How's my pompe?

Jack

dennis wrote:

i'll just repeat, there are different ways of playing rhythm, but if you want to use the upstroke, just make sure you get it right.

This is possibly the most important thing ever written on the forum.

Best,
Jack.

trumbology

Dennis,

Thanks for your extended replies to me and scholzie. Just one follow up from me:

When you mention players who believe "the arm should never move," this wouldn't impact the wrist/hand technique, correct? ie. "right hand should always be smooth and non-stop (like a pendelum)"

The shoulder and arm can stay stationary while the hand is in constant motion is my understanding, in other words, these are two different issues.

I just did a little air pompe at my workstation--I think I've understood you correctly. Hope nobody saw me flailing around like a spastic idiot.

n

trumbology

dennis wrote:

.... there are different ways of accompanying mainly divided by 2 schools: straight and swing (w/ upstroke)....

Okay, I lied. I'm raising my hand again.

Second clarification: "Straight" is a four-to the bar Freddie Greene style, and swing is la pompe? Or are you saying within the Sinti rhythm guitar tradition itself, there are the straight and swing approaches?

Sorry to keep peppering you with questions.

Neil

scholzie

I think either Michael or Dennis needs to post a video :P Babysitting us must be a full time job.

I've seen a video of La Pompe being demonstrated, but it is very slow and deliberate so it's nearly impossible to get the feel for it. I would love it if there was a small video showing the downward motion, the pendulum + upstroke, and then a full AABA to play along with.

It's the most important part of the whole genre, yet the only real information out on the net is how to play lead.

MichaelHorowitz

Yeah...I change enough diapers around here as it is....ha ha

I don't have a camera so I can't make a vid. I plan to a rhythm DVD at some point.

'm

scholzie

No worries. L'Shenah Tova, Michael.

MichaelHorowitz

Shona tova!

dennis

trumbology wrote:

dennis wrote:

.... there are different ways of accompanying mainly divided by 2 schools: straight and swing (w/ upstroke)....

Okay, I lied. I'm raising my hand again.

Second clarification: "Straight" is a four-to the bar Freddie Greene style, and swing is la pompe? Or are you saying within the Sinti rhythm guitar tradition itself, there are the straight and swing approaches?

Sorry to keep peppering you with questions.

Neil

some people don't use upstrokes... ie stephane wrembel and herve gaguenetti and a few others that i've seen... i refer to that as straight

dennis

trumbology wrote:

Denis,

Thanks for your extended replies to me and scholzie. Just one follow up from me:

When you mention players who believe "the arm should never move," this wouldn't impact the wrist/hand technique, correct? ie. "right hand should always be smooth and non-stop (like a pendelum)"

The shoulder and arm can stay stationary while the hand is in constant motion is my understanding, in other words, these are two different issues.

I just did a little air pompe at my workstation--I think I've understood you correctly. Hope nobody saw me flailing around like a spastic idiot.

n

as far as arm go i meant: having a wide range of motion from the wrist (therefore the arm is supposed to move a little bit to give a wider range), this is clear on the hot club j'attendrai video or when you see nous'che rosenberg play medium tempo tunes (watch the dvd).... in this school, you use a wider range of motion for the medium tunes, and as the tempo gets faster the range of motion is considerably smaller... you can clearly observe this in the rosenberg samois dvd...

others believe the range of motion should always be the same , that is small: hono and herve both follow this school...

Carter O`Brien

I just wanted to say this is a fantastic discussion!

It's very, very difficult to put in to words what makes a good rhythm player good, it's like trying to quantify magic. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another, I think some of it depends on how the guitar itself sits on your lap, how long your arms are, etc, all things that vary tremendously by individual. It also depends on who you're playing rhythm for! The rhythm supports the lead, not the other way around. You always have to adapt depending on who you're playing with, and how many other people are there filling in space. The more musicians, the less you generally play.

Alfonse can look at me and in 1/64 of a second tell by my range of motion and the speed of the tune whether or not I'm swinging at 100% of my personal capacity, and he'll just use body language to signal I should heat it up or I should relax it.

However, to further thicken the pot, I can tell you that John Fredrichs, Robin Nolan's first rhythm player, was very specific about his use of the upstroke, he caught the E-A-G strings, and like Dennis says, the sound was completely rolled back into the next downstroke.

The key is of course that it has to be smooth - once you start cooking at fast tempos there's no time for extra movement on your way moving back up the strings, but what defines "no time" is obviously going to be very different for a John Fredrichs or Nousche Rosenberg or Hono, etc., than for say, myself!

The swingingest pompe I've seen out there is Mathieu's, that guy is just incredible, I hope more footage of him playing with Adrian and Sebastian comes out.