Guitar Tricks Insider November / December Issue | Page 14

NUGGETS e lik Green Freddie By Dave Rubin Of all the unlikely guitar heroes, swing era master Freddie Green (1911-1987) would have to be near the top of the list. Recommended to Count Basie by legendary producer John Hammond, Sr. in 1937, he would be a pivotal fixture in the Basie band for almost 50 years. Even into the post-WWII years when the electric guitar was changing the face of jazz, blues, and popular music, Green continued to anchor the rhythm section with an unamplified acoustic arch top Epiphone Emperor, Stromberg models Master 400, Master 300 and Deluxe, and lastly, a Gretsch Eldorado. All were usually set up with heavy gauge flat wound strings and unusually high action. Green rarely played a solo. He once explained his accompaniment philosophy 14 GUITAR TRICKS INSIDER DIGITAL EDITION as, “You should never hear the guitar by itself. It should be part of the drums so it sounds like the drummer is playing chords—like the snare is in A or the hi- hat in D minor.” Imagine a guitar hero who did not shred! To that point he rarely strummed more than three notes and sometimes only two, though video evidence shows him covering more strings while not sounding all notes. Following is a practical introduction to the exquisite swing rhythm guitar style of Freddie Green. All are in 4/4 time with a lilt and should be played with a crisp down stroke. Consider them all to be in moderate swing tempo of 80 BPM. Performance Tip: All voicings will consist of three notes. Be aware how Green would often mute beats 2 and 4. NOVEMBER / DECEMBER