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Charlie Christian technique
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This morning I was surfing for info on Charlie Christian, who I like but haven't so far been passionate about as I have Django. Anyway, I spent some time reading through posts on the CharlieChristian Yahoo forum looking for information on his technique. The discussions on that forum are, uh, vigorous to say the least, and one point of contention is whether or not Charlie mainly used two left hand fingers, or three, or four.
More interesting to me is discussion revolving around his right hand technique. On this page...
http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/charliecq.html
which many of you have no doubt already seen, I found this quote:
Barney Kessel (Guitar Player Oct '70)
"....Charlie played probably 95% downstrokes, and held a very stiff, big triangular pick very tightly between his thumb and first finger. He rested his 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers on the pick-guard. He anchored them there so tensely that it was like there almost wasn't a break in the joint. He almost never used the 4th finger of his left hand."
EDIT: according to one online poster, "BK amended his estimate to around 70% downstrokes in his last interview in October 2001." Dunno how significant any of this is.
Photos I've been looking at (and descriptions I've been reading) indicate that Christian also anchored his ring and pinky fingers on his pickguard. So it seems like, even with lots of downstrokes, he wouldn't be getting the benefit of the weight of his fist falling into the string in the way that Gypsy pickers do. 'Course with an electric guitar, the volume is taken care of elsewhere. But technique does affect phrasing and such.
Anyone who wants to talk about Charlie's technique (Leo Valdes' theory that he often used unusual left-hand fingerings to play his lines, etc.), or just a favorite solo or rhythm guitar part, or worthwhile online transcriptions, etc., please chime in.
Cheers,
Neil H.
More interesting to me is discussion revolving around his right hand technique. On this page...
http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/charliecq.html
which many of you have no doubt already seen, I found this quote:
Barney Kessel (Guitar Player Oct '70)
"....Charlie played probably 95% downstrokes, and held a very stiff, big triangular pick very tightly between his thumb and first finger. He rested his 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers on the pick-guard. He anchored them there so tensely that it was like there almost wasn't a break in the joint. He almost never used the 4th finger of his left hand."
EDIT: according to one online poster, "BK amended his estimate to around 70% downstrokes in his last interview in October 2001." Dunno how significant any of this is.
Photos I've been looking at (and descriptions I've been reading) indicate that Christian also anchored his ring and pinky fingers on his pickguard. So it seems like, even with lots of downstrokes, he wouldn't be getting the benefit of the weight of his fist falling into the string in the way that Gypsy pickers do. 'Course with an electric guitar, the volume is taken care of elsewhere. But technique does affect phrasing and such.
Anyone who wants to talk about Charlie's technique (Leo Valdes' theory that he often used unusual left-hand fingerings to play his lines, etc.), or just a favorite solo or rhythm guitar part, or worthwhile online transcriptions, etc., please chime in.
Cheers,
Neil H.
Comments
http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/