![]() ![]() I have been trying to master it six hours a day for the past five days and I am getting close. Hah! Bad by who’s standards? In every interview I’ve ever seen with Chet Atkins he seemed like such a humble, down-to-earth guy which is pretty amazing considering how powerful he became in the music industry. I remember hearing Chet say that he sounded like 2 bad guitar players playing at the same time. Because so much is going on with his right hand when he plays, it actually sounds like 2 or 3 guitar players. I must admit it’s nice to see that some areas of country music are heading back to their roots and bringing back the “twang” – sorry Chet.Chet is best known for his finger-style technique on his right hand, which always consisted of a walking bass line (his thumb), and a rhythm and melody (his second, third, and fourth fingers). To help increase country album sales, Chet helped create the “Nashville Sound” which was basically a movement to scrap all of the fiddles and pedal steel guitars and “twang” that had been associated with country music up to that point and introduce a more contemporary, “produced” sound with heavy back-up vocals from groups like the Jordanaires and even orchestral string arrangements. In the late 1950’s as rock n roll became more and more popular, traditional country albums sales were starting to decline. Chet worked as a session player and backed up several great acts in his early career before graduating on to a solo artist and then on to a prominent Nashville producer, producing acts such as Waylon Jennings and Elvis Presley. It wasn’t until I analyzed what was actually going that I began to realize what a genius he was.īorn Jin Luttrell, Tennessee, Chet Atkins was a pioneer that helped reinvent the guitar. I thought it sounded clean and simple and… well, nice. and to be honest, when I heard my first Chet Atkins album (my dad’s), I wasn’t immediately blown away. Atkins produced records for Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Connie Smith, and Waylon Jennings.So you may be asking, what’s the big deal about Chet Atkins? When I first started becoming obsessed with learning the guitar I kept reading article after article about Chet Atkins and how he pioneered this or influenced that. His virtuoso picking style - inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul - brought him admirers both within and outside the country scene. Together with Owen Bradley, Atkins created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country music's appeal to include adult pop music fans as well. was an American guitarist and record producer. Read Full Bio Chester Burton Atkins born 20 June 1924 - Died 30 June 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States (1942–1996). ![]() Chester Burton Atkins born 20 June 1924 - Died 30 June 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States (1942–1996).
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