Gonzalo "How I Learned" support group...?

Andre Agazzi

it would be great if Gonzalo Bergara would have an ease version, because it very heavey do learn it to play fast.
I try so over an year long and i can do all of me but very slow.
With my band it is impossible to play it so slow.
I wonder if there is easyer way to connect arpeggios.
The discussion about that is hard to find.
FOR SHURE THE BEST BOOK around to develope your one style.
Thanks Gonzalo

mandocat

I've been practicing with Volumes 1 and 2 for about 1 1/2 years now (after taking a couple of workshops with Gonzalo) and can play along with all of the tunes at the slow speed and sometimes up to around 60 - 70% speed. This has really helped me as far a learning the whole guitar neck better. I often play along with the Stephane Wrembel tracks using Transcribe to slow them down which is more fun than just playing the solo with a metronome. Right now I've been working on picking a tune (Rose Room to start with) and modifying some of Gonzalo's licks to make a Gonzalo-style exercise (I actually write it down). I'm thinking that if I did this to a whole lot of tunes that I may eventually get to something that resembles improvisation.

Lango-Django

OK, I've been working on the Gonzalo volumes for a few months now, and can play about half of them at the slower speed, and here's my take:

1) Definitely, I've learned a lot of new fingerings which I never would have figured out by myself.

2) I, too, started out determined to play these exercises at full speed, and did actually learn to play a couple at full speed, but to be honest, having done that, I really don't see the value of taking all the time to learn aka memorize these exercises at full speed.

3) Why? Because they were written to be exercises, and not performance pieces. Gonzalo has packed a lot of fantastic stuff in each exercise, but my current opinion is that you can achieve more with this stuff by learning/memorizing just a bar or two, or perhaps a cool four-bar phrase (don't miss his neat ascending chromatic arps in "Hungaria" or "Some of These Days") and then trying to work just that one small piece into your own playing.

4) That's the real challenge with using Gonzalo's books: putting these cool licks into practice in your own playing... it seems like it should be real simple, but somehow... well, I keep trying, but it just doesn't happen.

5) I'm guessing that it's like learning a foreign language. Memorizing words or phrases out of a phrasebook is going to help you to some degree, but alas, it's not really a magic shortcut. Still, you keep studying, practising, and trying to live and breathe that language (for me it's French) in hopes that maybe, one magic day...

6) My current fantasy, and I wonder if anyone here has tried this yet, is that buying Gonzalo's play-along book and CD will give me a better handle on how he uses the exercise ideas in real life?

Will
from Malaga, Spain

PS Wow, I've heard some fantastic flamenco guitarists over here, and have got some CD's that this old computer's broken CD drive, alas, will not play, but I can't wait to listen to them when I get back home in Feb.--- anybody out there in GJ-land ever try to play any flamenco licks with your flat pick? Is it even possible?

Jazzaferri

Will

IMO if you want to improve at improvisation, then practicing the ones you like the sound of til you don't have to think about playing them at all regardless of speed will really help all your playing.

blindjimmy

Happy New Year everyone ! Well, after memorizing a few of the solos in the vol.1, i spent the next couple of months with the metronome getting to where i could blow through them at 200bpm. Then i reached a point where i had to stop playing because the joints in my fingers were hurting too much. After that went away, i realized that apart from memorizing the solos , i could not use the licks anywhere else , out of that specific context. So what i started doing was choosing a lick of the day , more like two days to a week, and i am learing the lick all over the neck, figureing out how a lick that starts on the sixth string would be played starting on the fifth or fourth strings, first string licks starting on the second string, different octaves, different keys, and how does the lick sound backwards. Also, i sometimes set the casio or the recorder to play the chord(s) repeatedly to really develop the sound of the lick against the accompaniment . Now i am able to rearange a few of the licks, try them in different tunes etc...also , they really catch peoples attention when you rip through them on a tele through a gritty amp at the guitar center !

SteveGypsyJazz

At one of his workshops at Django In June, Gonzalo said he never would have learned how to play had it not been for Slowdowner. He said learn the licks well, and then apply them to other tunes.

djangolizer

I always tried to find out, how to practice easily. Suddenly I had the idea, to create a software, to give me a playback and show me all the notes of the arpeggios and scales over each chord.
You can see the result on www.djangolizer.ch
I believe, it is a real good tool for practicing Gypsy Swing.
Djangolizer

redblues

Yeah, enough of the softare promo posts djangolizer, this isn't a commercial forum.

Lango-Django

<i>So what i started doing was choosing a lick of the day , more like two days to a week, and i am learing the lick all over the neck, figureing out how a lick that starts on the sixth string would be played starting on the fifth or fourth strings, first string licks starting on the second string, different octaves, different keys, and how does the lick sound backwards.</i>

I think this is the right idea. I'm not at home right now, but this is what I plan to do when I get home... Well, I don't think I'll actually play the lick backwards, but I will try to use the lick of the day in as many tunes as possible.

Will

gone

Hey guys,
i just read all this, i'm here to help if i can,
i have a million comments all your comments but to simplify it i would say.

.IF U ARE GONNA SIT DOWN AND MEMORIZE A WHOLE SOLO, WHICH IS A LOT OF FREAKING WORK, STOP THERE.
NOW GRAB ALL THOSE LICKS U HAVE AND MAKE ANOTHER SOLO FOR ANOTHER SONG ONLY USING THOSE, AND KEEP DOING THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE SUICIDE THOUGHTS.
WE LEARN BY REPETITION, KNOW LITTLE BUT KNOW IT VERY GOOD.

IT TAKES A LONG TIME UNTIL A NEW PHRASE BECOMES PART OF YOUR PLAYING.

SORRY I GOTTA RUN, BUT I'LL LOOK INTO THIS AND TRY AND HELP,
THIS IS NOT AS DIFFICULT AS THE OTHER THINGS ARE, SOUND, RIGHT HAND, FEELING, SOUL, PASSION, MUSICALITY.

IT'S JUST LIKE LEARNING HOW TO SPEAK, IN THIS CASE A NEW LANGUAGE WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MECHANICS.

IF U FOLLOW WHAT I SAY I'LL HAVE YOU IMPROVISING IN NO TIME, THE OTHER THINGS, I CAN'T HELP, THEY ARE QUESTION MARKS FOR ME AS WELL.

GONZALO BERGARA ??