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Matt shows you a more advanced version of Eldon Shamblin–style backup in this video.
Matt talks about the origins and main practitioners of western swing and western swing guitar.
Matt shows you some characteristic western swing harmonic sounds using the western swing classic “Stay All Night.” He shows you classic major sixth voicings and how these voicings can be turned into dominant seventh (or dominant ninth) chord voicings by moving them down a whole step. Then he shows you how to use these voicings to give a two-chord song like “Stay All Night” a western swing flavor. He also shows you a couple of classic western swing intros and endings.
Western swing–style fiddle tune backup was mostly invented by Bob Wills guitarist Eldon Shamblin in the 1930s. In this lesson, Matt shows you a basic and advanced example of the style using the Texas fiddle tune classic “Sally Goodin.”
Matt shows you a jazzy version of the melody of the fiddle tune “Sally Goodin” in this video. He plays “Sally Goodin” in a closed position (without open strings) up the neck at the fourth through seventh frets and adds a couple of lines that mirror the chords that Eldon Shamblin plays in his backup.
The blues is a very important part of western swing. For example, “Milk Cow Blues” is one of the classic western swing songs. In this lesson, Matt shows you the kinds of chords and bass runs that Eldon Shamblin would play on a 12-bar blues progression like “Milk Cow Blues” in the key of A.
A lot of the early Bob Wills recordings include twin guitar lines and twin fiddle lines. “Bob Wills Special” is a blues in A that Wills recorded in 1940. In this lesson, you’ll learn a chorus of the twin fiddle solo as well as a chorus of Leon McAuliffe and Eldon Shamblin’s twin guitar (steel and standard guitar) solo.
Eldon Shamblin credits the song “Take Me Back to Tulsa” and Bob Wills’s 1940 recording as being the origin of his extensive use of runs. In this lesson, Matt shows you a variety of the kinds of runs that Eldon played on “Take Me Back to Tulsa.”
“I Hear You Talking” is a Cindy Walker song that Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys recorded as an instrumental on The Tiffany Transcriptions, which are recordings taken from a series of live radio shows that the Wills band played in 1946 and 1947. They are undoubtedly the loosest and hottest recordings of a super hot band. The Tiffany Transcriptions recording of “I Hear You Talking” features a twin guitar line played by Junior Barnard and steel guitarist Noel Boggs. You’ll learn the chords to the song as well as the twin guitar line.
“Right or Wrong” is a western swing classic. It was originally written in 1921 and then later picked up by Bob Wills, who recorded it in 1936. It was also recorded by Milton Brown in the same year. In this lesson, you’ll learn to play “Right Or Wrong” with both the western swing–style chords that Eldon Shamblin uses and the kind of “sock” chords that Homer Haynes (of Homer and Jethro) played.
Eldon Shamblin didn’t play a lot of solos on record, and it’s rare to hear him play chord melody solos, but he plays a great chord melody version of “Right or Wrong” in a YouTube clip. You’ll learn Matt’s chord melody version, inspired by Eldon’s, in this lesson.
“Panhandle Rag” is one of western swing’s most well-known instrumentals. It was written by Bob Will’s steel guitar player Leon McAuliffe in the late 1940s. Matt shows you Eldon Shamblin’s chordal accompaniment of “Panhandle Rag” as well as an arrangement of the melody with some double-stop ideas borrowed from steel guitar playing.
“The Waltz You Saved for Me” is a beautiful waltz that was written in 1930. It was recorded by Bob Wills in 1938 and became popular with other western swing bands and country artists. In this lesson, Matt shows you how to turn a twin guitar part into a triple guitar part, a technique perfected by guitarist Whit Smith.
“Faded Love” is probably Bob Wills’s most famous song. The melody is a version of the 19th-century ballad “Darling Nelly Gray” with lyrics written by Johnnie Lee Wills, and it was recorded by Bob Wills in 1950. But it wasn’t until Patsy Cline recorded it in 1963 that it became a big hit. In this lesson, you’ll learn Eldon Shamblin’s reharmonization of “Faded Love,” which is a great lesson in how to reharmonize a folk song.
Bob Wills recorded the humorous song “Roly Poly” (written by Fred Rose) in 1941. The recording features a twin-guitar intro played by Jimmy Wyble and Cameron Hill. Matt shows you how to play both parts of the intro (as played on the original recording) as well as Jimmy Wyble’s guitar solo.
“Twin Guitar Special” was recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1941, and is the culmination of Eldon Shamblin and Leon McAuliffe’s twin guitar work with the band. In this lesson, you’ll learn the intro, an interpretation of Leon McAuliffe’s steel guitar melody, and both parts of the twin guitar solo from that recording.
“Blues for Dixie” is a Cindy Walker song that Bob Wills recorded in 1948. You’ll learn the melody, chords, and a version of the melody in three-party harmony that the Bob Wills band played on the recording.
“Big Beaver” is an instrumental that the Bob Wills band recorded in 1940. They also recorded “Big Beaver” for the Tiffany Transcriptions in the mid ‘40s. That version replaced the horn parts with guitar (Eldon Shamblin), mandolin (Tiny Moore), and steel guitar (Herb Remington). You’ll learn the three-part harmony from the Tiffany Transcriptions in this lesson.
In this lesson, you’ll learn jazz and swing guitarist George Barnes' version of the traditional fiddle tune “Chicken Reel,” which he recorded on the 1950s album Country Jazz and called “Chicken in the Rough.”
“Home in San Antone” Is one of the giant western swing tunes. It was written by Fred Rose and recorded by Bob Wills in 1942. In this lesson, Matt shows you how to play the melody of “Home in San Antone” in thirds. You’ll also learn a more modern bridge harmony used by Leon Rausch, Asleep at the Wheel, and others.
“Arky Travels Again” is guitarist George Barnes’ version of the traditional fiddle tune “Arkansas Traveler.” Barnes recorded it in the key of A, but Matt shows it to you in the key of Bb, because it makes a good medley with “Chicken in the Rough,” which you learned earlier in the key of F.
In this lesson, Matt talks about some of guitarist Junior Barnard’s soloing techniques, using the Bob Wills band 1946 version of the song “Bring It on Down to My House” on the Tiffany Transcriptions. He starts by singing the song and showing you the chord changes (in the key of D), and then he walks you through Junior’s solo on “Bring It On Down to My House,” analyzing Junior’s lines against the chords as he goes.
There are numerous versions of the fiddle tune “Twinkle Little Star” (also called “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” although there is, of course, another tune with that name). Matt’s version comes from the great western swing fiddler Johnny Gimble. It’s in the key of G, but Matt plays it all in closed position. You’ll learn the melody as well as the way it’s accompanied on Johnny Gimble’s recording.
In this lesson, you’ll learn some of the things that Junior Barnard played on a Bob Wills band recording of Floyd Tillman’s song “It Makes No Difference Now.” Junior’s solo is a great example of some of the more delicate things (as well as some of the more bluesy things) he played on country songs. The solo is from a compilation of Bob Wills airchecks called Rare California Airshots.
Cindy Walker’s song “It’s All Your Fault” was recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1941 with a violin and clarinet duet playing the melody. It was also recorded by Wade Ray in 1953 with a great solo by Chet Atkins. In this lesson, you’ll learn “It’s All Your Fault” in the key of Eb, with the violin/clarinet two-part harmony on the A part, a solo on the bridge created by Matt, and Chet’s solo.
“Goin’ Away Party” is another great Cindy Walker song. It was first recorded by country singer Jim Ed Brown in 1972, but it’s a highlight of the For the Last Time album recorded in 1973 by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys just a year before Wills’ death. In this lesson, Matt shows you some of the things Eldon Shamblin played during his backup on that recording of “Goin’ Away Party,” including some clear Eddie Lang influences.
In this lesson, Matt shows you some harmonized lines that imitate the steel guitar. He does this by moving through inversions of triads and changing just one or two notes as he moves to the next triad. He starts by showing you three-note inversions on the top three strings, and then shows you a steel guitar–style solo on “It Makes No Difference Now.”
“Buffalo Gals” is an old American song that has been recorded by jazz, folk, bluegrass, western swing and pop artists, sometimes under different names. For example, Bob Wills recorded it as “Oklahoma Gals.” Matt shows you how to play the melody in a chord-melody style that uses familiar major and minor triad shapes played on the top three strings as well as a version with some simple harmonic twists that give it more of a western swing sound. Matt’s arrangement moves quickly between the chords, so you need to pay attention to how you’re fingering them.
“Buffalo Gals” is an old American song that has been recorded by jazz, folk, bluegrass, western swing and pop artists. In a previous lesson, Matt showed you a chord-melody version of the tune. In this lesson, Matt shows you his single-string “hot-guitar” style version of “Buffalo Gals.” His arrangement owes a lot to George Barnes’s and Hank Garland’s playing.
“Black and White Rag” was written in 1908 by the ragtime composer George Botsford, and western swing fiddlers began to play it in the 1930s. Matt’s version is based on Johnny Gimble’s version recorded on his Texas Fiddle Collection recording. There are versions with three and four parts, but Johnny Gimble only played two parts, which is the way you’ll learn it here.
