Thanks man, I've worked on it hard. Actually I think the left hand is really important too for getting a smooth, strong sound - the two hands obviously have to work together...
I'm coming from a blues background, where a technical right-hand technique isn't as important. I found this extremely helpful. Thank you. The little mistakes you make also let us know which bits we should expect to be able to play well first. This is also very helpful actually, and shows how comfortable you are with your playing, that you haven't edited them out. Great lesson : )
yeah, I had noticed Jimi's slanted pick and (what I now know to be, thanks!) rest-strokes. I have to say, I have been practicing for the last 4-5 days, and although I have made little headway with your technique, my normal picking technique has improved massively! I could only ever play 16th notes at around 100 bpm, I can now play at them at 120 bpm. How bizarre!!
Learn Gypsy Jazz and Swing Guitar Hi. You’ve mentioned that SRV and Hendrix both used a variation of rest strokes. I just wanted to say I’ve found that Clapton does it too. Here are a couple examples from RU-vid. The first is from the famous Cream interview. It’s goes past pretty quick, but it’s there around 1:06 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9ODNQPQo3A.html The second is from Clapton playing with Chuck Berry. If you’re familiar with Eric’s playing then you’ll have heard this lick many times. You can see him push through the rest stroke clearly at 1:45 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xKmlMLFFhgI.html
this is great! i've just learned bistro fada & bought a gypsy jazz guitar. now i'm going to practice bistr slower and concentrate on my picking and phrasing. thank you
Great video! I appreciate your tips on helping me improve my skills. I feel I have a more enriched understanding of my musicianship In all genres. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing, this is really helpful. 1930’s plectrum guitar tutor books of Eddie Lang and Nick Lucas both teach down-up-down picking for triplets, quite extensively too. It must have been the way to pick in those days, also Django and Stephane essentially set out to be the next Eddie and Joe!
excellent advice.. just what i was looking for. Would appreciate examples played against backing loops to iilustrate ... point us to another vid if exists?
I was coincidentally thinking about this for the last few weeks. I think the rest stroke in general gives you the feeling you're playing 8th's while you're playing 16th's (to put it in some measures)....so it gives you the ability to play more relaxed and speed up. That for example in the main theme or Swing 48. Without rest strokes you feel you're playing 16ths therefore it becomes harder, with rest strokes you only worry about the down stroke and the up stroke will come sort of automatically so it feels you're playing 8ths and therefore your hand is more relaxed and way more steady against the tempo. Thinking about triplets comes, I think, when you play scales vertically because you tend to play 3 notes on each strings, with some exceptions such as those parts of the scale that only require 2 notes or when you wanna go by semitones either in a string that require 3 notes or 2 notes, it inverts the game. From there you can spice up the rhythm accentuation by using triplets if not necessarily required. Some thought to munch in our brains....one thing for sure is, the right hand in gypsy jazz is capital! not something you can oversee. And yes, if you start in a syncopation I found is better to start with an upstroke. Again like the theme in Swing 48 where the first note on the long semitones chain starts syncopated.
Great vid man! I agree with your point about "cheating" with occasional upstrokes instead of rigid traditional downstroking, and it's present in many modern players like Adrien Moignard and even Bireli. It comes quite useful when you're playing something more bebop-inspired. But when it comes to traditional picking style, i think Gonzalo Bergara is an absolute genius! He uses traditional picking with absolutely no upstrokes and plays some crazy bebop fashioned lines - mind=blown!
I've just checked your other videos and topics, and i can say that this is by far the best channel for gypsy jazz enthusiasts, both for it's range of topics and for the in-depth approach to problems!
He uses upstrokes, but yes I agree he uses a lot of downstrokes. To me, my current heroes are: Bireli Lagrene Adriene Moignard Sébastien Giniaux Gonzalo Bergara Stochelo Why? mainly because they let the phrases to breath more, other players like Debarre, Mozes Rosenberg, and Joscho even if they're good they cram notes together all the time and can become boring (go figure)...specially Joscho whom technically is flawless but damn! so many fireworks become just that, fireworks.
Another crucial aspect of jazz music, the communication between players, is also what "shredders" usually lack. For example, look at how vibrant the "Django's tiger" by Adrien and Gonzalo is in comparison to "Djangology" by Joscho and Gonzalo. Both Joscho and Adrien do play some fast lines, but Adrien seems to be much more eager to communicate and overall product is in my opinion a much better compound, and that's what i think gypsy jazz lacks in comparison to straight ahead jazz. I heard Tcha Limberger in one interview saying that gypsy jazz has become too focused on soloist/soloing rather than on communication between musicians and between musicians and audience. But that's another topic...
I think it's all a balance. You have to focus on your phrasing. It all depends on the notes per string. At some points your last note should end with your hand in a tucked in seizure like position. At others it should be in a waving hand position.
Hey! Great video as always. When it comes to gypsy picking, I always wonder how much volume the early players like Django got out of their instruments, regarding that they didnt have means of amplification. When I visit an acoustic gypsy swing session nowadays, I can hardly picture the band filling a ballroom full of dancers with sound (even though they are excellent players) - you can basically only enjoy the music when people don't talk, let alone dance. That makes me think about Djangos fame - did he actually earn it in the ballrooms? Or rather in front of an exclusive seated jazz aficionado crowd? While this question might seem futile, I think it might help setting the frame for what to aim for in practicing (and to prevent frustration from excessive ambition). Is volume something that you practice at all?
I don't think gypsy jazz was really dance music. I might be wrong but it's more cafe band stuff. You might get some dancing couples but not a full on ball. For that you hire a band with horns. Also a lot of modern players GJ have a lighter touch. I gather from anecdotes that when Django played large venues pre amplification basically he was inaudible. Nowadays (according to Scott Henderson) you get a band sound guy and you have the same problem lol.
Thanks for pointing that out. I always feel like Don Quixote when taking a solo after a saxophone, especially when I'm the only rhythm guitar player, and even more so in a duet. Anyway, it is how it is. Btw, I like the sound of a heavier touch, I feel it brings the character of the guitar better into the music.
I've spent so many years trying to be efficient using, up down up down, Im struggling with the change of down for each new string. Question, is it possible to play gypsy jazz my way or will It become a problem down the road. Im only starting to learn this style
Well you gotta watch out for the gypsy jazz police! No seriously, two GJ guitarists who don't use gypsy style technique are Gary Potter and Robin Nolan. Obviously no-one's ever heard of them (jk.) The main challenge you are going to face is getting enough projection in acoustic sessions, but if you can deal with that there's nothing wrong with going your own way.
Strings 1043 yes they are. As a result many gypsy players modify descending arpeggios to be 2 notes a string because they can go much faster. Django did this - check out his solos.
thanks --- yes that was entirely useful. with a million vids available on GJ the dearth of material re down stroke is a bit odd given its cruciality. You do give some thoughts as to why the down stroke is so central but you do not expand on the idea. An opportunity mysteriously neglected. The people who evolved it as important must have had their reasons for making life so difficult. Maybe they took it from the strong relationship between GJ and Flamenco which uses strong rest strokes with the thumb to knock out melodies and bass. Any ideas?
I'm not sure if I include this in another video, but OK here we go: Gypsy Jazz picking AFAIK is derived from classical mandolin and/or banjo technique. Django started on plectrum banjo, so transferred the technique to the guitar. (I need a little time to track down more scholarship on this, this is all from memory.) Now - the main aim here is *projection* above and beyond anything else. Un-amplified plucked strings in classical ensembles have to work hard to project to the back of the hall even with a light accompaniment. Rest strokes are an obvious and very effective way to do this. Gypsy jazz is about the only form of jazz which is still frequently performed without amplification. Obviously, Segovian classical guitar uses a Apoyando rest stroke on the fingers, and Flamenco players as you say use a thumb rest stroke in addition, although modern classical players work hard to develop and equally powerful Tirando free stroke. Also, we can see from some alt picking bluegrass players that free strokes can be made to be very powerful and projecting. BUT - rest strokes is a very natural, obvious and easy way to max out the volume. That may be why it appears to be have independently developed by many traditions, including the Oud and the Sarod.
You know, it turns out many players who don't consciously use rest strokes actually use rest strokes (according to Troy Grady) including Eric Johnson, Yngwie etc... So given thee are electric players with a light touch, I think rest strokes give you MORE nuance, in that you have a lot of dynamic control.
Why can we do Down up down, up down up , up down up , from high notes ? And has to be Down up down, down up down ? We are losing time with that Down stroke
You need to do a search for 'Downward Pick Slanting' by Troy Grady. He's a complete knob, but you don't know that you're automatically doing something that he advocates. If you can get past the cartoons you'll love it I reckon.
Greek bouzouki players and Turkish Laouto also using that particular technique, I believe sweep picking is a better technique, cuz even you the master of guitar have problems with Gypsy jazz right hand technique , and in the same moment your sweep picking has no problems at all when you played arpeggios 😉
All techniques have their challenges. You can learn sweep picking in an afternoon but it takes much longer to get it in time, for example. I think Frank Gambale said something to that effect…. Sweep picking itself is a natural extension of gypsy picking with one catch - it only goes in one direction….
Please.....Slooowww it down when demonstrating the right hand. It's a helpful video. But the fast pace is counter-productive for my viewing and learning. Thanks for posting this.
Some people pick things up faster than others. You can't please everyone - but there is an option to slow the video down if you click on the cog icon on the menu bar below the video. Maybe this will help. But this isn't really a video for beginners in this picking style.
You said in oneof your videos that you do not have to outline every chord in a song. Could you make a video, showing what chords are the most important to outline and which are less important
Django did not follow any rules on how to pick he played what he thought was right and he always was it was gypsy guitarists who followed in his giant footsteps who laid down the rules. if Django had copied other guitarists you would not have heard of him
Difficult to follow. A bit awkward presentation. Firstly calm down. You don't have to play so fast because this is a tutorial. No shame in playing a bit slower. Quite a few times it goes wrong.
I was a baby RU-vidr back then. Now I make all different kind of mistakes lol. Weird thing is these early videos are the ones that took off.... in my defence I would say it’s kind of the point to practice it fast, but yeah valid criticism for sure.
