Django in June

Buco

@JHB I felt very similarly some years ago ans decided to wait a while before I went in 2013, so nothing wrong with skipping a year. That said if you have time to work on and learn the material Andrew puts out, and add to that another 10 or so songs that are called out in jams all the time you would be fine. I'm talking chords, not heads, so you can sit in a jam.

This forum is a treasure trove of information about practice and how to get better, one could write a book with advices that have been floated around here, dig in.

JHB

Other than what is posted on "Get ready Musically" could you give me "another 10" song titles to learn?

Buco

Sure.
Start here, it's the guide to jamming at Samois but pretty much applicable to DIJ, written by a member Archtop Eddy:
http://www.hotclub.co.uk/html/samplaying.html

And a couple of threads that covered this subject, first the older one:
http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/507/
and the recent one which also contains the link for pdf Django fakebook:
http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/13530/ten-essential-gypsy-jazz-tunes/p1

Between these two threads there's probably gonna be more then 10, but if you take your pick and learn only 10, every time in any jam at least a few if not most of them are bound to be called by somebody.

Learn to play heads on at least a few and there are some fairly simple melodies: Dark Eyes, Djangology actually isn't too hard, Belleville, Swing 48..

I used my phone with iReal Pro in some of the jams when I was really itching to join and play a certain song but wasn't confident with the chords from the memory. Charts in general aren't encouraged at these festivals but that can always be your last resort.

Start busting and hope to see you there!

AndrewLawrence

Happy to report that on this, the last day of February, we just crossed the 100 registrations mark (which is comparable to last year) so if you're coming, you won't be alone!

Interesting remarks regarding preparation and at what point one is "ready" to get something (like, enjoyment) out of what we offer at Django in June. My hit is that anyone interested in this style should come as early in the process as possible, even before you have a "proper" GJ guitar. What you see, hear and try your hands at here will inform all the investments to come: money, time, mustache pencils...the works.

My extremely biased (but sincere) 10 centimes,
~Andrew
Django in June

Charles Meadows

Is Michael Horowitz coming? I saw his name on one of the instructor lists but not the other. Definitely looking forward to it.

AndrewLawrence

Michael has come every year since DiJ #2, so I'm expecting him. I wonder if he knows about this forum.

JHB

Thanks for all the info, Buco. I’m on it and should have these songs down in short order. Andrew, when I was first starting out a few years ago I did go to Django in June. I remember laying on my rack with the window open just above one of the court yards. It was late and someone was playing what I thought at the time was a contemporary recording of Django’s music. When I thought it odd someone was blaring a stereo at such an hour I looked down to see it was a bunch of random guys jamming. So djamn good. And so it went, mini concerts everywhere for me to enjoy. I’d walked down the street with Joscho to have lunch talking about music, family and business. Nowhere is there this equivalent. At that time I’d be just as likely to walk to the front of the stage of a Van Halen concert and tell the guys I was going to sit in with my Tambourine and play along. I don’t recall seeing some of the other “beginners” I met joining in, or maybe they did in areas I wasn’t aware of. Another reason I don’t want to return as a “beginner” is I want to sit in the more advanced classes (without being called out by the instructor) to see what lies ahead.

Charles Meadows

So how does one decide which classes to attend? This will be my first year. If this were another genre of music I would definitely be at home in some of the advanced classes. But I'm still relatively new in GJ. So JHB I'm sort of in your boat. Got to try to get really facile with a lot of these tunes in the next few months.

kevingcox

Andrew puts out a super handy level guide but I liked how he put it last year for the advanced classes: there are about 10-12 players per teacher and 2 advanced classes so if you are jamming around and feel that you are in the top 20 players go to those classes.

From those descriptions I basically consider myself a level 3 soloist and a level 4 rhythm player. From my experience over the last 2 years the teachers generally try to work to the average level of the players in front of them. I have been to level 3 classes that felt like level 2 classes and ones that felt like level 4+. I have been to level 4 classes where I felt right at home and others where I felt really bad for slowing things down. I think they work best for those who can learn licks or solos very quickly.

The teacher is not going to give you grief, however, if you find yourself, as I have, in a class way over your head (either through lack of skill, sleep, or too much drink... all of which I have blamed at different times) then the best thing is to try being considerate of the other students who are ready to drink in whatever the teacher is showing.

All that said, so much depends on the teacher that you never really know what you are in for. That's part of the fun!

Buco

A lot depends on instructor when it comes to levels. Andrew has amazing organizing skills and on paper everything works out perfect but then you come to class and...a student can drag a class in different direction or the instructors can have their own sense of what to work or...I've been to both level 1 and level 4 and got a lot out of it, and vice versa. But I've got something out of every class I went to regardless. Once I was truly over my head when instructor had us improvise a chord melody using inversions only. I played the first two and then stopped blank. So that was my lesson, go home and learn inversions (I'm still not very good at it).
So try them as they sound interesting to you, if it's too advanced listen and observe, if you feel like right at home be a more active participant and so on.

Lessons are only a part of the whole thing though.