Gypsy Picking Bebop?

MichaelHorowitz

cantzon wrote:

What you say about the gypsy picking technique involving the pick coming into contact or "resting" on the next string just isn't true at higher speeds. I've spent hours with Finetunes looking at clips I downloaded using Tube TV. So I've been looking very closely in slow motion.

Actually, the pick does come into contact with the next string at high speeds. In fact, it's very important to maintain the rest strokes when playing fast. They help keep you loose and allow you to play very fast with little effort.

If you put in a good 6 months to a year of practicing this technique, you'll find this to be true.

-Michael

dennis

serge mostly plays electric these days.. he has trouble playing with the django technique nowadays because of something that happened to his index finger , i didn't really understand what he said.. but now he holds the pick with three fingers (thumb, index and middle)... and he does only sweep picking seeing how he is an ultra fan (like me) of Frank Gambale...

I have a video on my cellphone of a party with Serge, Moreno, Tchavolo, Steve Demeter, Chriss Campion and a few others, but i dont know how to transfer it to my PC..

CalebFSU

Blasted technology. the only video's on my phone are of my friends acting like jack asses. Dennis let us know if you ever figure that out.

dennis

i have to add that serge is a really nice guy and incredible musician, almost all the good players in paris went to take lessons with him at one point or another...

BluesBop Harry

Thanks for the info,
So the guitar Serge used to play was a Favino...sounded great, I love that version of "Rose room", so bouncy and swinging, with great fresh ideas.
Any word on what's Richard Chiche's guitar?

What I stated about Angelo Debarre's picking on the lick in La Gitane holds true. He is absolutely not coming anywhere near the next string and if he did there's no way he would be able to generate that kind of speed on that lick.

No it doesn't hold true...and yes he's able to play at that speed and faster.
I saw Angelo live at DFLA and from what I could see at his concerts and his workshop he does rest on the next string virtually always, even at very high speeds.
A lot of people can't believe what can be done with GP, until they experiment it for themselves.
Well... for now Angelo (or Jimmy, Stochelo, Bireli, Andreas, etc) should be enough proof for you, Don't you think?
With that said I believe it's a good idea to mix various techniques at different times depending on the desired results.
But like someone recently wrote in this forum, I wouldn't attempt to play something like a Bach partita on guitar using hybrid picking (pick and fingers), and then say that classical guitar technique doesn't have anything on me.


Dennis:
I hope you can figure out how to transfer that video...sounds like a killer.
Any news on your forthcoming DVD's? I've been living on that clip from Django in june, and I would really appreciate a few advances on the material covered on your new releases.

ColinL

I've been struggling with this for about a year now. I have a teacher who LOVES the gypsies, so he loves to hear me play my gypsy guitar with a gypsy right hand. He himself plays with (and teaches) a gypsy left hand, using mostly three fingers with lots of one fret slides like Jimmy and Andreas -- but he's a bebopper from 1960s Paris. When he plays with plectrum he always alt picks.

When he examines my picking his bebop lines, which are very heavy in triplets much like Oscar Peterson lines, he corrects my strokes so that I'm essentially hybrid/alt picking with a rested downstroke. I often find myself practicing both techniques. The alt picking (with rare pulloff and some hammer/slide) is alot smoother and easier to bring up to speed. My gypsy right hand is snappier and doesn't result in dead passing tones, but isn't nearly as fluid.

Sofar the only thing I've been able to conclude is my teacher is right when he says the ultimate bebop technique is to toss the pick and use a thumb+two finger right hand. Thumb for downstrokes, 1st finger for upstrokes and 2nd finger upstrokes to fill in the passing triplets. Unfortunately it's just not loud enough unplugged without a big classical guitar.

I wish there was an easy answer to this question!

Colin.

bloomschool

Well friends, after a long time of practicing Gypsy Picking, I have come to the conclusion that it is a superior method. I am a mainstream jazz player, bebop, and have totally changed my archtop technique over to the Gypsy style of picking. And I have found out that my speed has dramatically increased, an I mean dramatically. Also, my picking hand is now relaxed for the first time ever! My problem is that I now find that my left hand can't keep up with my picking hand! So what I do is to just work my licks slowly and practice speed bursts for just 4 to 8 notes. This has helped. Has anyone found any other way to coordinate hands? Thanks.