Django Reinhardt - "Improvisation n°1" (1937) - Gill & Jazz Transcription 

Davey Ol boy,, you’re absolutely right . I would like to point out one thing: when one improvises, it always perfect ; it’s when one is following someone else’s stuff that mistakes are made. . The best performance you will ever give, is when you’re creating as you go . .

His musical intuition is unreal. You could dedicate an entire course to his use of rhythmic groupings. I can barely fathom someone doing that now, with all the access to instruction. Django did it when no one else had done it before. That’s true creation.

Oui, enfin pour les accords Django utilisait tout ses doigts avec juste l'impossibilité de monter l'annulaire et l'auriculaire sur les 4 cordes graves, d'ou l'utilisation intensive du pouce de la main gauche.

@@GillJazzTranscriptions Oui tout a fait. Il pouvait aussi faire des barres avec les doigts brules.

He couldn't read notes or language at all till late when Stephane Grappelli helped him to start a little. The idea that formal written material is the best way to this kind of mastery is, if not wrong, misguided. That kind of mastery must be obtained with your fingers. Though the musical ideas are amazing, the technique on guitar was Django's way to both composition and playing. Listening and interpretation of course is necessary too. He only had two usable fingers by the way. The other two fingers of his fretting hand could only be used together and were used only only the 2 or 3 smallest strings as they were unable to be extended.

People can talk no matter if they can read alphabets... it's very same.

but he did know the chords names. its not totaly blank

@ Yes indeed. To me guitar is like the baby learning to walk. Guitar and walking are not learned quickly or theoretically but physically and by example. Django composed (did his thinking and exploration) with his fingers and guitar. He built his castles entirely on the fretboard without paper or words. He seemed go be able to bring anything he heard into his creations, so there are constant reflections of classical, ethnic, and popular music in his playing. So we're hearing his version of influences like Louis Armstrong, Debussy, French Mussette, Gypsy music, Flamenco, and who knows what else mixed in to his play.