Chet+Atkins

As you research your selected guitarist, you will need to note some specific information from his or her life and career. Include the following in your final writing: Details for your written assignment: ,
 * Introduction
 * Biography
 * Discography
 * Legacy
 * Conclusion

Your Name: (first name, last initial):Jeanna E.

Write your essay here! : Chet Atkins plays country. Country music is a genre based on the folk style of the south. Chet is known for his pseudo-classical style that is created by his three fingers and thumb rhythm on the guitar, that he developed as a kid __#|learning__ to play guitar. One of Chet's guitars is the Chet Atkins Country Gentleman.

Chet was born on June 20, 1924 in Luttrell, Tennessee. His parents and family was very music-oriented; his father tuned pianos, taught music, and was an evangelist singer. His mother sang and played piano and all of his siblings played instruments. When his parents __#|divorced__ and remarried, he began playing along with his __#|step__ father and siblings. Chet first learned to play the ukulele at age six. Three years later he learned how to play a Sears Silvertone guitar and the fiddle. Growing up during the Great __#|Depression__, he and a brother played for spare change at local gatherings to earn some __#|money__. Childhood for Chet was difficult because he was asthmatic and extremely shy, and felt guitar was an outlet to express himself. Atkins began his career playing guitar on radio shows. He dropped out of high __#|school__ at age 17 to endure his career. He started off playing smooth jazz and tended to include a country mix in his playing, which created the "Nashville" country style he usually produces. For the rest of his life Atkins continued his guitar career. He composed with many different artists from Les Paul to Mark Knopfler. At age 72, Atkins started playing in clubs and retired his career four years later. The year after on June 30, Atkins died from complications with __#|colon cancer__. After 20 years of fighting the cancer, he passed in his Nashville home.

One recording that was important in Atkin's life was "Guitar Blues", his first recording. This didn't exactly push his career forward severly but it did __#|start__ the beginning of a life as a guitarist that didn't end until he had no choice. A recording that was a big success was "Galloping Guitar", recorded in 1949. This recording pushed him into the '50s. a period that brought him much exposure to being a big-shot guitarist, and some of his recordings are still known as some of the top songs from the decade. Some artists that influenced Atkins were Jimmy Rodgers, Les Paul, Django Reinhardt, and especially Merle Travis. Atkins enjoyed listening to Merle Travis as a child and tried imitating his works from audio recordings he listened to. This is how he developed the pseudo-classical style that is noted above. Country music influences Atkins the most living in Tennessee.

One Musician Chet has influenced is Lenny Breau, a jazz guitarist. In an interview concerning Chet Atkins, Breau said he was, "the most exciting new guitarist since Johnny Smith." Later in the article when the journalist asked about his thumb pick and finger nails style he replied, "My thumbpick, and the way I use it, is just like Chet Atkins '. All I'm really doing is using almost classical-style fingerpicking--except for the thumbpick--and I'm approaching the guitar, musically speaking, as if it were a piano." A legacy Atkins has left to the world is having a versatile sense of music. Many people enjoyed his guitar playing because he included different styles which kept you entertained throughout the whole song. He also added different melodies to well-known songs giving it a fresh flavor. A modern country guitarist is Keith Urban. His guitar picking has a smooth minor melody to it that has a simple consistency that is easy to follow along to, like in his hit, "You'll think of me".

One interesting theme I found to Chet Atkins is his ability to morph into something different than what he would expected to be. For instance, his parents have remarried and divorced multiple times so in a way it may seem divorce is acceptable to Chet, but Chet stayed married to his first wife for 50 years until he died of cancer. His family and friends that had musical talent did pursue their skills but only to teach others that only relatives and friends would know of, but Chet went on to the world stage even being as shy as he was during his childhood and became one of the most recognized guitarists of his time. This knowledge developed into his music also. Most guitarist playing nice music but that's the extent of it, they don't keep you very entertained in their work unless it's so loud you couldn't ignore it if you tried. Chet created a style that was soft and smooth but at a fast past that combined different rhythms and patterns to songs that wanted to you to repeatedly listen to just his guitar.

Work Cited
 * "Chet Atkins." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 2002. //Biography In Context//. Web. 13 May 2013.
 * "Chet Atkins." //Contemporary Authors Online//. Detroit: Gale, 2006. //Biography In Context//. Web. 13 May 2013
 * "Lenny Breau 1974." //Guitar Player// Aug. 2007: 200. //Student Edition//. Web. 13 May 2013.

Sources : Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to __#|complete__ your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. sample: "Carol Kaye." //Contemporary Musicians//. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1998. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. "Selected Websites on Carol Kaye's Life and Works." //Gale Biography in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012.


 * Your Source List:**

Guitarist Research Notes Table
//cells will expand as you enter your findings// || __He found guitar as a way to express himself.__ || dropped out of high school to persue his career || galloping guitar, first big hit || What do you like about his/her style? || Keith Urban, he has a smooth minor melody to his playing. ||
 * ** Information Feature ** ||= **Your Findings**
 * The guitar style I am researching is: || country ||
 * The artist I am researching is: || Chet Atkins ||
 * This guitarist lived from __to__ _ || June 20, 1924 to June 30, 2001 ||
 * Define and describe the guitar style you are researching. || acoustic guitar genre originated in the south ||
 * What kind of musical __#|training__ did the guitarist have? || His parents both had #|careers __in music and so they made their children be very inquired in music since his birth. At age 6, he began to play his first instrument; a ukelele.He began playing on__ #|radio stations __while he was still in school.__ ||
 * What types of music influenced this artist? ||  ||
 * Name some musicians who influenced the guitarist you are researching. || Jimmie Rodgers, Merle Travis ||
 * Has this guitarist played more than one style? If so, what other styles? || Jazz, Pop, Classical ||
 * What type of guitar does this musician play? ||  ||
 * What are some #|interesting facts __about your guitarist’s childhood?__ || He played in a group with his syblings during the great #|depression __to earn spare change from passer-bys. He dropped out of high school to work on his guitar career.__
 * What did this guitarist do before he became famous? || He played guitar on radio shows. ||
 * List two #|interesting facts__ about the guitarist’s life. || died of colon cancer
 * List two albums or songs your artist released, the dates they were released and why they are important. || guitar blues, first recording he made
 * Who is playing this style of music today?
 * What legacy has this guitarist left to the world of music? || Chet Atkins started playing guitar with three fingers and a thumb which created his famous pseudo-classical style. ||