The third book that @Bill Da Costa Williams mentioned on waltzes can be found at the link below. Waltzes are their own animal. I personally have this Book 3 (note: it is written in French but that shouldn't scare you away.) You probably won't hear many waltzes called at jams because they tend to be more of a performance piece rather than a vehicle for improv. That said, they are good to practice. The melodies are often full of great ornamentation and licks that could be adapted to assist in your lead playing. Further, this has some bass & chords type arrangements which can be fun to practice or play as a solo piece. They'll definitely have that French/gypsy sound.
I'll also add my name to the list of folks who've been helped through the years by Robin Nolan and the stuff that he puts out. His target is for new folks to Django's music so you can't go wrong there. As mentioned, you can find his youtube channel as Gypsy Jazz Secrets and there are plenty of bite-sized chunks to get you going. If you like what you are learning, there are links to deeper courses and resources which you can purchase.
Finally, I'll add that if you are unfamiliar with the rest stroke picking technique, it is something idiosyncratic to this style especially. Michael has a book that will start you out with very simple picking exercises (open strings only) that he then adapts to arpeggios and licks that you can use in your soloing. If you take your time and follow through with these exercises, you will start out learning this technique correctly and not be forced to unlearn possibly bad habits.
Comments
Sorry you read it that way, strangely enough I tried to choose my words carefully hoping it did NOT seem condescending. Can't win 'em all I guess.
If you accuse a guy of being ungrateful on a public forum how do you expect him to react?
Hey @icuker ,
Welcome to the forum and good luck on your Gypsy Jazz journey!
The books that @stuology and @Chris Martin were referring to can be found here:
Book 1
Book 2
The third book that @Bill Da Costa Williams mentioned on waltzes can be found at the link below. Waltzes are their own animal. I personally have this Book 3 (note: it is written in French but that shouldn't scare you away.) You probably won't hear many waltzes called at jams because they tend to be more of a performance piece rather than a vehicle for improv. That said, they are good to practice. The melodies are often full of great ornamentation and licks that could be adapted to assist in your lead playing. Further, this has some bass & chords type arrangements which can be fun to practice or play as a solo piece. They'll definitely have that French/gypsy sound.
Book 3
I'll also add my name to the list of folks who've been helped through the years by Robin Nolan and the stuff that he puts out. His target is for new folks to Django's music so you can't go wrong there. As mentioned, you can find his youtube channel as Gypsy Jazz Secrets and there are plenty of bite-sized chunks to get you going. If you like what you are learning, there are links to deeper courses and resources which you can purchase.
Finally, I'll add that if you are unfamiliar with the rest stroke picking technique, it is something idiosyncratic to this style especially. Michael has a book that will start you out with very simple picking exercises (open strings only) that he then adapts to arpeggios and licks that you can use in your soloing. If you take your time and follow through with these exercises, you will start out learning this technique correctly and not be forced to unlearn possibly bad habits.
Good luck!
Gypsy Picking
I actually wrote "it is possibly a tad ungrateful" trying to not be too heavy about it but I still stand by the sentiment expressed.