Hi guys
I would like to ask you for recommendation. I was told that mr wrembel’s book is not bad for those who start learning gypsy jazz style. I haven’t received his book yet from amazon due to some problems but I was informed that problems have been fixed and I will have this book soon.
I am particularly interested In soloing In gypsy jazz. Can you recommend any books, sites, forums where soloing In gypsy jazz is discussed? What arpeggios, what triads over what chords? I need to broaden my knowledge in this field
Comments
Learn the head down cold.
Learn the chords down cold.
Learn the head again in a few different positions and have that down cold. Can you embellish the melody?
Play the arpeggios over the form. There's a pretty good method of doing this in the Wrembel book. This is a must. I avoided this for so long in my playing and it really set me back when I started working on GJ in earnest. Put the work in as soon as possible because it will pay off.
Transcribe a chorus of the solo from a few of your favorite players.
Pick your favorite licks from these songs (that you can play) and have them ready to go.
Practice this as slow as possible to be able to execute it as clean as possible. Again, I was worried for a while about being able to play fast and flash. Now I just play over the forms at home at really slow speeds and try to play steady streams of notes, connect arpeggios, and throw in licks that I've learned or modified.
If I'm called to play a solo over a form, at least I have some ideas of how to get my way through it. I have a couple of starting points ready for tunes if I'm feeling unsure of myself that night and have a couple of easy "rescue licks" ready.
All the books, sites, and stuff are really good and I'm glad they are out there, but I am learning so much more from trying to learn solos from the masters. I try to transcribe at least twice a week, schedule permitting. I just have to learn to write this stuff down.
Hope this helps.
The core of the book takes 6 chord shapes (3Maj and 3Min) on which he constructs arpeggios, (Maj, Min, 7, 6, 6/9, Dim, Whole Tone, etc) and lists them out via guitar neck diagrams. What the book lacks I feel is the way Gonzalo approaches his books with breaking down solos bar by bar or at least by passage/lick idea as does Robin Nolan. There are a few Etude studies to help link the arpeggio's together and Wrembel does spend quite a bit of time on V-I licks but there is little in the way of solos linking all of this together - ei: this is why I choose to play this passage here, see how it links up with this, etc... I feel it falls short in real world use. If I remember correctly he glosses over chromatic notes and release/tension.
That being said, I'm new with this and do find myself going back to Wrembel's book, however solely for reference these days. I'll learn the chords of a tune, get up to speed with the chord changes and being able to play it. Then I'll learn solo passages over each chord, beginning with Etude like arpeggiated runs, then try more melodic ideas toying around with Gonzalo and Nolan solo passages and try to stitch them together.These are what I sometimes reference back to their core arpeggios in Wrembel's book.
The book is good, I wouldn't sell it yet. But I haven't seen Michael's books yet - I hope to at DIJ this year. I hear Michael's books may be more in depth and go the extra distance which Wrembel's book hints at but doesn't deliver.
"It's a great feeling to be dealing with material which is better than yourself, that you know you can never live up to."
-- Orson Welles
Jack here on the site gave me an excellent 2.5 hour lesson of which I am still learning from. He piled on the work and gave me a stack of docs - he greatly assisted in pointing me in the right direction.
Are you coming to Django in June?
"It's a great feeling to be dealing with material which is better than yourself, that you know you can never live up to."
-- Orson Welles
I got permission to do so from the little lady if I could come up with the scratch. It would be either that or a new guitar if I can sell the guitars I currently have. I'm due for someone to correct my terrible habits and get me on the right track. Until then, there is Mr. Chang, this site, Django transcriptions, and you tube. I'm also due for a vacation. Hanging out with a bunch of dudes playing GJ for a week would be actually very therapeutic.
"It's a great feeling to be dealing with material which is better than yourself, that you know you can never live up to."
-- Orson Welles