Artists Who Changed Music: Charlie Christian

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Charlie Christian was to jazz what Jimi Hendrix was to rock. Both guitarists were at the forefront of a new musical genre, came up with a revolutionary approach to playing their instrument, and ended up becoming the benchmark for generations of guitarists after them. One could say that Hendrix was the ultimate electric guitar hero, and Charlie Christian the first electric guitar hero.

During his extremely brief tenure at the top, Christian did not only lay many of the foundations of the electric solo guitar in jazz, but also of bebop and cool jazz, the two new jazz directions in the early forties. He influenced literally all jazz guitarists that came after him, as well as legendary bebop and cool jazz musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.

On top, Christian became a huge influence on electric guitar soloists in general, also outside of jazz, including T-Bone Walker Eddie Cochran, Scotty Moore, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Vernon Reid, Santana, and… Jimi Hendrix. It’s why Christian was in 1990 inducted in the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, as an Early Influencer.

PAVING THE WAY

Charlie Christian had been active as one of the world’s leading musicians for less than two years. Yet his legacy lasts to this day. There are very few musicians, if any, who had such a great impact in such a short time.

Christian developed the jazz guitar further than them, in part influenced by horn players like saxophonist Lester Young. Another influence was the rowdy Western Swing music from his native Texas and Oklahoma, which fused jazz, blues, and local roots music, and often used violins and guitars. The influence of this style can be heard in Christian’s strong sense of groove, with his rhythm and solo playing often sounding almost funky.

He also used blues licks and double stops, and the way he played over the swing rhythm, which is a precursor to the rock ‘n roll shuffle, meant that his playing resonated with rock guitarists. Sometimes he’d crunch into his solos with a bite in his tone and an attack that predates the electric blues and rock ‘n roll of decades later.

Christian’s sense of phrasing was innovative in the way he spaced his notes and riffs across the beat, and across bars, often emphasizing off-beats. He also experimented with harmonic innovations like altered chords which he often played as arpeggios, and he tended to emphasize sixths and ninths. He also frequently used chromatic notes.

All these elements were crucial influences on bebop, and the jazz that came after it. Christian influenced jazz musicians in general, and pretty much all rock lead guitarists also owe a debt to him. As the world’s first guitar hero, Christian paved the way for generations of guitar heroes to come.

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