How to learn gypsy jazz technique from 0?

Buco

Just keep in mind everything mentioned is years worth of learning and practicing. If you're shedding several hours a day it's at least 3-4 years before you're good at everything that's said. Somebody mentioned simple. Embrace simple and make it sound good. Too many times people want to be clever in their playing too quick before they really nailed the basics. Simple is good. I doubt anyone else will think it's simple especially if it sounds good. You can certainly try to make your playing interesting, both through the rhythm and solo playing but make simple choices. Since most people have different thinking process so what may be a simple choice for you might sound super hip to somebody else.

Russell Letson

We're wandering (usefully) a bit, but I'd second the comments about playing with others. Aside from the fact that music-making is a social activity (which I'm sorely missing), playing-with is as important as sitting on the sofa and practicing. In fact, I'd say that most of the progress I've made as a *musician* has been the result of playing with others--who, as it happened, were also much more experienced than I was at the business of making music in public and also had broad tastes, so that I had to get along with country, swing, folk, and even acoustic adaptations of rock tunes (one guy loved to do Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails material). I also had to adapt to playing in non-canonical keys to accommodate vocalists or the leader's particular arrangements.

As result, I learned to pay attention, stay out from underfoot, and generally adjust my accompaniment to the genre and the situation--was I backing a vocal or a solo; were we going to play the head; were we going to tag it? And from the dance-centric sessions at the Augusta Swing workshops I learned the bandstand conventions (though I'm still fuzzy about some of the old-time shorthand for turnarounds and such).

When the current unpleasantness is finally past us, it will be very good to get back out in front of an audience and take those skills out of mothballs. Meanwhile, I suppose I should be putting in more sofa time, so that my calluses don't soften and my hands don't get too creaky.

PaulusdeCesare

I think there's never been such galore of musicians and lessons of manouche guitar as now. You just have to find the right teacher, and that's more up to your taste. I found Robin Nolan's videos very helpful and easy to follow, you can find many on youtube, and he's got plenty of books full of standards that I find very useful. There are also Dennis Chang, Stephane Wrembel, Sven Jungbeck... Bireli and Joscho Stephan also have some videos (I think Joscho has his own course you can purchase, while Dennis Chang has the DC school with other musicians as well). Christiaan Van Hemert and Yakoov Hoter are very good teachers too. In the end the best advice I can give you is to go on youtube and watch as many videos as you can, find the teacher that you think would be the best to you, and purchase the material that will help you grow (because teachers deserve it for the work they offer for free). I tried to learn some rudiments here and there, but now I reverted to fiddle with some books in my spare time, as I really can't keep up with online courses and clubs, between having a kid, a rock'n'roll band, a bossa nova duo and a day-job. In the end, it's really up to you how to face this. I'm not a pro, but I have been playing guitar for like 20 years, and this genre although very hard it can also be very rewarding. An advice I can give you, as others said, do play a lot of rhythm before diving into solos, but also learn a few solo instrumentals like Tears, Nuages, maybe some Eddie Lang tune like April's kiss... because it's nice to know how to play something that doesn't always need another guitar player around.

delb0y

All great advice, the one thing that I've found happens in practice when playing with others is my right hand reverts to what it's done for 40 years - i.e an "electric" style. All that gypsy picking, those sweeps, downstrokes, and all that great stuff that I can (kind of) do when playing in the kitchen disappears the moment I have to play something at tempo with others. Highly annoying, but at least it's given me something to focus on!

ChristopheCarington

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/103801#Comment_103801

I actually had two students with the same problem a few years back (teaching electric, not gypsy guitar) where their playing would start to fall apart when we jammed together. For both of them, I found out they didn't really practice 2 important things: playing rhythm with along with recordings, and practice soloing with a backing track. They practiced techniques, scales, shapes, licks... but never in context.

I don't know what your practice or playing is like, but if you're not currently playing along with records and backing tracks to practice "playing with a band," I definitely would start!

pdg

Yes! Just go to youtube and search for "gypsy jazz backing tracks."

Hopefully, memorize the chord progression of a song. Make sure the backing track is loud enough that the beat is strong (not just through a cell phone), but not so loud that it forces you to play "hard." Tap your foot to the beat.

Unless a track is too fast for you, play along with it even if it isn't at the tempo you'd prefer it to be at.

These things have helped me a lot.

filippodallasta

Hi,

Indeed Gypsy Jazz technique can be quite daunting and it is indeed a lot of work.

I have some lessons on my YT channel about GJ right hand technique, I hope this might help you: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL781FmoSeH2qPzY_dUfCsR9rByV1eiuQ1

Also, just letting you know at the moment I am offering a 30-day free trial on my Gypsy Jazz Guitar Makeover Coaching course.

We do a live lesson on a different category of Gypsy jazz guitar every week (right hand technique, rhythm, chords, scales & arpeggios, licks, learn standards, transcribe solos, music theory). All comes with learning material on PDF each week + practice ideas.

You also get a replay of each lesson on your email inbox every Sunday

You can get more info and join a free 30 day-trial of the course here:

https://www.filippodallasta.com/group-coaching-sign-up-2