Rosenberg rhythm workshop at DFNW

fretbuzz · September 2008

Wow wow wow, all I can say is wow. The Rosenberg workshop was really very good and Nous'che is as fast, subtle and spot-on as all of those Youtube vids show him to be. It seems that what really stood out in this seminar was the lack of finite answers to the questions that were being thrown around. The real beauty of rhythm playing, be it Nous'che or Nin-Nin or Michael or whoever is how well it supports the soloist and the song itself. Sure, the soloist gets all the cool phrases and artistic embellishments, but when you look around the room and see all those feet tapping, that's the rhythm player.

I should also add that they were very personable, funny and humble almost to a fault. What great guys they are. Thanks for the class, fellas!

JMP · September 2008

Thanks for the review. Can you share any specific tips, techniques, drills or exercises that were discussed at the workshop? Did Nous'che talk at all about when he uses upstrokes and when he omits them, or any other aspect of his sound? I'd appreciate anything you could add to your vivid description of the workshop.

dennis · September 2008

did he explain his philosophies on the use of polychords, tritone subs, and 13b9#11 chords?

MichaelHorowitz · September 2008

JMP wrote:

Thanks for the review. Can you share any specific tips, techniques, drills or exercises that were discussed at the workshop? Did Nous'che talk at all about when he uses upstrokes and when he omits them, or any other aspect of his sound? I'd appreciate anything you could add to your vivid description of the workshop.

He pretty much always uses upstrokes on before beats 1 and 3, as do most of the other Dutch players (and Django as well). He also said not to play loud...keep it relaxed and use a small subtle motion when playing fast.

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Bob Holo · September 2008

The thing that really caught my eye about Nous'che was the amount of control he had when speeding up and slowing down. Stochelo would look over at him and make a little up or down movement with his forehead or eyebrows and Nousche would adjust. Communication is not unusual - but what really caught my eye was the precision of the communication and the smoothness of the tempo change. I remarked to a guy later that Nous'che must have a big heavy lever in his back that you have to turn slowly up or slowly down. His absolute consistency in speed and diligence in accelerating and decelerating so deliberately and smoothly established an incredible amount of inertia in the rhythm which made it almost impossible to lose the beat... hard to describe but unmistakable when you hear and feel it. He never just sped up or slowed down - he would "transition" speeds in a very linear fashion over the course of three or four measures. It created this feeling that the rhythm was some larger force under its own power and that changing it required effort - like turning a ship - not that the rhythm was "heavy feeling" ... it just simply had inertia. So - that is one concept you can definitely break off and chew on if you want to better understand what the Rosenbergs are doing from a rhythm standpoint. Practice holding a very consistent slow speed then accelerating slowly and consistently - then hold a quick tempo - then decelerate slowly and consistenly - try to feel the inertia in the rhythm - when you can create that inertia - you will have given your lead player a more stable platform on which to build his ideas. The energy he doesn't have to expend listening for the rhythm is energy he gets to put into his solo.

langleydjango · September 2008

dennis wrote:

did he explain his philosophies on the use of polychords, tritone subs, and 13b9#11 chords?

I think he got so involved in 12-tone rows he had to gloss over that stuff.

fretbuzz · September 2008

Lessee here, other bits of info gleaned from the workshop:

*Keep your wrist loose; don't swing from the elbow, but "whip" the wrist.
*Don't hammer the strings, just brush them with the pick edge.
*Get your paws on a big tortoise shell pick.
*Listen to the song and ask yourself, "What does it need?"
*Find a great soloist to play with and stick with him or her for as long as possible.
*Read your soloist's mind. If you can't do that, look for cues and clues, both subtle and overt.
*Don't get too hung up on theory. If you don't exactly understand what you're doing but it still sounds good, just go with it.
*Keep at it. You'll get a feel for when to lay low or add sparkle. Get into the song, man!

Again, what an amazing player and inspiration to an old box-beater like me.

Super Mario Maccaferri · October 2008

On behalf of Nous'che and Stochelo, I'd like to THANK you all for coming, either at the workshops or the shows, or both !

It was a pleasure for the band to walk US ground again in such a delightful atmosphere. You rule guys !

I already made up two little vids from the band's excursion, they're the latest added to my Youtube chanel, more coming soon, right here :
http://www.youtube.com/user/MarioMaccaferriRules

Edit : It was a pleasure meeting so many of you, including...
Bob and his guitars - thanks a lot, keep us posted about bending soundboards and questing for Busatos, it was great to find such knowledge on your side of the ocean. Keep these guitars barking, I'll bring the bones next time

Michael - the pygmee story will be completed some other time

Thanks for Nous'che's book.
Archtop Eddie - lots of good vibes, "Bring me the hands..." definitely needs a sequel. Thanks for the pin-up guitars too !
Shelley : the proof that innovating somehow on those old antique guitars can seduce even the fiercest gipsies !

Kepp it going, everyone, and thanks again !