Gonzalo's rhythm

Jazzaferri · November 2012

I am not sure if hindrance would be the right word. Learning to do something right may be a long and aT times arduous road. But when the learning is complete there is a freedom that does not exist for those who do not master.

Jazzaferri · November 2012

I am not sure if hindrance would be the right word. Learning to do something right may be a long and aT times arduous road. But when the learning is complete there is a freedom that does not exist for those who do not master.

Bones · November 2012

Hey Mitch/Denis,

Thanks for all the info. I have not been to Samois yet but I think I should go this year just to figure out how to get the rhythm correct....

Bones · November 2012

....not to mention everything else that there is to hear.

Passacaglia · November 2012

Jazzaferri wrote:

I am not sure if hindrance would be the right word. Learning to do something right may be a long and aT times arduous road. But when the learning is complete there is a freedom that does not exist for those who do not master.

Hey Jay, thanks. Without boring everyone with my tale, of the three stages of apprenticeship - "shu, ha and ri," I walk very true on shu and ha, with just about anything I undertake....but tend to not take that final flight from a place of courage, to ri. C'est la vie...and as long as it brings pleasure, I'm learning to accept that personal bent.

Passacaglia · November 2012

Bones wrote:

Hey Mitch/Denis,

Thanks for all the info. I have not been to Samois yet but I think I should go this year just to figure out how to get the rhythm correct....

Hey bones - for what it's worth, I also can't recommend highly enough Django in June.

Jazzaferri · November 2012

Each persons path is right for them :shock:

Bones · November 2012

Hey Paul,

Yeah, maybe I should start there. Good point.

dennis · November 2012

I should really be as clear as possible; I'm mainly talking about "sound" issues, I 'm not saying one is right and the other is wrong. Of course, one can create his own style of GJ rhythm and if people like it, so be it. I was mainly talking about how Django and the gypsies do it; so that aspect is very much objective.

I was talking about a lot of people teaching it thinking it was the actual Django/gypsy way, when in fact it, is not. Of course, I'm not one to point fingers or anything or tell someone that it's wrong (unless they ask me for my opinion) but there are a quite a number of videos out there with lots of misleading information, and unfortunately a lot of people seem to buying it. If I can make an analogy: let's say you have some guy show up to a remote village in Thailand where no one's ever heard the English language; and some guy from Japan shows up, with a distinct Japanese accent when speaking English, teaching and claiming that it's authentic English as spoken in Texas. His grammar might be good, and Americans might understand him, but it's clearly very obvious that the accent is way off. That's kind of how I feel when I see tons of GJ rhythm demonstrations hahaha...

There's more to GJ rhythm than the sound though; I think it's an important aspect, but it's FAR from everything. The groove and feel is equally important, and that aspect is very much subjective and I can't really say too much about it other than you should generally strive to push the beat on certain songs while showing enough restraint so as not to speed up too much... I spent the last 2 days with Dorado Schmitt's band, and his rhythm player, his nephew Francko is a great example of a rhythm guitarist; he's got the sound and the groove. He pushes the beat forward on medium/uptempo songs (your average GJ swing tune) , he does speed up just a little bit, but there's so much drive and energy to it; he 's a great musician, because even though he speeds up he shows enough restraint not to get too carried away.

While on the topic of sound, I mentioned the whole myth of regional differences, Franko, Dorado, Hono, Yorgui, Bireli, Tchavolo, etc.. are all from the same area (east of france, by the german border , the alsace/lorraine region) yet they each have different rhythm styles... Maybe there was a time when it was true , but i don't think it's the case these days.

Since I was with Dorado non stop for the past few days, I really paid attention (because of this thread) once more to his rhthm playing as well as his nephew's, and it really confirms everything I've been saying. But if i were to describe the difference between dorado and franko's styles, i 'd say that dorado is a bit more consistent with sound regardless of tempo (2 and 4 are generally clearly fully voiced); whereas franko tends to play the 2 and 4 much shorter on faster songs (though never completley muted)...

here's a clear example of dorado's rhythm style (this is the sound that django used towards the end of his life)

In instances where the 2 and 4 are much more staccato, it's usualyl on the really uptempo songs, and different rhythm players have different levels of consistency depending on tempo and song.

BTW, this is unrelated, but Dorado gave me the guitar that he used for his American tour; what a guy! pure generosity! One of the nicest human beings out there!