Rhythm

In traditional Freddie Green comping (accompaniment), Freddie plays 4 chords to a bar on each beat. The first
and third beats are slightly elongated while the second and fourth are slightly shortened and accented. This will
produce the big band swing feel. This rhythm is useful for jazz and big band playing, however it not essential for
learning the chord voicings.

Notes

Almost all of my Freddie Green chord knowledge comes from listening to the master, and studying Charlton Johnson’s book “Swing & Big Band Guitar: Four-To-The-Bar Comping in the Style of Freddie Green”. Johnson took over Freddie’s role in the Count Basie band and has literally “written the book” on Freddie Green. In addition to studying Charlton Johnson, I spent years performing in big bands and pit orchestras. As a result, I have taken some convenient liberties with the chord voicings. This is to reflect what I have discovered to be the most pragmatic of Freddie’s chord voicings. As a result:

Some voicings are intentionally mislabeled. For example, the 1st inversion Maj7, and Dom7 chord voicings do not contain the 7ths, this implies they are specifically triads. We use these voicings because to add the 7th would create a voicing that contains large stretches or the addition of a 4th string.

Red circles indicate the Root of the chord

Red hollow circles indicate the Root of the chord that is NOT to be played, this is for visualization purposes

Black hollow circles are optional notes outside of the strict Freddie Green voicings. These notes can be added to create a more accurate chord (m7b5 vs min7 for example)

Practice each chord type in its entirety. Play all 3 inversions horizontally up and down the neck by following the direction of the arrows in each chart.