opinions: 2 years of gypsy

noize

I've been playing and practicing Gypsy for about 2 years now by guidance of Michael's book Gypsy Rhytm.

I'd appreciate some opinions on what you guys think time has brought me, and where I can improve myself.

After a couple of times listening, I myself thought pointers were:

Timing: Playing somewhat slower to get the chord progressions under control every time.

Variation: Playing comping, or bass & chords rhythm.

Both the melody and the rhythm on the track is me.

So what do you guys think, and if you have any tips how to improve, please let me know.

MichaelHorowitz

Good job! I like that you're not playing the upstroke too slow which is the biggest problem for beginners.

One thing you might work on is changing chords more smoothly. Sometimes when you switch chords it throws you off for a second.

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dennis

hi sounds good.. the rhythm is way too loud and the first beat could be a touch shorter. the rhythm should not be too loud...

here's a great example for the style of rhythm that you seem to be going after:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sERpFVNQ ... re=related

another thing is that during the melodies, you can add a few effects in the rhythm playing but when the improv starts, keep it dead straight with very very little or not effects (rolls, breaks, etc...) unless it's part of some arrangement you came up with

dennis

oh yes, it would also help to play the right chords :-) the first one is either Bbmaj7 or Em7b5 (depends on who you ask).. but i think i might have heard u play a Gmajor in there somewhere, and avoid doing Dmaj Dbmaj Dmaj, it's very cheesy.... it would be appropriate for a song like sweet sue or i'll see you in my dreams , avalon, but i don't think it fits night and day.

Frans

very nice playing, what was your playing experience before you started playing GJ ? What equipment did you use ? (guitar/recording set-up)

My favourite chord for the first bar is Bb maj7 but I think most "jazz" players prefer Emin7b5
Check out other versions like Joe Pass's on "Virtuoso" you can find a lot of ideas there. If you get the chance listen to "Summer Nights" where he plays a bunch of Django's tunes on an acoustic archtop.
Thanks for sharing and kind regards
Frans

noize

Thanks everyone for their kind words, and especially very valuable criticism.

@Frans
I am playing a Manouche Guitar, 14 fret, petite bouche, with Argentine strings (10's), Wegen pick "The Button" (turtle).
The microphone is a Studio Logic SP1 condenser microphone, which I hooked up on my MOTU 8 pre.
I put some equalizing on the rhythm part for fuller bass, as the guitar is very bright in tone by itself.

I have been playing some guitar before, but nothing of a spectacular kind. Simple folk chords, and some fingerstyle play, combined with singing. I am just learning a bit about theory, so that's probably why I throw in (wrong) stuff like Gmajor, only because I thought it sounded good. Bbmaj is much better though.

And yes Joe Pass is great material. I listen very often to his records. Especially the cd Django I like very much.


@Denis
Is my pompe too loud in mixing, or in playing? I included only the rhythm part of the recording, without equalizing, for some better judgment if you like. I would of course greatly appreciate your comments.

Dmaj Dbmaj Dmaj. Do you perhaps know of other chord progressions, to create some harmony movement? I already tried something like Dmaj Dbmaj D#maj Dmaj, to make it sound less cheesy.

Thanks for the link, I like the laidback rhythm playing of David very much.


@Michael
Slightly off topic: I heard a recording of your band Djangomatics, playing the intro of Night & Day. Do you happen to know where I can find a transcription of this?

dennis

hi it's still too loud, in that you are using excessive force so the sound ends up sounding too harsh and aggressive.. I have my students do that when they have trouble getting a good sound.. then i gradually get them to relax their right hands... it needs to be light as a feather... if you do it that way, you still end up with a fairly loud rhythm but a very soft and effective tone

here's a video of my rhythm player to give u an idea... however he plays a different style of rhythm (what you're trying to do is closer to david's rhythm)

dennis

oh and instead of D Db D, you can just stick to D... simple is always the most effective in my opinion.. if you feel you absolutely need to do something, you can do beats 1 and 2: D; beat 3: Edim; beat 4: Fdim beat 1: D/F#