TRANSCRIPTIONS

The Guitar Solos of  Charlie Christian

• One of the greatest solos ever recorded in the history of jazz:  “TOPSY”   (usually known as “Swing to Bop”)

• The two studio recordings of Charlie Christian’s famous Guitar Concerto:  “SOLO FLIGHT”

• A brilliant solo on “HONEYSUCKLE ROSE” in a studio recording with the full orchestra

• Spartan comping that upstages The Lionel’s vibes, and a dynamite solo on “DINAH”

• Charlie Christian’s only two-chorus solo on “STAR DUST” — from the Harlem Breakfast Club in Minneapolis

• “IDA, SWEET AS APPLE CIDER” — a 32-bar guitar solo masterpiece on a tune with great changes

• Both versions of  “I FOUND A NEW BABY” — a different guitar solo on each of these studio gems...with some similarities

• “BLUES IN B” — a most extraordinary, ingenious blues improvisation — five-chorus solo in the key of  B

• The two best-known versions of  “ROSE ROOM” (10/2/39 & 10/9/39) — a magnificent one-chorus solo on each of these classic performances

• An incredible jam on “ROSE ROOM” — an intro and two solos (four full choruses) of absolute creativity and genius

• The two remaining versions of  “ROSE ROOM” (10/28/39 & 6/6/41) — not the two well-known takes but classics in their own right

• Two exceptional versions of  “HONEYSUCKLE ROSE” (12/24/39 & 11/19/40) — this time with the sextet in concert and on an aircheck

• The remarkable “HONEYSUCKLE ROSE” recorded at Minton’s (aka “Up on Teddy’s Hill”) — with a fantastic bridge solo on the out chorus

• “GRAND SLAM” — a boogie originally issued as “Boy Meets Goy” — one of Charles’ best blues solos with the sextet — key of F

• A slow blues (in the key of Eb) from Carnegie Hall — “PAGING THE DEVIL” — Charles’ perfect 2-chorus solo with the Kansas City Six

• Both takes of another exquisite slow blues in Eb — “PROFOUNDLY BLUE” — intros & 3-chorus solos with the Edmond Hall Celeste Quartet

• Another excellent slow blues with the Kansas City Six — 2-chorus solo (this one in the key of F) — “GOOD MORNING BLUES”

• “AD-LIB BLUES” — a blues in the key of C — 2-chorus solo — also some riffs;  & a false start in the key of Bb

• The two versions of  “POOR BUTTERFLY” — stunning 8-bar solos on a studio date and on a recently-released aircheck

• Another recently-released aircheck — “STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY” (June 1941) — unfortunely, only two-thirds of CC’s solo was recorded

• Swingin’ solo from a Lionel Hampton session — “HAVEN’T NAMED IT YET” — last 8 bars:  great entrance;  diminished runs

• A perfect, melodic 8-bar solo jewel — “ON THE ALAMO” — swingin’ slow tempo—great for beginning guitarists to start with (in the key of Eb)

• Studio recording of  “THESE FOOLISH THINGS” — a 4-bar chord intro and an 8-bar bridge solo on which CC plays around with the melody

• An 8-bar intro and three free-wheeling choruses on “TEA FOR TWO” — from a jam session at the Harlem Breakfast Club

• A wild jam with lots and lots of CC — “STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY” (5/8/41) — the rarest of all the Newman recordings from Minton’s Playhouse

• Six choruses of some of CC’s very best — “STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY” (5/12/41) — another jam from Minton’s Playhouse

• From a jam at Monroe’s:  2½-chorus CC solo — “STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY” (May 1941) — aka “Lips Flips” / “On with Charlie Christian”

• A never-released blues from the “America in Swingtime” aircheck of February 1941 — “THE BLUES” — one of CC’s best blues solos

• Unreleased studio breakdown of  “UNTITLED TUNE” — a superb 12-bar blues solo by CC

• A fast blues with the sextet — “BREAKFAST FEUD” — Charles’ 2-chorus solo on one of his most popular tunes + tag

• Another never-released aircheck — “STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY” (2/19/41) — only one chorus but with an amazing CC performance

• Charlie Christian’s first studio recording with the Goodman sextet — “FLYING HOME” (10/2/39) — the master take

• The alternate take and a breakdown of  “THESE FOOLISH THINGS” — 4-bar chord intros and, on the alternate take, an 8-bar bridge solo by CC

• The rare recording of  “HONEYSUCKLE ROSE” — radio broadcast from the Catalina Casino on Santa Catalina Island, California

• Master and alternate takes of  “I SURRENDER, DEAR” — sixteen-bar solos on each with some similarities between the two

• Three transcription pages of each of the master & alternate takes of  “THE SHEIK OF ARABY” — intro verses, solos, fours on the out choruses

• Two solo transcriptions of “THE SHEIK OF ARABY” — radio broadcasts from The Cocoanut Grove nightclub in L.A.

• An exquisite 8-bar solo break — “I’M CONFESSIN’” — slow tempo in the key of Ab with an astonishing CC solo launching

(Click on the tune title)

If you’ve tried other transcriptions and tabs (see the notated solos bibliography), you may find a few surprises here.
I expect anyone that checks out the transcriptions on this site will have some points of contention.
Let me hear from you by E-mail or, if you prefer, on The Charlie Christian Discussion Group.

Keep in mind that Charlie Christian used downstrokes almost exclusively.
I have used the standard V upstroke symbol to indicate those very rare instances where an upstroke may have been used.

If you follow the fingering in the tabs, you’ll notice that CC used the index and middle fingers during his solos (rarely the ring finger, except on chords).
(There are a couple of recorded solos where he used his thumb briefly on the lower string.)
You’ll also note that he used his middle finger more often than not for slides, bends, and slurs.

By the way, I’ve often heard and read that Charles played his solos across the strings (as opposed to vertically on the fretboard).  I recently read somewhere, for example, that “Django Reinhardt moved up and down the fingerboard, Charlie Christian moved across the fingerboad” or words to that effect.  Contrary to that common dogma, I’ve found that Charles played vertically much more than is indicated by other transcribers, commentators, and musicologists.

The chord names placed above the standard notation are the basic harmony of the tune.

The chord names above the tablature represent the chord changes in Charlie Christian’s solo.
Often there is an overlap of one or more notes between chords—the chord names are placed as close as possible to the chord change.

The symbols used to indicate the left-hand fingering employed on the fingerboard are explained in the following table:

Note on viewing and printing:
As you may have noticed in the box below, this Web site is set up for 1024x768 viewing.   Unless your monitor is set up for that resolution, none of the pages on this site will appear exactly as they were designed.

The music transcriptions in this section are particularly problematic.  Even with a 1024x768 display area they just don't quite fit entirely on the screen.  The music scores were not originally intended for the Internet and cannot be easily reduced in size without loosing a lot of the quality—they would appear blurry and would be very difficult to read.  Unfortunately that means they can not be printed out.  The only way I know to reduce them is to individually redo 400-plus pages of music which would be more than I can handle at this time.   Until monitors with higher screen resolution come along, you’ll have to scroll and read Charles’ solos right off the screen.....or, if we’re lucky, I might just get an offer to publish one giant book before then.

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