Playing Big Band Jazz Guitar

Playing guitar in a jazz big band is one of the great challenges and joys of guitar playing.  I'm referring here to "big" bands, which may be as small as nine musicians, and up to the 20 or so in a full big band.  The unifying characteristic is that the musicians are playing from formally arranged music (charts) requiring the ability to sight-read guitar rhythms, and less often, to sight read note-for-note lines.  This is a very different role for the guitar player than small ensemble jazz (trios, quartets, etc.), where the musicians are reacting to each other and playing what feels right in the moment.

The great fun of these bands lies in the opportunity to work with a cross-section of musicians and instruments, the chance to be part of making some great music and the technical challenge of doing a good job.  It's not uncommon for the band director to pass out a chart for a song you've never heard and just say "Okay, a-one, a-two, a-one, two, three, four" and the band is off an running.  All the more fun is that you don't know if everyone plays from the beginning, or maybe it's just you alone.  It's a great way to raise your overall level of musicianship, and it's a great feeling when the band is humming along on a groove that you're driving from the rhythm chair.  And when the infrequent soloing opportunity comes along, it is a special feeling to take a solo with a big band behind you: to me it's like racing down train tracks with a freight train right behind you - you better not slip up because in four bars all those horns are about to start the shout chorus!

The opportunity to play in a big band setting is rare.  It may come through a junior high, high school or college jazz or "stage" band, where the guitar player has only previously been exposed to rock or other popular styles. It may take the form of a community band or local theater band, or if so inclined, the guitar player may seek out a dance band (swing orchestra) or a jazz band camp (teens and/or adults).  I would encourage the guitar player who is up for a challenge to try any of these opportunities when they arise, but also advise that this role requires specials skills.  In this posting, I'd like to take a comparative look at the following three books that can help the guitarist to be ready for their first or next gig in the rhythm chair:

Playing Guitar in  Jazz/Big Band - For the Beginning Jazz Guitarst by Tom Anderson (Houston Publishing)

Jazz Band Rhythm Guitar by Bruce Forman (Mel Bay Publishing)

Swing and Big Band Rhythm Guitar - Four-to-the-Bar Comping in the Style of Freddie Green by Charlton Johnson (Hal Leonard Publishing).

Playing Guitar in  Jazz/Big Band - of the three books, this one appears to have been most directly written for the junior high school student who is being brought into the school jazz band, with just a background in rock guitar.  The first clue is the solid body Les Paul guitar on the cover,  whereas the other books feature archtop guitars more typical of big band style.  This book achieves its goal of helping the student get ready for an introduction to the jazz band.  For the rock player who has not been exposed to chords beyond simple major, minor and 7th chords, this books will let them know that there's a much bigger world out there.  It also covers some of the basic jazz terminology.  In other words, this book will keep the student from walking in "cold."  There is no accompanying CD with this book, however the practice tunes in it can all be found on the Volume 54 "Maiden Voyage" CD from Aebersold Jazz.  The Aebersold series is excellent for providing a live jazz combo feeling with outstanding musicians.  It isn't oriented toward big band. 

The weakness of this book is that the chord voicings shown are primarily 4 and 5 note voicings, which are less useful in big band settings and harder to grab quickly than the 3-note voicings favored by many big band guitarists.  The books also lacks a learning methodology - it is primarily "here are the chords to know" with some practice tunes.  I think the overall effect of this book is it's going to give the rock-only player some insights into the world of jazz sounds, chords, and terminology.

Jazz Band Rhythm Guitar is a high-level treatment of the rhythm guitar role, and the author states that his intention was to simplify the material.  There is no CD with this book.  It covers a fairly broad range of topics, but just touches each one.  In just 48 pages the topics include Musical Terms, Chords, Dynamic Markings, Charts, Accents, Notes and Rhythmic Notation, Physical Setup, Playing the Music, Interpretation, Swing Style, Shuffle, Bebop and Straight Ahead, and Latin.  That's a lot to cover in a short treatment - many of the topics could and do have entire books on the one topic alone.  Thus the student is just exposed to the material, but not taught how to internalize it.

My main criticism of this book is the simplified and brief treatment of many meaty topics.  The effect on the student is too often confusion, resulting from a simplified presentation that unintentionally implies that you should be able to grasp the topic from what is presented, when in fact very few guitar players would or could.  There's undoubtedly a target audience for every book, and this one would serve to expose a student to understand how much is left to be understood.  Not a bad goal necessarily, but you can do better.

Swing and Big Band Guitar - I've left my pick for the best book for last, and more than that, I consider this book to be a model for what more guitar books should be and do.  I personally rank this book among the best guitar learning books written because it does such a thorough job of actually teaching what it says - comping in the four-to-the-bar style of Freddie Green (Freddie Green was the famous rhythm guitar player in the heyday of the Count Basie band).  Before I tell you why I lavish such praise on this book, I'll first tell you that I have no special or financial interest in this book.  We carry all three of these books in our All Music Methods store and are full dealers for both Mel Bay and Hal Leonard publishing.  My praise for this book stems from:

1. The author, Charlton Johnson - highly qualified to write this book due, among other reasons, that he occupied the "Freddie Green chair" in the Count Basie Orchestra for six years.  He knows his stuff.

2. Book design and graphics - very clear layout and style, using just the write notation styles where needed.

3. Explanatory text - some books look almost like sheet music and include no text to discuss or explain what is being taught.  Not so here.  This book includes excellent discussions on:

- what is four-to-the-bar rhythm guitar
- time and groove
- reading charts and chord reduction
- reading charts and chord expansion
- the role of rhythm guitar in a big band
- types of guitar and their setup
- the use of amplification
- which voicings to use

4.  A Learning Methodology - it's one thing to give someone a list of 50 chords and say "these are the ones to know."  It's an entirely different challenge to teach someone how to get those chords "into" their fingers and ears so that they can play the right one at the right time.  Johnson created an excellent practice method in this book that forces the student to learn the voicings by their roots, and to develop the ability to keep playing different voicings in an interesting way for a chord that doesn't change for several measures.  Plenty of practice opportunity is provided through the included CD with 60+ tracks.  This aspect of the book, the learning method, is too rare among musical teaching items.  In this case, it really works. 

The Johnson book assumes a greater understanding of jazz from the beginning than do the other two in this review.  For someone beginning the jazz band rhythm guitar topic as a complete jazz neophyte, I might recommend Playing Guitar in a Jazz /Big Band if that were all they would have time for or an interest in seeing.  Otherwise Swing and Big Band Guitar is my clear recommendation, with a caveat that a neophyte might benefit from an introduction to jazz book as well.  In the medium or long-run, the Johnson book is the thorough treatment of this subject.

To see more about these books or to get a copy for yourself, please click

Playing Guitar in  Jazz/Big Band - For the Beginning Jazz Guitarst

Jazz Band Rhythm Guitar

Swing and Big Band Rhythm Guitar - Four-to-the-Bar Comping in the Style of Freddie Green

Comments

[garth hope]

Pretty much agree with your assesment of the above books having tried all 3 of them..One other one you might want to review is Jazz Rhythm Guitar The Complete Guide by Jack Grassel (Hal Leonard) It teaches only 4 string chords but they can easily be modified to 3 string chords.Good exercises at the beginning of the book and it comes with a cd..

[Molly]

This was really helpful for me! I'm in 8th grade and just starting as my school's jazz band guitarist. I'm definitely going to look for those books.

[mckeej]

what about Hal leonard's essential elements for jazz ensemble: guitar?

[Peter Murray]

Re: Swing & B. B. Guitar. I would agree with almost all of the above comments. However on a technical note; I have never found that chords with the 7th or 6th in the bass to be very satisfying.

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[azhar]

what about Hal leonard's essential elements for jazz ensemble: guitar?.........

[ali]

Pretty much agree with your assesment of the above books having tried all 3 of them..One other one you might want to review is Jazz Rhythm Guitar The Complete Guide by Jack Grassel (Hal Leonard) It teaches only 4 string chords but they can easily be modified to 3 string chords.Good exercises at the beginning of the book and it comes with a cd........................

[rehan]

This was really helpful for me! I'm in 8th grade and just starting as my school's jazz band guitarist. I'm definitely going to look for those books.................................

[bushraa]

I would agree with almost all of the above comments. However on a technical note; I have never found that chords with the 7th or 6th in the bass to be very satisfying............................

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