What is sock rhythm?

[SincereCorgi]

I see this phrase used sometimes with reference to swing guitar playing, and somebody just mentioned it in another thread about chopping v. scratching- what constitutes 'sock rhythm'? Is it like four-to-a-bar chunks that everybody else syncopates around?

(Please, if you're going to reply with an awful pun – and I know the urge is strong – at least contribute something of value first.)

[AlanN]

To me, it's a heavily accentuated boom-chick accompaniment, usu. done on guitar: bass note(s), followed by stopped strum on the other strings. Tunes like That's What I like About The South, China Boy, etc.

[Mike Bunting]

As I understand it, sock style is based on a closed chord being sounded on the first stroke and then that same chord being strummed and then muted like a chop chord.
Found this http://truefire.com/tftv/?channel=50...untry_lick38_w
Eldon Shamblin played something more like that which AlanN describes using different inversions to make a bass line on the strong beats.

[SincereCorgi]

Is it like 'le pompe' in gypsy jazz?

[Pete Hicks]

Sock rhythm is the standard rhythm for swing and classic jazz. It is composed of pairs downstrokes. The first stroke rings a little longer, and the second is a chop, so the downbeat and upbeat each have their own accent. Very simple, but very difficult to do well. It is like daaa-da, daaa-da, etc. It is a must if you want to play any swing.

[mingusb1]

It's also used in classic country music (Hank Williams, for example) and cajun rhythm. You can hear the sock beat in this cut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruhnrcviTZA

Z

[EarlG]

Here's somebody socking on a tenor.

[johnparrott]

I first heard the term "sock" rhythm when I first heard Texas-style fiddle, as in the clip above. There's usually a "standard" guitar also present, but that good tenor guitar player has got it all covered. There's a bass line that walks (boom) followed by a chord (chunk). The chord changes follow the bass line, are quick, and they add motion and excitement to the tune as the fiddle weaves in and out of them. The influence of Eddie Lang is all over it, and Eldon Shamblin took it to a new level.

Flatt and Scruggs sometimes used a guitar (Johnny Johnson?) to provide a backbeat, and I've heard that called "sock" rhythm. Louis Innis and Homer Haynes played some fine backbeat guitar on the early Chet Atlkins sides, and I think of that as "sock" rhythm. Not much "boom" and some very skilled "chunk".

It's the glue of country jazz. "..like bricks dropping in the outhouse...", as Little Jimmy Dickens puts it.

[EarlG]

Yep, I learned about socking from Tx fiddle backup. I thought thats all it meant, but it does sound just like some jazz guitar.