Songs from the 1920s and 30s - Chord Progressions and Chords

[Hankfan1953]

Hello everyone

I am new to this group and havent gone over much of it, but I have so many questions for the group and so many things I feel I need help with concerning my journey with Jazz guitar. I really love the music made from the 1920s and 1930s, and I really want to learn how to play alot of the jazz and popular songs of the day on the guitar. For example, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, King Oliver, Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, and songs like Swanee, April Showers, Pennies From Heaven, Brother Can You Spare A Dime, and Minnie the Moocher. The problem for me is figuring out which chords to use, what chord progressions the songs follow, and how I can learn this songs by ear. I was hoping I could get some advice from some people on here.

[corpse]

Do you sing and play these tunes, solo guitar, a band etc..?

[pcjazz]

Matt Munisteri has a useful course focussing on this era of jazz guitar, offered by Peghead Nation.

[sgosnell]

At least some of them can be found on Ralph Patt's Vanilla Book site. He's gone, but his legacy remains.
The Vanilla Book

[Jonah]

I am not pro about it but I like digging into various 'historic' guitar styles occasional for a while - it expands my vocabulary in modern playing and improves technique....

I did recently studied early swing guitar stuff.

I highly recomend Jonathan Stout solo playing videos (on the proch sessions)- just by picking his arrangements you can learn 'Eddie Lang style' basics,

lso some 'western swing' stuff like Whit Smith chanell on youtube is great too.

Our Christian77 (Christian Miller) and his youtube chanell are also immense resource for the style and repertory and how to play it

Matt Munisteri has a useful course focussing on this era of jazz guitar, offered by Peghead Nation.

And I second that for sure. Matt is an expert.

[corpse]

Western Swing Guitar Lesson: Whit Smith - YouTube[/URL]

Interesting that he plays one and three toward the bridge and 2 and 4 toward the neck. I don't think I have ever seen that...

[MarkRhodes]

Jonathan Stout is great playing "pre-bebop" jazz (swing). He has a blog too and it's full of insights into the style.
He posts here as "campusfive" (IIRC)

Frank Vignola knows / plays / teaches a bunch of old songs (Whispering, When You're Smiling, Limehouse Blues, It Had To Be You, and so on.)

Here's a good play-along for "When You're Smiling." (He plays the melody the first time through and then comps for "you" to improvise.)

[44lombard]

It might help to clarify if the goal is to create instrumental "set pieces" like Eddie Lang's "A Little Love, A Little Kiss" (basically, early chord-melody playing), or if it's rhythm guitar with 1920s/early 1930s style harmony that sounds like what Eddie might have played on a session.

[christianm77]

Hello everyone

I am new to this group and havent gone over much of it, but I have so many questions for the group and so many things I feel I need help with concerning my journey with Jazz guitar. I really love the music made from the 1920s and 1930s, and I really want to learn how to play alot of the jazz and popular songs of the day on the guitar. For example, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, King Oliver, Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, and songs like Swanee, April Showers, Pennies From Heaven, Brother Can You Spare A Dime, and Minnie the Moocher. The problem for me is figuring out which chords to use, what chord progressions the songs follow, and how I can learn this songs by ear. I was hoping I could get some advice from some people on here.

triads m8

[Nick71]

At least some of them can be found on Ralph Patt's Vanilla Book site. He's gone, but his legacy remains.
The Vanilla Book

Seriously this book is huge for rhythm guitar plays. I found it years ago and printed the whole thing at work little by little. Was very happy to find it then, And now seeing it again here is awesome.

Nick71

[BWV]

Songs written in 1925 or earlier are public domain and might be found on IMSLP.org

for example, here is WC Handy’s page

Category:Handy, W. C. - IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download

[StringNavigator]

I've been digging at Ralph Patt's site for years.
For extra chords I visit Welcome (theguitarguy.com)
And...
Jim Bottorff's Banjo Page (jbott.com)
Has a great list of old tunes and chords.

A spectacular guitar book for beginners in this genre:
Roger Edison - Book 2/Jazz Rhythm Guitar - a systematic approach to chord progressions
(Book 1 is for Melody playing)
The book is out of print, but may be downloaded from the internet. Well worth the effort to find it.

This Site:
Rob MacKillop
ArchtopGuitar.net – …jazz…classical…folk…plectrum…fingerstyle…

Or
Pops Coffee's Traditional Jazz (playing-traditional-jazz.blogspot.com)


This JGF thread:
Poll: Best Book on Swing Comping (jazzguitar.be)

Or
Top 50 Guitar & Music Books (jazzguitar.be)

[garybaldy]

These links may be useful C-jam - New Orleans jambook A-L
Chord Book

[nopedals]

Harmony was different back then. Something to do with playing 6ths rather than 7ths? Campus5 would know.

The Pratt Vanilla book (and the backing tracks) are great for beginners on jazz bass. I would explain but am already OT.