Studying with Gypsies!

chrissoto · January 2011

Hey all Gypsy Jazz lover!

My names Chris and I'm a 19 year old guitar player with 5 years experience on guitar and a few months of Gypsy jazz experience. I have borrowed the "Gypsy Rhythm" book from a friend and have been going through it and that loving it. I have gotten deeply involved in all its music and culture and I can't get enough of it.

At the moment I'm just doing the usual studies here (in Australia), relating to music and such. I'm still to decide on careers and such for the future BUT, I had something in mind.

I have been working a lot lately and saving up for a hopeful trip to Europe. My main goal from this is to some how initiate some sort of study with Gypsies. Yes, I've heard it's a beautiful continent with marvelous sites, but the music is calling me more than anything!

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this? What are the high's and low's of a trip like this? Anyone ever lived with Gypsies for a short time? Is it hard getting around?
I'm hoping to plan and work towards it all this year and by 2012, be in Europe spend some time, wether it be months or years, with Gypsies.

If anyone can give me and information, contacts or anything, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks heaps!
Chris.

dennis · January 2011

you're better off just living in paris lol

beign a gypsy doesn't mean being musically gifted.. they grew up with that music so it definitely is a major advantage.... but that's as far as it goes

but it's kidna like saying, i wanna learn to rap, i'm gonna go hang out with black guys in LA hahahaha...

for every good gypsy guitarist, there are hundreds who just aren't good... the good ones are generally the ones who live close to the really good ones... so you'll find them in eastern france, middle of holland, some parts in germany, belgium...

it doesn't help that most don't know how to teach or don't speak english... I'm very fortunate to speak French and for some reason, I get along with a lot of these guys so I was definitely able to learn a lot from them, like Samson Schmitt's family, Yorgui Loeffler's family, Stochelo's family, etc... I didn't study with them , but I just hung out and jammed

but even then the best thing one can do nowadays is just livei n paris, it's full of amazing musicians, both non gypsies and gypsies alike... you don't necessarily have to take lessons, just go to the jam sessions every night and get your ass kicked, ask questions and so forth

crookedpinky · January 2011

Hi Chris, Dennis is right - just because you're a gypsy doesn't mean you're a great player - or teacher which is anotehr aspect of the equation.

I run the Hot Club of Glasgow and we are fortunate enough to have some Polish gypsies come along to our jam sessions and they are great players and we learn so much from them but this is only done by watching them. That means you need a basic level of knowledge of gypsy jazz to follow what they're doing. Occassionally we'll as them why they played a certain chord or why they played something in a certain way and they struggle to explain simply becausethey're used to just playing stuff and not analysing it in the way that we tend to.

It amuses me that there are so many books out there which analyse the playing of gypsy jazz in western musical terms and thinking when the best players of the style learn largely by watching, listening and copying without that intellectual knowledge behind it.

However, having said all that, I had a lesson with Lollo Meier on my first visit to Samois in 2008 when I had just started playing this stuff and that was useful - if only to teach me how porr my rhythm playing was. If you're serious about going to Europe you can go and stay with Lollo and his wife in their camp in Hollan - it's not easy to get to but you stay in a small traditional caravan beside their and you have 3 - 4 days 1 to 1 tuition with Lollo and Susan, Lollos wife, feeds you ( and I hear she feeds you a lot....)

Lollo is a great player and a lovely, sweet, gentle man. He has a really nice manner - especially when he's telling you that the thing you've just played isn't very good.

You can get details from Lollos site
http://www.lollomeier.nl/

And of course there are Dennis's own excellent DVDs....finally, Dennis is spot on, go to a jam session get stuck in, get your butt kicked, listen as all the stuff you've practised and can play fluently at home fall apart in the heat of the jam session.

All the best
Alan

Djangoslefthandman · January 2011

Gypsyjazzacademy.com - I'd say this could be a great resource for you. Taught by gypsies who are the top players. The quality of Lollo's filmed lessons is superb. The site is run by players and gets to the core of what's needed imho. Lollo will film responses to questions and demonstrate his points. Fapy is also on board now. Dennis Chang is the official transcriber.

It will be interesting to see how it develops and whether the current high standard can be maintained but on current form, speaking purely as a customer, it represents a good investment.

Also as stated Go To Paris, great players & plenty of jams.

chrissoto · January 2011

Hey,

You guys have been an absolute great help!
Like I said, I've got this year left of studies and work so I can save up, but your replies have given me alot more to think about.

Here in Sydney, maybe 1 or 2 people know what Gypsy Jazz is all about, and I have searched high and low. We don't really have jam sessions or jam nights, and if they do its either a drug or alcohol fest =\ which, to be honest, is completely no go for me.

Looks like Paris will eventually be the go for me to start off, and learn by just hanging around muso's, making mistakes, looking like that useless player, but really getting up close to it all.

It completely makes sense about the Gypsies and Rap comparison, thanks for clarifying all that. Like I said, I've been studying and practicing as much as I can, but there's still alot more I have to learn.

Thanks for your replies guys, I really appreciate it!

Chris.

HotTinRoof · January 2011

This thread should be stickied. Excellent information guys. 8)

klaatu · January 2011

crookedpinky wrote:

And of course there are Dennis's own excellent DVDs....

Especially the ones he did with Wawau Adler and Stochelo (check them out here: http://tinyurl.com/6f6w92a). This is the tried and true gypsy method, - watch, listen, and learn. These DVDs are like master classes that you get to repeat over and over to your heart's content. The best way to approach them is with software that allows you to slow down the speed and play short passages in loops, so you can wear your fingers out practicing them.