Django's hand technique analyzed in academic paper

Buco

Really amazing, especially how first joint of index finger bends independently.

By the way, I didn't read the paper, but regarding his hand position being more pronated than other players, it's a natural position for hand to be if you move pinky and ring fingers clear off the fretboard. The palm will pronate a little more, no other way.

I'm not convinced he favored long finger stretches on one string to compensate for his injury. I think he used more or less standard fingerings. I found, after learning some of his solos, you can keep the fingerings of "normal" players by using slides and especially double stops to play two notes on the adjacent strings. If you're moving down, say from B to high E, first note you play with the tip of your finger, next note you roll the same finger and flatten it to play a note. If you are moving up, you reverse it. I could play the head for Nuits De St Germain this way without much issue.

billyshakes

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/114216#Comment_114216

Is that an E-chord or just a bunch of E's! 😂

I see E-E-X-E-E-E or 0-7-x-9-5-12

billyshakes

And for what its worth, she may be on a shorter scale length, but I couldn't get anywhere near that on my Altamira.

wim

"It's said that Ida Presti could grab this chord with E's"

Azazzell

• "Django employed greater abduction of index and middle fingers (−9.11 ± 6.52° vs −5.78 ± 2.41°; p < 0.001) and more parallel alignment of fingers to the guitar neck (157.7 ± 3.37° vs 150.59 ± 2.67°; p < 0.001) compared to controls." [...] "Our analysis suggests that Django expanded the range of a limited number of remaining degrees of freedom (DOFs) in a way that is significantly different from a cohort of comparators."

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0309364614523173

• "If the extent of Django’s physical handicap was overestimated in popular culture; the ingenuity that he employed to overcome his physical limitations was underestimated. In addition, his dedication and perseverance to overcome the limitations of his injuries; and his talent as a musical innovator, composer, and arranger justify his status as a truly unique and exceptional musician."

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0309364614523173/suppl_file/POI523173_supp.pdf

Azazzell

Djangos Hand 1of3 https://youtu.be/u5kUZbOATTI

Djangos Hand 2of3 https://youtu.be/VUpAHZqiUgE

Djangos Hand 3of3 https://youtu.be/qiT_6XvyrdY

Rip

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/115231#Comment_115231

wow, i never saw these! thanks

Rip

I always wondered, while lying in bed for the first year or so, whether or not he just practiced his picking technique while his left hand healed.

stuology

I don’t think the joints in his fingers were damaged at all, I believe it was the tendons which were affected by the fire which prevented him from stretching his pinky and ring fingers out fully, hence the claw like look. He would have found it difficult to play a chord like x76454 for example.

Buco

Technique wise, his chordal work is even more impressive to me than his soloing. I really have no idea how he could've played such lush things harmonically like in those solo pieces that are being discussed. Listening to that I'm thinking "what handicap?" but then he himself supposedly said he hears things he'll never be able to play.