INTRODUCTION TO THE CHARLIE CHRISTIAN GUITAR STYLE

In this section we'll extract a number of Charlie Christian’s favorite melodic figures for study. You'll see and hear how he applied them to different contexts. This is the ideal starting point to get a basic grasp of his style and of jazz vocabulary on the guitar. Included in the following "licks" lessons are his most common figures. These melodic figures run the gamut from simple three or four note patterns and brief motives, suitable for a wide variety of harmonic settings, to longer phrases with well-defined harmonic implications. 

During the course of these lessons his licks, the core motives, patterns and melodic formulas of improvisation, will be cited and alluded to, marking the identifiers and building blocks of Christian's unique style in the music.

In this lesson you'll learn:

• Combining Arpeggios
• Chromaticism
• Motives

Play Figure 1 and listen...
If you don't read music, don't worry. This line is in continuous 8th notes.
Just play the phrase slowly with even note values and follow the tablature.

Figure 1

Here's what is.
Figure 1 is a typical sample line from Charlie Christian’s solo playing. It has a common pitch shape or melodic contour. This is an extended passage making use of three specific patterns and motions  which occur frequently in his improvising.

The three patterns and motions are: 

• Ascending arpeggio (major or minor)
• Chromatic descent (usually at least four notes in a row) 
• Descending arpeggio (dominant ninth or minor sixth)

The purpose of the phrase here is to illustrate Christian's use of short motives and figures combined to form a longer melody. This process repeats itself many times in the course of his playing and in the styles of countless jazz improvisers.
 

More lessons on the Charlie Christian guitar style... 

 
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