In this western swing style guitar lesson, youll learn chord comping, playing chords in different positions on the neck. If you have ever heard the sound of rhythm guitar in a good western swing band,you may have wondered how the guitarist achieved that unique chordal sound. The cornerstone of western swing is its slippery lead guitar, which straddles the boundary between country and jazz. Getting started with western swing chords free easy. Western swing style guitar lesson lead guitar lesson ep171. This one is full of classic western swing, 6 chord ideas like the ones don helms would play in those original hank williams recordings. The home scale same as the key is sometimes used for the entire progression. Basically, western swing guitar is rhythm guitar characterized by chord changes and or substitutions every two beats, and whose harmonies are designed to give an improviser as much room to move as possible 7th chords, halfdiminished resolutions, minor 7ths, etc. Getting started with western swing chords music with ryan.
The 6th chords are identical to the major triad, but with an additional sixth. Fretboard confidential with david hamburger 22,063 views. This western swing guitar guidebook will give you the tools to expand and upgrade your basic swing rhythm playing. You never know when your car may break down in the middle of nowhere in texas.
Bob wills song lyrics bob wills song lyrics is a collection of music that helped start western swing, if you like rhythm, youll enjoy bob wills music. E7 its been said that she knocks them dead when she lands in town a7. I will be playing western swing guitar as part of the ginny mitchell trio opening for chris oconnell and her band next month. Kentucky waltz on guitar western swing chords advanced lesson. Western swing guitar western swing guitar stefan grossmans. Western swing guitar lesson time jumpers guitar licks. I do this by pulsing the beat with my frettinghand, and releasing string tension between attacks. We received a lot of great feedback from subscribers who loved all of the rhythm examples. Minor swing chord study 4 the final minor swing chord is much more harmonically advanced than the first three studies. It features 4 published historical pieces, 2 original compositions, and 9 original arrangements of classic tunes. Western swing sheet music and music books at sheet music plus. With guitar tablature, standard notation, vocal melody, lyrics and leadsheet notation. Click here to download a printable pdf of this lessons notation. While the song might be a simple oneplayable with only two or three chords the western swing guitarist changes chords every two beats, providing a driving and harmonically interesting background for the singers and instrumentalists.
Chords for western swing guitar lesson the 5of rule. If you have ever heard the sound of rhythm guitar in a good western swing band, you may have wondered how the guitarist achieved that unique chordal sound. Over the c chord the lick bounces around the bb b7 of c where over the g chord. Western life and cowboy culture, various and diverse forms of blues and gospel music, dixieland jazz and swing, and an allbutforgotten form of entertainment in traveling tent shows and vaudeville theatre.
Well go from one chord in four beats to chords with inner voicings and bass melodies, using chromaticism, inversions and chord substitutes. This will work when the progression contains chord derived from the major scale, i. Today, were going to use the chord progression from one of these classic tunes, san antonio. Roly poly transcription bob wills and the texas playboys intro and guitar solo standard notation and tab september 16, 2014 guitar, tab, transcription, western swing guitarninja this is the intro, for two guitars and solo for roly poly, by bob wills and the texas playboys. This means two quarternotes in a measure rather than four. It is in the style of eldon shamblin, one of joey mckenzies major influences.
Swing or western swing whats the difference theres hardly any other style that combines so many varieties of american roots music as western swing. Product cost lessons instructors instructor help new lessons return policy. The first western swing record i heard was bob wills and the texas playboys tiffany transcriptions, vol. However, the feel of westernswing rhythm, also known as texas or conteststyle rhythm named for the style of guitar backup played in swing fiddle competitions features more of a bass chord approach. Bob wills western swing fake book the steel guitar forum. Classic westernswing rhythm guitar blends a good moving bass line with colorful chord voicings. Western swing style rhythm progression based on home in san antone this example is based on the progression to home in san antone, a classic western swing song. While the song might be a simple one playable with only two or three chords the western swing guitarist changes chords every two beats.
This is one of the trademarks of western swing comping. Lost weekend western swing band tabs, chords, guitar, bass, ukulele chords, power tabs and guitar pro tabs including in the shadow of the valley, lone star. I had been listening to eddie lang records and other 1920s and 1930s guitar albums by carl kress, dick mcdonough, and george van eps. Each course comes with backing tracks, notation, tab and the ability to slow down andor loop any. The style relies heavily on the major scale with a penchant for the sixth and ninth tones. The guitar in western swing holds a particularly important place. Guitar magazine for more information about eldon shamblin and western swing rhythm guitar. Our last issue volume 10, number 2focused on western swing guitar.
Study up on classic countryhonky tonk western swing rhythm guitar to get the voicings and chord movements. Measures 3, 6, and 8 also feature inversions of the g chord. We cover all aspects of flatpicking the acoustic guitar, from novice to expert in the genres of bluegrass, folk, old time, americana, western swing and more. On beats 2 and 4, the left hand lightly mutes the chord before the next chord is. Provides essential info for creating memorable chord progressions. The swing bands of the 40s and 50s generated an amazing group of players, most of whom are captured on this new vestapol video, including 23 clips recorded between the 40s and the present. In this weeks guitar lesson, youll learn how to incorporate 3 different diminished scales when playing lead over chord changes. Country swing and jazz chord progressions telecaster. Generally, the bass note is played on beats 1 and 3, and are longer in duration than the quick, snappy chord voicings strummed on beats 2 and 4. Western swing guitar guidebook ray nijenhuis truefire. Hearing the tiffany transcriptions, i had an epiphany.
I used these 12thfret harmonics twice in the first a sectioncheck out measures eight and 16. Practice lightly bouncing the fingers of the fretting hand, playing the chords in. Swing guitar blog jonathan stout and his campus five. This lesson comes with over 30 minutes of video, pdf tabs, and one audio. The western swing version is a twobeat feel and not a swing 44. A few bands, like the light crust doughboys, utilize a banjo for rhythm, but most rely more heavily on drums. The best part of this book is that it doesnt just present you with arrangements to memorize. Western swing thrived as uptempo dance music played in halls and nightclubs until the 1940s, when its popularity started to fade. Eldon shamblin is highly acknowledged as the western swing guitarist. Sweet georgia brown california ramblers swing time 19251955 banjo tuned e, capo 3, key of g e7 no gal made has got the shade on sweet georgia brown. Btw most jazz chords are just adding extensions thats why the simpler chord forms work so well for rhythms when you have other instruments. Western swing developed quickly in the 1930s and 40s from a number of influences. Well use the rhythm technique weve just learned along with some of the major chord alternatives we learned earlier in the course.
A7 two left feet but oh so neat, has sweet georgia brown. In this lesson were going to cover the basic chords and strumming patterns youll need in order to get that western swing sound you may be looking for. Bob wills guitar chords, guitar tabs and lyrics album from. Pick it and play it is 15 tracks of solo, acoustic, swing style chord melody guitar playing that are culmination of all of the work ive done thus far in decoding and learning the style. Spaghetti western swing guitar tab by brad paisley learn how to play chords diagrams spaghetti western swing tab by brad paisley with chords drawings, easy version, 12 key variations and much more. This one again highlights one note to exaggerate the differences between c7 and g7.
Develop a solo over the changes to a western swing standard. In this weeks guitar lesson, youll learn how to play a slow and easy country blues lead that works on electric or acoustic guitar. In classic progressions the ii can be either a minor or a straight dominant 7th chord. Classic country is loved by many of us, but it seems that we never hear it on the radio, so we have to rely on our cassettes, lps and cds. Ill show you how to play a few jazz runs by targeting the notes within the chord. All of my truefire courses are available below for download. Kentucky waltz on guitar western swing chords advanced. All of the new chords are passing chords used to create more movement and interest although the final study may seem confusing at first, this is still essentially the same minor swing chord.
Bring it on down to my house i wonder if you feel the way i do stars and stripes on. The sound of the harmonic g6 chord implies a steel guitar tuning and really adds a great westernswing element to the solo. Now, work through a chord progression in example 2. Western swing was born in the 30s and is still going strong. James robert wills march 6, 1905 may, 1975 was an american western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Mel bay if you have ever heard the sound of rhythm guitar in a good western swing band, you may have wondered how the guitarist achieved that unique chordal sound. Its important to know a bunch of different chord voicings and inversions chords with notes other than roots in the bassand how to move them. Acoustic flatpick and bluegrass guitar lessons in every issue. If you can pull out your guitar and play rhythm backup with these texas swing chords for the local fiddle players, you may get a cheaper rate on your car repair. E seems to be a common key in western swing, as in steel guitar rag and panhandle rag. Western swing lead western swing lead borrows many ideas from jazz. It consists of a longshort, longshort rhythm pattern in which chords are strummed and sustained on the the 1st and 3rd beats of the measure. Repetition is a very common technique in western swing guitar and the second lick is another great example of this.
Blues big band hot jazz new orleans pop songs from the 20s and 30s cowboy songs boogiewoogie even hawaiian songs and the guitar is in the hot seat. Western swing stay all night eldon shamblin style chords. The development of western swing style guitar flatpick. Hi im ray nijenhuis and welcome to the western swing guitar guidebook. Driving an essentially swing mode of performing is a combination of fiddles and steel guitars with piano and brass or reed instruments. Click here to download a pdf and mp3 audio of this lesson. While playing for bob wills and the texas playboys, wills asked shamblin to play a rhythm style of guitar that featured lots of runs. In this guitar lesson youll learn how to play a jazzy sounding, western swing lead over a i, iv, v chord progression for a much more melodic sounding lead.
In this style, the bass line is in constant motion as the chord inversions keep shifting. Westernswing rhythm guitar features a lot of moving chord voicings, but the. Here is a video teaching eldon shamblin style chords to the bob wills song stay all night. While the song might be a simple oneplayable with only two or three chords the western swing gu. Considered by music authorities as the cofounder of western swing, he was widely known as the king of western swing although spade cooley selfpromoted the moniker king of western swing from 1942 to 1969. Western swing style rhythm guitar lesson jazzy chords ep185.
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