(James Chirillo, Photo: Frank Stewart)

If you’ve checked out our playlist on YouTube about how to approach rhythm section techniques, you may notice that the rhythm guitarist is getting a clean, high-intensity sound followed by quick decay. This was a necessary component of playing acoustic rhythm guitar in a big band, and to learn more, you can check out some of James Chirillo’s guitar set-up lessons on our site here.

But once your guitar is set up, how do you approach playing rhythm in a big band? A great model to use is Count Basie’s star rhythm guitarist Freddie Green, who helped keep the famous All-American Rhythm Section chugging along, while also providing a tenor harmony voice to the bass lines.

James tells you more about how to approach Freddie’s style and sound in this below video:

Want to learn even more? Check out the wonderful website devoted to Freddie Green, filled with lessons