I am interested in getting one of these instructional dvds, you know a picture is worth a thousand words, and wanted some opinions from people that owned one or both. I own many of the books, but I think it would be helpful to see someone playing in an instructional manner to confirm the things I am doing right and/or shed light on any wrongs.
Thanks,
Kelly
Comments
Do not get the Mehling vids as he does not play with the technique you will want to emulate. I haven't seen the Jorgensen DVD.
except maybe the new bireli DVD!
on a more serious note, i learned the most from all sorts of bootleg videos before there were any official ones available... a lot of these you can find for free on djangobooks.com thanks to michael ...
for commercial releases, bireli's dvd is obviously a must, the rosenberg dvd is great too, and i think romane has one that's actually instructional , i saw it on VHS, didnt' really like the learning portion but loved the performances. don't forget frank vignola's gypsy jazz jam with jimmy rosenberg (who is really the highlight of the dvd)...
www.denischang.com
www.dc-musicschool.com
You are right, those videos are great learning tools, I have the Bireli Gypsy Jazz Project, the Vignola Gypsy Jam, and the Stochelo one where he plays Spain. I have worked on a few of those before, I was just hoping there might be something out there with that caliber of player but going a little slower, with close-up shots at different angles especially the right hand.
That new Sammy Daussat book looks interesting and it comes with a DVD. I am not that familiar with David Reinhardt's playing though, I only have heard him on the Nuages cut on the Bireli DVD.
The Sammy Daussat book he did with Angelo Debarre is awesome.
www.myspace.com/davisanddow
Paul and Romane's instructional videos are more of a intro to the style kind, nothing fanciful but downright useful if you are a beginner or do no hav foundation in some guitar theory. But among the two, paul is a bit boring as speaker but has more notated licks to offer than Romane. Romane has a book (w cd) titled L'Esprit Manouche, which offers lots more than what both dvds can, and it's a couple hundreds of pages thick. I'd recommend it! And there's a Stochelo Rosenberg book which on on sale at some UK website now, maybe u can check it out too. :>
I have the Beginner Jorgenson DVD and like it. He works with a "student", who is a professional player, but is new to the style. The whole thing opens with a discussion/demonstration about the type of guitar used and why, then it builds on a simple blues progression, adding one new chord substitution each time until it. He demonstrates playing the sixth string with the thumb and explains how it can make playing rhythm easier in certain progression. The improv section works with arpeggios in different places on the neck and focuses on building short phrases as building blocks. I think the book and DVD work well together, plus there is an audio CD that goes with the book. He keeps it simple, so it works well for an absolute beginner (like me) to gypsy jazz. There are good close ups of both right and left hand technique as well.
I found it helpful, both as a book to work with in conjunction with other books, and as a good context setter for someone new to gypsy jazz. If you get it, I don't think you'll regret it. I find myself replaying the DVD when there is not much good on the tube. I pick up some little thing every time.
Paul is very much more of a "hear before you play" teacher, which is probably a better approach than learning a million licks, but is slower too. He also doesn't really use gypsy picking or gypsy-style fingering patterns.
What he does teach is how to hear what you play before you play it and connect everything in a sensical manner.
However, one shining endorsement for his videos is that they helped launch Sammo Miltich's pursuit of gypsy jazz music.