Learning 5 solos by django in june (personal challenge)

anthon_74 · March 2016

Hi friends,

I've issued myself a personal challenge to learn 5 solos from great players prior to Django in June, record each one and post it onto youtube. The first solo I've recorded is Coquette by Sebastian Giniaux. The solo is the one in the video Dennis Chang posted to promote his in the style of series. I worked it out using soundslice (thanks a TON Adrien !).

Here it is ! -
https://youtu.be/pmmWjcRgAv0

Lango-Django · March 2016

Anthony, a brave effort. I won't jinx you by saying "g**d l**k"... so as the French say... merde!

andoatagn · March 2016

Nice, Anthony! I just reposted on the DiJ FB page.

Jim Kaznosky · March 2016

The greater challenge is that you've decided to post videos of you playing this, which you won at as well.

Scoredog · March 2016

While I hope all the best in your endeavor I can't help but thinking it is not the best way to improve ones playing. I know what I am going to say may rub some people the wrong way but so much time is going to be put into this and "Anthony you seem like a good guy" so I'll give my opinion because you put this out there. I think the best thing to come out of it might be learning these different players phrasing but to really get that I think you need to spend more time with each phrase to really lock in the ease these players approach things. learning so many phrases at one time will most likely mean most of the phrases you learn will not come naturally when playing in situations. Smaller fragments which in most cases you can re-purpose harmonically seems to be a more efficient way of learning.

anthon_74 · March 2016

I hear you score dog, though I don't entirely agree. I believe there comes a time when learning solos note for note can be very helpful. Even if the phrases don't totally get into my fingers, the solos themselves have already given me new ideas as to directions I can go that never would have occurred to me. Also, in order to get the licks up to speed, I had an unintentional breakthrough, where I realized that all this time I've been trying to pick too hard.
I do agree that the short period of time certainly CAN limit my ability to really delve into each solo, but for me, sometimes if I don't give myself a deadline and something to shoot for, I won't do it. I also intend to keep playing these solos as to not forget them, and as I mention in the notes below, each video will include a follow up video where I go over my favorite phrases and break them down for the viewer, so I do have that in mind.

Cheers

Anthony

anthon_74 · March 2016

andoatagn wrote: »

Nice, Anthony! I just reposted on the DiJ FB page.

Thanks Andrew !

anthony

Scoredog · March 2016

I hear you Anthony, I am not opposed to picking off others phrases, I do it all the time and as you say "given me new ideas as to directions I can go that never would have occurred to me". It's the mass amount of material to assimilate I personally would find daunting. I'm sure doing this and accomplishing it will improve your playing.

richter4208 · March 2016

Well I have a little bit of experience with a similar situation Anthony. I joined the Rosenberg Academy and set myself the goal of learning a dozen tunes. I'm 4 months in and have gone thru 10. Memorizing the solos is time consuming, getting them up to even 3/4 speed is VERY challenging.

I have no regrets with my approach, but what Scoredog says rings very true. At this point breaking down the tunes I know and pulling out phrases and applying them to other songs seems to solidify the licks in my playing. The key being to use the licks in a new context.

Good luck Anthony!

anthon_74 · March 2016

richter4208 wrote: »

but what Scoredog says rings very true. At this point breaking down the tunes I know and pulling out phrases and applying them to other songs seems to solidify the licks in my playing. The key being to use the licks in a new context.

Yah, I get it ya'll. I've been learning phrases, and licks, dissecting them, analyzing them, and putting them into different contexts fur quite a few years now. I even wrote an entire section of my book, Manifesting Manouche about this very concept. It's called creating your own original phrase etudes.

Learning these 5 solos is about a lot more than just shoehorning new licks and phrases into my playing. One thing I've learned in studying gypsy jazz is that you have mix things up. Learning full and challenging solos by awesome players has been something I've avoided. Seeing how they put things together moves your mind into new directions. Learning how to play entire challenging solos improves your overall technique as well as your physical ability to execute the ideas you have. Not to mention the fact that It enhances endurance and improves your ear.
Sure, I am taking some of the phrases and practicing them separately, but the goal of my personal challenge is much more than that.

Anthony