What was the first Djano solo you ever learn?

Jim Kaznosky

I remember asking a teacher for recommendations on good solos to learn. He told me whichever ones grabbed my ear. I also had another teacher show me solos piece by piece. The former is definitely true and kind of the way I work now. I mean that I listen to something and there is something about it that grabs my ear, I try to figure it out. The latter really helped me put my system together to help me learn on my own.
Just more things to consider.

Chiefbigeasy

"Minor Swing" 1937 version was my first complete solo. I made the mistake of buying Robin Nolan's course for $50. I then purchased Yakov Hoter's "Minor Swing" course for $50. No slight to Robin Nolan, but there is no comparison. Yakov's course is just packed full of great information including three variations in difficulty on learning your own soloing technique plus the entire solo carefully and slowly explained and played. I took it as my main introduction to Gypsy Jazz and spent a couple of months getting the solo down. Now, it's just a matter of getting it up to speed and keeping it there.

By the way, there is still material in Yakov Hoter's course on "Minor Swing" that I have yet to investigate. Yakov is a great instructor, generous with his information, and patient with his instruction. I can't recommend him highly enough.

The next two tunes I learned were "Tears" and "Nuages." While technically not solos, when played unaccompanied, playing the tunes involve soloing and chording. Both are very satisfying to play in solo versions.

Since then, I've been taking instruction with a more rhythm-oriented excellent jazz guitarist. While this has got me up to speed on interesting chord shapes and movement. I've spent less time learning solos. I did, however, learn some portions of solos in "All of Me "and "Honeysuckle Rose."

Studying and learning the solos prompted an earlier post of mine regarding trying to figure out how to think and phrase like early Django. While some would argue that soloing should be a form of personal expression (and it has been in other styles including Blues and Flamenco), I have come to believe that learning Django's solos is the quickest way to incorporating his phrasing into my thinking process. Other good advice in that earlier post includes listening to Django's influences, in particular, Louis Armstrong.

I find it hard to argue with the idea, however, that there are a few things more immediately rewarding than being able to reproduce a Django solo for my ears with my own two hands.

jazzygtr

Chiefbigeasy wrote: »

I find it hard to argue with the idea, however, that there are a few things more immediately rewarding than being able to reproduce a Django solo for my ears with my own two hands.

I also have been finding an extreme amount of satisfaction in just nailing any of his riffs and solos. Just makes me smile!

Jeff Moore

I subscribe to the "in the style of" idea. The only tune I picked out more or less note for note was See you in my Dreams. Even then when I wasn't sure, I'd create it in such a way to be "as he would have done it if he were me" or something even more contradictory.
After learning lots of note per note stuff decades ago, I don't want to do that. "Originality" seems preferable. I'm still a thief, but trying to steal the whole store rather than just the jewels.

jazzygtr

That actually made me laugh Jeff. I've spent most of my life doing what I could to NOT learn things note for note, but Django's bitten me, and I just am loving playing his lines note for note right now

Jeff Moore

So I'm gonna argue "don't do what you love"?
I watched those vids earlier. They're wonderful and there's so much information in any Django solo, that that may be the only way?
10,000 best methods - One per student.

Buco

A lot of the great guitar players in this style mentioned learning a lot of Django's solos as they were progressing as players themselves. So there's gotta be some merit in this approach.
I didn't do it but I'm starting to rethink it, althou. that's a very time consuming process and time is golden. But I see this approach serving more to assimilate the style and spirit rather than picking licks note for note.

When I got my guitar I was dying to learn Minor Swing because, as lot of you pointed out, it's so much fun to play (took loads of time). I also learned I'll see you in my dreams but couldn't nail it cleanly at tempo. I'll give it another go, I'm inspired after this thread and Adrian H did a great job transcribing it on soundslice.com although I still got my own notes and videos when I learned it by ear but I was once comparing the two and they differ on some notes and I trust Adrian's ear in this case.
That's one very useful thing to learn from this, is finding which intervals Django favoured, especially to complete the phrases and you can use that when coming up with your own lines.

anthon_74

My personal belief is that learning django solos is better to do once you have a grasp your arpeggios, and the ability to improvise over the style, at least a little bit. For example, when I had only just started into this style, I learned to play Parfum and minor swing, only to discover that it didn't help my ability to improvise in this style. Why ? Because I didn't understand the context in which Django was creating his phrases. I didn't know when django was doing an enclosure around a certain arpeggio note, because I didn't know the arpeggios well, nor could I string them together in what dennis chang calls the "skeleton exercise". Now when I learn a django solo (by ear is the best way I think, using the amazing slow downer or transcribe) I'm able to attribute every lick/phrase to an arpeggio, which allows me to transpose the lick into different keys and absorb it into my improvisational style.
That said, I believe if you really want to SOUND like Django (and not just like a gypsy jazz guitar player) in your improvisation, I think you need to work out his solos note for note.

Jazzaferri

No matter how hard you try even spending your life on it one will never sound exactly like Django

One can come pretty close though, until its time to really improvise, as opposed to playing some lines that one has already worked out.

Jeff Moore

Jazzaferri
That's a fact. We're not gonna sound like Django.
Rosenberg and the greats don't sound like him either. Django (like Hendrix et al) was playing in a style wildly popular at the time. Their idiosyncracies within the culture of the time were their calling card.
And his playing sounds more "emotive" than "well thought out", a lot more spontaneous than planned.
Let's bank on the fact that if we want a similar reaction, we must create music that has cache now as he did then. It may or may not be 1/8 note swing. To use his lessons maybe it only has to have a good melody (lots of movement in the chords?) and/or have a groove with enough open space to make our own melodic riffs.
Even if you can't sound like Django, your can sound like you, which is exactly what Django was sounding like, himself. The instruments, arrangements, instrumentation, and "fingering", was nearly all original, perhaps unrepeatable. If we want to make use of his achievements, we may have do that by attempting originality and uniqueness as best we can, whether we start with copying him note for note or just trying to take in the "whole thing" and move on to our own fates.