Charlie Christian - The Art of the Jazz Guitar.pdf

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THE ART Of the II'TTGUITAF

THE ARTOf

the IALIGUIAI

Edited by DAN FOX

CONTENTS 2

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHY

t4 A S-M-O.O-T-H ONE 6

WHOLLY CATS

9

SIX APPEAL

10

SEVEN COME ELEVEN

t2 GONE WITH "WHAT'' WIND I4 AIR MAIL SPECIAL 18

BENNY'S BUGLE

t9 BREAKEAST FEUD 122 SHIVERS 24

TILL TOM SPECIAL

27 GRAND SLAM 28 SOLO

FLIGHT

32 NOTATION

AND HARMONIC ANALYSIS

:s

THE GOODilAN GROUP Music Publishers New York, Nsw York

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copyright 1964, 1988 REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION

unaurhorized copying, arranging,

".""il::l*?fiiJxxtilriii"tffi;;ance Infringers are liable under the law.

is an infringement of copyright.

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN Charlie Christian's influence on the developmentof jazzis indisputable, and in its own way, incomparable. In a brief span of approximately three years

on the New York r.eoi, he revolutionized the concept of jazzguitar playing. Charlie brought the instrument out of its traditionally accepted place in the

rhythm section into its present role as an exciting solo voice. His guitar style was able to hold its own playing with and against trumpets, trombones, clari-

nets and saxophones.

Although Eddie Lang had developed a solo guitar technique in the early 30's, his single string lines were really more of an adjunct to his chords than an

independent melody line. Furthennore, in the big swing band era, the subdued tones of the guitar were ineffectual except for rhythm playing. The problem was

inaudibility. At first a tin resonator was tried, and in 1937 electric amplifi-

cation became practical for the Spanish guitar. charlie was born in Dallas in 1919, raised in oklahoma, and by 1934 was playing the bass with Alphonso Trent. Eddie Durham, a trombonist in Jimmie

Lunceford's band who doubled on the guitar, and "Jim Daddy" walker are credited with interesting Charlie in the guitar. Eddie reports,

"It was late in

1937, and

I'll

never forget the beat-up five

dollar guitar he (Charlie) had. I never in my life heard a guy learn the guitar faster than he did."

By 1939 Charlie was the talk of the midwest. Back with Al Trent's band, he toured throughout the south and middle west. With Al's sextet he blended

his single string guitar with the trumpet and tenor sax for the three part har-

monic effects that were completely new in jazz.

In was around this time that Mary Osborne entered a club in Bismark, North Dakota. She related that at first

she

thought she was hearing

a

tenor sax

distorted by the amplifying system. Looking around she realized that the sound was produced by Charlie playing single line solos on his electric guitar,

and voicing them like a horn. Truly, this was an innovation in jazz.

Charlie stayed with Trent for about two more years playing his solos with an utterly relaxed even beat mainly in 8th notes. Harmonically he was able to

experiment with the more advanced harmonies and create his own improvisations around some of the better standard tunes. Rhythmically, and harmoni-

cally, his ideas were suggestive of what later became known as be-bop. John Hammond heard charlie, and eventually persuaded Benny Goodman to give him a try. It is reported that Charlie arrived for the meeting wear-

ing "a ten gallon hat, pointed yellow shoes, a bright green suit with a purple shirt, and a string bowtie". The sight was too much for Benny who immediate-

ly lost interest. However, at a performance that night while Benny was offstage, friends

moved Charlie's amplifier onto the stand. When he came back, there was charlie, and one performer reports that they played "Rose Room", and played

it for 48 minutes. Charlie

gave an inspired performance. Indeed, while he was

with the band, he seemed to bring out a new excitement in Benny,s playing. charlie came to New York with the Goodman band in sept. '39. The next month, Benny played his second Carnegie Hall concert. He introduced Charlie on the sextet number, "Flying Home" saying,

". . . with Charlie christian

on

the electric guitar. I really think he is one of the most terrific musicians that has

been produced in years".

For the next two years charlie played dance dates and theatre engagements with Goodman's band. It was during this time that the recordings tran-

scribed in this folio were made. All were recorded with Benny Goodman's small groups except for "solo Flight" which was done with the big band.

After hours Charlie played at jam sessions in small Harlem clubs. There his ideas helped the evolution of a new jazz style which came to be known as be-bop and later "modern j azz".Thiswas the collective creation of such other

participating musicians as Kenny Clarke, Charlie parker, Thelonius Monk and,Dizzy Gillespie. During most of his life, Charlie suffered from tuberculosis. In the summer of 1941 he suffered a relapse and was taken to Bellevue Hospital. on March 2,1942,he died in

a Staten

Island sanitarium at the age oftwenty-four.

A SMO_O-O_TH ONE these added chord tones Notice the prominence of the flatted 9th, lst bar, and. the added 6th E 3. Both of solo (bar @ 17 to B 24) arring.-ti-n]cttarlie's ia"r. later became characteristic interval, o..d i" part. written ir noi ioo interesting here and seems almost like a

-o.i.-

By

BENNY GOOD

tbt

cbo

AbmT

Ab7

(J=t20)

Abm?

abt

Gb

AbmT

Dbe

Ab7

Gb

3

cbe

tbt

Ab7

Abm?

AbmT

co7

Gb

cbe

Go7

Ab7

obt

tbz

Abm?

G7

Gb

Abm?

Ab7

Gb

cbo

nbg

Ab7

Gb

cbo

cbo

Abm?

Gb

cbr

cut

cbo

Ab7

Gb

.abt

obg

32bar chorus sax and clarinet solo has been omitted here. Guitar may play the same chords as letter E. Copyright @ 1941 by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION henewed by iEWEL MUSIc PUBLISHING co.' lNc. Copyrtdnt ' lnt6rnational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Abm?

AbmT

l.bz

AbmT

l'bt

p.bz

cb6

ebr

ebz

tbr

cba

e,bt

ebz

ebz

tbz

abz

AbmT

Abm?

6

WHOLLY CATS Gillespie even 6 . It later becam_e a cliche in the be-bop eta.Dizzy F played it. years charlie after five about ;;ihi ftu".. - but

Notice the frgure charlie uses at bg wrote a tune uaseo J"lii.ly

BENIVY

Bright

4

@iano intro.)

G

G

G7

c

Cm

G

cfio?

Amz

ffi

G

cfio?

G

Am7

BboT

B

Cm

G7

G

gboz

a-D C'6

G7

C

G?

G

Eb7

Amz

c

Am7

G7

G

G6

Eb7

(chords behind sax solo)

CmGG6

Am7

at

AmT

Bbo?

G6

G7

Eb7

C'6

(chords behind Piano solo)

Copyright @ 1941 by REGENT yqs-lO-CO-RPORATION coovriirnt henewed by JEWEL MUSIo PUBLISHING co.' lNc' ' int6rnational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

G

c6

G6 cfioz AmT

r,boz

D7

CmG

eboz Am?

n -n G6

G7

(Benny Goodmanrs Solo)

Am?

c*o?

cilo?

Am?

K-n

Al

Am?

c$o?

.-n

sbt

c

G7

G7

F,boT

Am7

Cm

C

G

c6

G

G

SIX APPEAL ftutie

in a minor _key fol a change. His conception of minor key is ong of his most original facets" Noticg fm_exarnple, that wlen pbyrng against hgvl cho-rd (Bar E z ind E g) the notes hqit"vr i*pii tn" rcry dF major, not F minor. Thus, when the "normal" F minor notes come back in Bar [B] q, thev -come bacl rirh an added freshness. Along wi4 this conceptio_n, notice the repeated use of Dl (insteiO of ihe expected D) in zuch places as Bar E l+, Bar @ 15, and Bar @ 16.

BENNY C'OODMAITI

plary.

Solo)

FIn

crt

gr

Fm

Bbm

tu

the record consisting of solos by vibes, clarinet and bass plus a riffhas been omitted.

_

Copyright @ 1964 by REGENT MUSTC CORPORATTON Copy.right Renewed by JEWEL MUSTC pUBLtSHtNG CO., tNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

t0

SEVEI{ COI\4E E.LEVE,N Charlie's solo is full of modern devices here. Note especially: 1. the long held neighbor note (Db) in Bar @ 5, which finally resolves to the Ch in the next bar; 2. Barp 1. Here Charlie is thinking of G7 as a chord in C,major, even though the traditional method would be C minor as being more closely related to Ab major (the key of the piece) 3. Bar D +. Notice the dissonant passing tone (Bh) on the strong beat of the bar.

4. Bar D s. Same ur #g. This time Eh. 5. Bar D O. Added l3th to an F7 (Dl) 6. Bar D z. Added 9th to Bb7 (Ch) 7. Bar IDI Z. Anticipated chord tone (Eb) 8. Bar D f O. - D f 1. Extended passage using blue notes 9. Bar D f O. Ending solo on unresolved 7th

By

BENI\ry GOODMAN CHARLIE CHRISTIAN

Intro @ass

SoIo)

(Melody)

C7

F7

E

r,bz

Copyright O 1940 by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION Copyright Renewed by JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

nbz

GONE WITH "WIIAT'' WIND

L2

the wonderful swinging feel of these choruses' Two frne swinging choruses by charlie on this blues. Besides th. bt *n i" nur @ e. rhe c# iJttre lower neighbor to the note rhe two beat ninth (A).

;iifi*;i t";;;fg;;;r

By

COUNT BASIE BENI{Y

t2 )

(Clarinet Solo

(Piano Solo

Ec

c7

c

G7

c

F7

C

G7

G

t2

m

t2

m

t2

m

11

(Vibe Solo) Copyright @ 1941 REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION by JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO" INC' Copyr-ig-iiREneweO ---intErnational Copjright Secured All Rights Reserved

Riff

Free improvisationlill

EE

L4

AIR MAIL

SPECIAL

Besides Charlie's usual brilliant flow of melodic ideas - in this case against an extremely limited harmonic background - especially notable is the rhythmic device he uses in Bars lH 9 through 4 1 2 where the normal two bar pattern of 4 + 4 is changed to 3 + 5 (marked with brackets in solo). Similarily at the beginning of the bridge (the double bar after lH ) Charlie superimposes a 4 x 3 beat pattern (marked with brackets) against the normal 3 x 4 Pattern. |

By BENIVY GOODMAN. JIMMY MUNDY and CHARLIE CH

Cdim

Cdim

Bdim

gboim b

ebg

G9

Copyright O 1941 by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION Copyright Renewed by REGENT MUSIC CORP. & JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Bbo

ehoruses by clarinet,trumpet and sax omitted here.

After

1

chor. Clarinet Solo (omitted) D. S. aI Fine

t8

BE,NNY'S BUCLE Although the riffhere is a little trite, Charlie's solo more than makes up for it. Notice his characteristic use of the doubte neighbor note (marked with brackets throughout). Although it is used six times on the same notes in the space of 24 bars, Charlie varies the figure in so many rhythmic ways that it never becomes boring.

MeIody

BENI{Y and COUNT

E"j (ad lib. trpt. intro.) Bb7

Eb7

The rest of the record consisting of a piano solo, riII, sax solo and closing riff has been omitted. Copyright O 1941 by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION Copyright Renewed by JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST FEUD 'lfummany interest^in_g asp€cts of Charlie's solo on this blues. His use of the delayed passing tone berm I rtracteristic of charlie Parker's style - among others. km 6 Here the entire Bb chord in the following bar is anticipated - see also Bar [ 19

hm

1. Note the use of the blues scale here ndMg- Note the use ofdelayed passing tones. (Their resolutions are marked with arrows below) 16. Note the prominence of the 9th and 13th here

hm km lrm

9 and

Kf

More delayed passing tones l-|Srre del-agf passing tones. (There are many more examples in this solo, see especially Bar O.

Itv!2andMl)

By

BENNY GOODMAN

WM

lr.

r,bz

ffhe above Eo

Ebm

Eb

Bb

I12.

F7

Eb7

may be used for all tht choruse's)

nbo

F?

L,2,3,4,5.

Bb

Go

Cm7

F7

(Riff)

6

Solo

vbz

Bb

?^^

Copyright @ 194't by REGENT MUSTC CORPORATTON Copyright Renewed by JEWEL MUSIC pUBL|SHtNG CO., tNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Bb

Solo

Eb

:----v following choruses consisting of a sax solo and a repetition of the melody have been omittert-

22

SHIVE,RS A nice example of long lines of eighth notes. It is interesting to look at the shape of Charlie's solo - just the way it looks on the page. A comparison wit many great pieces of classical music will show similar outlines - the rise and fall of melody. The rules of great music - after all - apply to all kinds.

By

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN and LIONEL HAMPTON

Intro.

Dm?b5

Dm?bs

obz

c7

r,bt

Copyright O 1940 (Renewed) by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Solo

eab (Vibe Solo)

nfi

(Clarinet Solo)

ffinal

riff

has been omitted.

nbz eb

24

TILL TOM SPECIAL Another solo in minor key. Make special note of the extensive use of the added 9th, added I lth, and added 6th(seeBars@ 12,@ 13,814,O 15,816,825,9 26,and' C 2il.

r,Eq,E ll,O

By BENIVY GOODMAN and LIONEL HAMPTON

Riff behind Vibe

Copyright @ 1941 (Renewed) by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION Copyright Renewed by REGENT MUSIC CORP. & JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Solo

@ rtn

Bend (6th)

(6th)

Bend

n

CRAND SLAM Another blues progression. Charlie takes two swinging choruses. A few points of interest are: Bar @ 4 the Bb7 chord is anticipated by two beats Bar @ 6 the F chord is anticipated by two beats Bar @ 10 the F chord is anticipated by two beats Bar p 1 and p 2 delayed passing tones Bar p 4 (see note for E +) Bar p 6 (see note for tr O) Bars p 8, D 9, and p l0 many dissonant blue notes used here.

e

J

BENNY

3

E

lt

B (Clarinet Solo)

r,bz

>

C7

F

--

F

a

r,bz

F

rmainder of the record consisting of solos by vibee,piano

and clarinet has been omitted.

Copyright @ 1944 by REGENT MUSTC CORPORATTON Copyright Renewed by JEWEL MUSTC pUBL|SHtNc CO., tNC. lnternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

&ooro*

28

SOLO FLIGHT This is Charlie's most extensive solo recorded with the Goodrnan band. It features guitar all the way through, and has Charlie at his most driving and exciting. The interesting points are too numerous to mention, but are marked with brackets in the solo itself. They include added 7th,9th,1 lths and 13ths, delayed passing tones and anticipations.

By BENIVY GOODMAN, CHARLIE CHRISTIAN and JIMMY MUNDY

C

E.

"()

'(A)

G

F

Copyright O 1944 (Renewed) by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION Copyright Renewed by REGENT MUSIC CORP. & JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC. lnternational Copvriqht Secured All Riqhts Reserved

Em7

Gl3add9

G(e)

Em7

c*'ot

Dm

c*o7

C

cfioz

G(e)

C

Em7

Dm7

F (e)

^\

G7

G?add 9.11.13

Bend

Dr

G7 ^

+

?

-

1

33

Ebaugll

Bbdim Add

A G?

SOIO

33 GT

Ebaugll

AmG

(Break) G7

Bb.o

add A

NOTAIION > means: an accent A means: a short accent

^ *

means: do not pick the 2nd and/or 3rd note rne&trs: play the written note, the note above, then the written note again rapidly;

*

Ex:

--t-I

played

ffi

--!-.+--_ _3-J-

(J)means: replace this note with an intense rest. This is called "ghosting" a note.

HARMONIC AI{ALYSIS It is assumed that the student is aware that almost all the notes in Charlie Christian's can be explained harmonically in the following manner:

Chord tones: The Root, 3rd, 5th, 6th or 7th of the rhythm chord indicated above each solo

Passing tones: These connect chord tones bv step.

Neighbor tones: These lie within

a step

of, and must resolve to the chord tones

Blue notes: The b7,b3, and b5 of any major scale

Other points of unusual interest are mentioned above each solo.

solos

u.s.

f !.FE

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