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Yeah exactly what Scoredog and Christophe said, that's the whole point. The rhythm guitar is as much percussion as harmonic structure. The bass is really holding down the root, etc. Main thing for the rhythm guitar is dry percussive good time and stay out of the way. Sure you can do more but not all the time and better less than too much. Better safe than sorry, less is more, blend into the background etc... And the nice smooth voice leading just kind of naturally follows if you are playing simple shapes and not jumping all over the place. Another way to look at it, if the rhythm player is banging away on six note chords with 3 roots a third a couple 5ths and who knows what else it is pretty easy to bury a soloist plucking away at one string.
Maybe try this if you have a bass player just comp 2 notes. A third and either a sixth or seventh. The bass player is already playing the root third and fifth. Try it on a blues just to be easy. Same shape for all e chords only one fret apart but you can definitely hear the harmonic movement. Even if you don't have a bass player you still hear it because it is so familiar that you just fill in the root movement in your head.
I might point out that this percussive style is only one of a number of ways to play a swingy rhythm. In Michael Horowitz's comprehensive book "Gypsy Rhythm" he defines five or six styles, with the percussive style discussed here being most like the "German" style. Many people do still play just as the original quintette did, in a more melodic, less percussive style where the tonality of each chord is clear and the rhythm drives but maybe does not quite "propel". Django always "thought harmony", and I believe those early rhythm sections played the chords exactly as he directed. The percussive style with it's minimal tonality is a modern development and isn't played everywhere.
If you prefer a more musical and less percussive rhythm, what the Parisians call "leger et sec", you can certainly learn from the original HCQ recordings or from bands like Alma Sinti, Ninine and Mondine, or other Parisian groups.
Attached is a page from Ian Cruickshank's book, the lean three-note chords are for the old tune Ultrafox. Try playing these chords along with the original recording and see how cool and clever and easy to play these chords are. They fully express the tonality of the moment, yet they don't interfere with the soloists in any way.
And in any case, whatever style of rhythm (or solo) you want to play, getting the tunes under your fingers, playing from memory and not from a chart is how you become able to freely improvise. Memorize!
Scot, yeah for sure. I'm not saying play totally dry is the only way to do it. But a big mistake the people make starting out is playing too much and way too much ringing. It's better to start out light and dry. The most important thing is timing and percussive (the pulse, or pompe as it's called). Too much volume and ringing is way worse than less. Plus stay off the top 2 strings is always safer for a beginner hence they can't go wrong with the 3 note chords.
My view is that the minimum necessary to accompany a soloist is, either
(1) play dry and staccoto-ish or,
(2) if you want more "musical" sounding chords, play quietly.
There is nothing worse than a loud rhythm player whose chords sustain from one beat to the next.
And, of course, be right on the beat, reliably.
The goal is that the soloist forgets you're even there and just solos away.
Styles and times change. I don't play this kind of music any more, but I first learned rhythm in the '90s from some middle generation guitarists in Paris who did not play the percussive style and did not play all that fast. And then I normally played in a 2 guitar/bass trio and only played rhythm - we typically devoted a lot of time to arranging the rhythm parts, the chords and voicings. We tried to play as a jazz trio, not just two guys supporting a soloist. Or else I played with accordion players and that's it's own special thing. I always tried to play as light and dry as possible, and it was not easy, learning to play at tempo and not play too loud. Because as tempo speeds up, the tendency is to also play louder.
I understand that the way I learned isn't played much any more. That's OK. My only point is that there's more than one way to play rhythm in this style and if the percussive style doesn't work for you, you have options. And as Bones says, don't play too much. Good advice for everyone.
”… guitarists in Paris who did not play the percussive style and did not play all that fast …”
Please someone bring that stule back!
Put on some Sebastien Felix and enjoy :)
Yes! Tanks, I hadn’t heard about him before. Just watched a couple of Youtube videos. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Very inspiring.
I love Sebastien like a brother, so I am obviously quite biased, but he is an immense talent and a great person. There aren't many players that I have listened to more in the past couple of years than him.
Play through Django's tunes.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/162518560/GIVAN-Reinhardt-Transcriptions-II-Fl-Ne