Newby to guitar

kevorkazito

Passacaglia wrote:

Lol, I don't know why, but that sounds like a perfect title for an album. At least an album I would like to have played when I was infatuated with all things Rush.

Hemispheres? (my nemesis since 1979

Passacaglia

Hahah, Kevor. Nope, afraid my obsession was a few years earlier, 2112. Passage to Bangkok, to be precise. Over and over. I really thought I was the coolest, with that simple bass line. 8) No matter. My brain case was beknighted with thick blue smoke, I surfed and wore puka shells (and little else but my ego), oblivious to just about everything.

kevorkazito

Passacaglia wrote:

Hahah, Kevor. Nope, afraid my obsession was a few years earlier, 2112. Passage to Bangkok, to be precise. Over and over. I really thought I was the coolest, with that simple bass line. 8) No matter. My brain case was beknighted with thick blue smoke, I surfed and wore puka shells (and little else but my ego), oblivious to just about everything.

Ha! Luv to hear that Pass... my 2112 LP was always covered with a mysterious 'pollen' 8)

Jazzaferri

This thread has taken a turn way above my pay grade :shock:

Lango-Django

As they said at Woodstock, "Bad brown acid in row seventeen"...

kevorkazito

But seriously Mark, I started with this style in November. I must admit my first mistake was to jump in repertoire right away. I did get Gypsy Picking and Gypsy Rhythm however, I did not open them up for a couple of months after I got them. My strategy is to always be guided by the song because that is what you have to serve. That was an error. Playing with the correct technique is a biggie in GJ. I had to do some back pedaling and I will admit it's no fun learning how to hold the pick in a fashion that is alien to your technique.

So, my daily regimen is 1 hour of technique (consisting of Gypsy Rhythm/Picking and the Givone method) and 30 mins of repertoire (currently working on RA's 'Honeysuckle Rose' and figuring out by ear 'Entre Amis' by Angelo Debarre) and I journal it. The rest of the day is quite free if I even have the time to do anything else (getting that hour and half is a lofty goal but I try hard to squeeze it into my life)... I am a lover of the guitar and this is my hobby. I could only dream of having 5 hours per day to play.

Also, I always mic myself and play into Logic Pro. Playback is so key because it can be surprising to hear that what you heard in your head isn't what came out! This also keeps my recording chops up so I can keep that world open for when I start to compose and record. I don't have any jam partners so I have to create that environment. I have no problem with being a loner player if that's how the cards turn up.

Don't forget to listen and watch players. Schedule some listening time into your regimen and really hear what going on. I like to surprise myself some days and throw my plans out the window and float down the stream of GJ and see what comes up. Try to engage your right brain with the art of making the music while tempering it with the left and squash your ego. Just make yourself happy. Like playing video games, what seems impossible today will be easy tomorrow

P.S. I got 'Art of Accompaniment' and Denis makes a salient point that you will never be a better lead player, than you are a rhythm player. In my technique block, I now do some work on Robin Nolan's 'Honeysuckle Rose' play along. Try doing La Pompe for 15 minutes... flawlessly... so I have throttled back on the lead playing a bit and focus on rhythm. Like I have read here, Angelo Debarre has done his time in the rhythm chair.

Passacaglia

Wow, ringer post, Kevor, thank you, gives some wonderful perspective and the fact you're chronicling your early journey with this style is, I think, doubly helpful for another just coming in.

It might be because I come from a couple of lives so heavy in orthodoxy and "codified" technique, but I have to say, I love your attention to always applying it to music; not sure that's an error at all, at least not in any general sense (but I really do think we all come at it how we will, so not disputing your conclusions at all).

What I mean to say, is I find it easy, an easy deception, to place a ton of trust in "technique building," and actually go nowhere...hiding behind technical training, or a "lot of effort," or "a mountain of hours," almost like a collection of merit badges....and still never improve, because the scary thing is to just see, at the end of the day, if one can throw down. I forget who it was that said this (probably many have said it), but in music, if you're hiding, you can't fake your way through it...much like an ordinary bitter in brewing (now that's a reach), there's no bombast to hide beneath (as in an massively hopped, thick as honey imperial IPA...or shredding at 500 BPM, without clarity, or musical sense); the only way out is through. Your checking yourself with recording, and stepping off into unknowns (presumably, meaning, building a repertoire), well, I think that's brave...and bravery, creeping through unknowns to shed a little light, make these bits of unknown things known, and always finding new places to test, is the only thing that makes one a better artist (or craftsman; or scientist, or anything).

Anyway, before I get lost in a surfeit of words, I really appreciated your post. I think it's a keeper.

kevorkazito

Thanks Pass! Finally, a thread that I can really contribute to

I have been keeping Michael busy as I have on my music shelf (aside from Givone Method, Gypsy Rhythm and Gypsy Picking):

- 'How I Learned' vols 1&2
- 25 pieces
- Gypsy Guitar 'The Secrets' vols 1&2
- Gypsy Fire
- Getting into Gypsy Jazz Guitar

Sounds like a lot of scratch to dump. Having been a student of a local master at $60 x two lessons per month, then not so much. I just hope that I can get through this before I need a walker

I still want to get the two Rosenberg DVDs from Hypermedia (oh almost forgot, I want to do the Wawau Adler lessons too). Those are gold. If they are anything like Denis' 'Technique and Improvisation' & 'Art of Accompaniment', they are still a bargain when contrasted with taking lessons (which I would if someone in Winnipeg could teach it... if I get legit maybe I will).

Once I get RA's version of 'Honeysuckle Rose' down, then I'm going to get Django's version going. There are so many great songs to look forward to playing and that's the impetus to sit down and play.

anthon_74

Hey Kavorkazito,

If you have getting gypsy jazz on your shelf, I highly recommend you practice Wrembles above and below approach over all your arpeggios as a daily practice. It allows you to both practice your technique, and gives you a phrasing technique that gives you a nearly unending soloing option.
I think of it now as my gypsy jazz scale practice.

Cheers !
Anthony

kevorkazito

anthon_74 wrote:

Hey Kavorkazito,

If you have getting gypsy jazz on your shelf, I highly recommend you practice Wrembles above and below approach over all your arpeggios as a daily practice. It allows you to both practice your technique, and gives you a phrasing technique that gives you a nearly unending soloing option.
I think of it now as my gypsy jazz scale practice.

Cheers !
Anthony

Thank you for that insight Anthony.

Then your advice is to do the above and approach in tandem with Givone Method? I was planning to open Wremble's book after putting some time in with Givone.

I was charting my study path based on this posting:

by Elliot » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:58 am
The Daniel Givone book is very good as well in this regard and I prefer it to the Wrembel these days (I have both) because it has almost no diagrams and sticks to phrased patterns, but it is a personal call. I also happen to find Givone's legato lines particularly beautiful.

I found this advice helpful because of the phrased patterns and no diagrams (I like beautiful legato lines too).

This was a reply to a posting regarding "getting familiar 'visually' with arpeggio patterns on the fret board."

TIA,
Carlos