Noob

Mat

I want to start learning how to play this style of music. I come from a classical, jazz background on piano for 15 years and blues, rock, flamenco, on guitar. I'm wondering what are the best books to buy if I want to mainly improvise, and one for beginners.

Recommend away.

Michael Bauer

Mat--

If you look around you'll find lot's of posts on this very topic, but I would say "Gypsy Picking" is first, and a must if you want to play this music with an authentic sound. Stephane Wrembel's "Getting Into Gypsy Jazz" will give you all the patterns and fretboard knowledge you need to approach improvising in this style. "Gypsy Rhythm" is the most complete study of rhythm guitar, and I can't possibly over emphasize how important it is to learn proper rhythm playing to get the feel of this music. It can be somewhat encyclopedic, though, so The first Robin Nolan Songbook might be an easier place to start.

There are also some great videos out by Dennis Chang. Start with the rhythm DVD. Once you have a feel for picking and have a basic grasp of the Wrembel book, Dennis has a four DVD set on improvization which will last you a long time.

I would suggest finding a teacher who really plays gypsy jazz if you can find one where you live. I think to learn this music well, you need a guide. It will certainly speed things up at the very least.

Good luck and have fun!