Le'Espirit de'Manouche.

DRUNKNOMORE

Le, Espirit' De Manouche.

anybody please guide me on the the standard a player would need to be, to get the best from this tutor book?


Many thanks

DNM) David

pinkgary

You need to be a fairly decent guitar player (scales in semiquavers at 120bpm, know your notes on all strings, know how chords are built, make your own inversions, read rhythms, just general grade 5 theory stuff, not jazz theory) but you don't need to be very far down the gypsy jazz road


T'is THE best gypsy jazz instruction book you can buy. It's got it all (barre the picking, but i'm sure Michael will chime in here, plugging his excellent Gypsy picking). But i keep coming back to this book, learning new things when i re-read chapters (maybe i just don't read things properly first time round. But no, 'cos i don't learn new things from other books when re-reading them. But it might be the shitty translation from french that means you have to read some sentences a few times before they make sense.)


I like this book a lot

DRUNKNOMORE

Hi Pinkgarry.

I am on my grade 1 music having only started at college .
I will bring this book out of hiding this time next year .


Many thanks

DNM(David

JazzDawg

David,

I've got that book, and I find it to be a good all-round book for the bit more experienced player. There's just so much presented, and Romane is very gifted. However, I think afterall the materials I've gotten, the single most beneficial set of materials for the beginner are:
Gypsy Picking - Michael Horowitz
Getting Into Gypsy Jazz - Stephane Wrembel
Denis Chang - The Art of Accompaniment

I'm not saying the others are not good, and many may disagree with my short list, but these 3 give you a very good grounding in the areas you will find yourself needing the most, picking, understanding of the fretboard (arpeggios and visualization), and playing a killer kick-a$$ rhythm.

Once you have these basics under control, the other materials will open up a lot more for you. Check my blog for a bit more on the topic and feel free to comment or email me.

Cheers!

BluesBop Harry

JazzDawg wrote:

Gypsy Picking - Michael Horowitz
Getting Into Gypsy Jazz - Stephane Wrembel
Denis Chang - The Art of Accompaniment

I second that + Denis' Technique and improvisation 1 and 2

David F.

I bought it when Michael had a sale on it earlier this year. It's almost entirely over my head but I'm using it as a scale and arpeggio catalog--over the next few years it will teach me the fretboard very thoroughly. I intend to grow into it.

pinkgary

Has anyone encountered the beginners one he (Romane) has recently published? It seems to be aimed at kids (that is me literally judging a book by its cover), but it may be perfect for the less experienced guitarist who wants to learn this style.

caseyspaos

Personally, I find Romane's books a source of frustration. They typically have minor transcription or TAB errors (even on his own compositions) and are definitely aimed at the advanced player. I purchased L'Esprit de Manouche here two years ago and now I just use it more or less as an arpeggio reference. Part of the problem is that most of the study pieces are Romane's own compositions. So if you happen to be a fan (I'm not - I find his music uninteresting and his playing sloppy) AND you know your theory well, perhaps it is worth it to you.

ViejoVato

I'd have to second the same list...
horowitz for the picking
Le'Espirit de'Manouche - for long term study ... yes romane is somewhat pedantic in the approach and the translation is difficult at times, but he packs more material in here than most of the books I've come across. You just have to be patient.
And dennis chang (who I met one year at Djang in june) has the best videos
And Wremble for the arpeggio pages in his book that will at least show you what he calls MIB (money in the Bank) which is nothing more than finding minor and major arps for all keys on the top 4 strings in 3 different positions.

cheers,
milzzzzzzzzzz