rhythm guitar-only track of "Gonzalo" rhythm method

bohemewarbler

Hey Gypsy rhythm guitarists! I'm reaching out to someone who really has the "Gonzalo" rhythm method down (Gypsy rhythm, absent the upstroke on beats 1 and 3) who would create an mp3 of both a slow tempo and fast tempo of a complete tune, without any accompaniments, that I could download and learn from. I know there are demonstrations of the method out there on the web, but being just demonstrations or performances filled in with other instruments, these haven't been helpful enough for me to get my rhythm where I feel confident in this style. What I'm hoping for is a generous person who wouldn't mind recording himself or herself playing two standard Gypsy jazz tunes (e.g. Minor Swing, Minor Blues ... one medium-fast tempo and one slow tempo) and make an mp3 of them so that it could be downloaded. That way, I can place it in Garageband, which would then allow me to play along and practice with it until I get my sound to match. Does anyone know if there is some dropbox or something similar that would allow one to download an mp3? Or, If this is too much to ask on this forum, and you are aware of a site that has someone playing a complete tune using the "Gonzalo" rhythm method absent the upstroke on beats 1 and 3 and absent of any accompaniment, let me know. If you are willing to help me personally, just private message me on this forum. Merci Beaucoup!

rimm

I break it down here in a video from a while ago

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wS51Ch7FMt0
That should help a bit. A metronome, good coffee and patience and you will have it down

bohemewarbler

A while back I wasn't able to convert a Youtube video to mp3. I would get a message that seemed to indicate that converting video to mp3 was being stopped by the "authorities." But I see now that I can convert and download the mp3 part of a video and use it as an mp3. That is all that I need to do to get what my original question asked for and get this rhythm thing right. However, I've got a question for Rimm: Are you using only downstrokes on "Them There Eyes," while mostly muting the strings on beats 2 and 4? At faster tempos, it is sometimes hard for me to tell.

Thanks, Rimm and Stuart!

bohemewarbler

After listening to some of these play-along rhythm guitar tracks, such as the ones on Gonzalos's site (http://www.youtube.com/user/GBQuartet/v ... rid&view=0), I was wondering if Jeffrey Radaich (Gonzalo's rhythm player) or Gonzalo would actually be "attacking" (for a lack of a better descriptive word) the strings in the same fashion as on these play-alongs? In other words, If these were not "play-alongs," would the rhythm guitar attack be different or is this the essence of the "Gonzalo" rhythm performance no matter what the situation? Opinions anyone?

dennis

gonzalo's main inspiration for rhythm is django's late period and hono winterstein; but he ended up doing something a bit different (and he taught jeff how to do it) ; his second and fourth beats are much more choked than django's late rhythm playing, and well it's also quite different from what hono actually does

here's a video of gonzo showing his way



what hono does (with a very subtle upstroke)



what django (late period) did (skip to 1:30):



the closest contemporary players to that style of rhythm:



and here's me demonstrating the latter

arjr

Gonzalo also taught me how to play rhythm
the same way back when he was living here in LA, I've moved on and learned other variations
of rhythm from people like Lollo Meier, Denis Chang, and others.
I keep it in my arsenal cause here in Los Angeles a lot of the gypsy guitarists
try to play the same rhythm as Gonzalo.



Angelo

Passacaglia

arjr wrote:

Gonzalo also taught me how to play rhythm
the same way back when he was living here in LA, I've moved on and learned other variations
of rhythm from people like Lollo Meier, Denis Chang, and others.
I keep it in my arsenal cause here in Los Angeles a lot of the gypsy guitarists
try to play the same rhythm as Gonzalo.



Angelo

Angelo, can you tell me where you learned from Lollo?

arjr

Whenever he comes out here to the states
I would contact him and meet up with him for lessons.

Passacaglia

arjr wrote:

Whenever he comes out here to the states
I would contact him and meet up with him for lessons.

Awesome, Angelo. I like his playing, very much, been listening to him quite a bit lately. Love Le Chemin de Django.

Paul

arjr

Yeah Paul that's a nice album, he's a very traditional player and that's why I
like studying with him.

Bohemewarbler-
If you are interested I made a video demonstrating Gonzalo's rhythm a year
ago breaking everything down. It was for a Django in June attendee who asked
me to make him a video about Gonzalo's rhy. PM if you are interested.

bohemewarbler

Denis, I have your "Art of Accompaniment" DVD. It has been very valuable. I've also noticed that Stephan Wrembel's style is similar to Gonzalo's and I've gone to his site many times.
My problem, as I noted in my original post, is that I think I have the Gonzalo rhytm style down until I record myself up against an established Gonzalo styled rhythm player. Thus, I'm playing along with Denis or Stephan, and I think I'm sounding just like them, that is, until I have the ability to transfer their rhythm playing onto a Garageband track and I record my own rhythm playing on a parallel track and I find that I don't sound like them. Something isn't right in my playing, especially on beats 1 and 3. The drive is missing. When there are other instruments in a recording, it is too difficult to compare my playing against the established rhythm player. And when I can only play along live, I fool myself into thinking I've got it down. That's why I had asked for a recordable track of just rhythm playing for a complete tune instead of a "demonstration." That being said, I think I have plenty of material to work with here thanks to this fantastic community!