check out www.garciamusic.com www.freddiegreen.org

Selected Discography of Freddie Green As a Leader Mr. Rhythm (1955, RCA LPM1210,) Co-Leader with Herb Ellis Rhythm Willie (1975, Concord CCD-6010) With Basie April in Paris (1955, Verve 8012) Good Morning Blues (1937, Decca 1446) With Others Lester Young: Blue Lester (1944, Savoy 581) Brother John Sellers Sings Blues and Folk Songs (1954, Vanguard 79036-2)


https://www.garciamusic.com/educator/iaje.journal/jej.article.archive/freddie.green.html

http://www.freddiegreen.org/technique/ness.html

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX8N5A1hcv5BfuMtg6J6EwQ

http://www.garciamusic.com/

http://www.freddiegreen.org/

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Swinging Strategies for Jazz Ensemble Guitarists Dave Ness