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 The
UK Hot Club Tuition Collection
Steve Royall
has long since abandoned his UK Hot Club site and it is no longer maintained. So
maybe its up to us to carry his torch a bit further as an interactive,
interested and related site.
At one time Steve
used to make the UK Hot Club a full time occupation. He gave this up a few
years back and in his words "took a proper job". So before the said domain
expires for the want of fees and all is lost we reproduce his gargantuan efforts
here in the interests of preservation. If anyone wishes to withdraw any
contribution referred to in good faith we will comply promptly.
BUY A REALLY EXPENSIVE
GUITAR:
If you've got more money than sense then put in an offer for Stochelo's Selmer.
If like the rest of us you have better things to spend your money on, then a
cheaper route is required. Your old guitar will do, but if your going to take
this even half seriously you will eventually realise that you need something
that can deliver the sound that all your hard work is striving for. We have our
very own Items for Sale page where you can put in
requests for guitars or even sell your guitar if you've discovered that you
really want to pick country style tunes instead.
THE PICK: -
That floppy bit of worn plastic will be your worst enemy, lose it now. Your
going to need something more substantial. The pick of choice should have NO give
whatsoever. So we're talking 2mm minimum. Material can be be most standard pick
stuff but the best are those that don't wear quickly and don't "grip" the
string.
I myself have played with wood, coconut shell, ivory (old piano keys), bone,
Formica, toilet seat and tortoise shell.
If your starting out you should do yourself a favour and avoid the -what pick
should I use- scenario, that many take years to get over, and buy a
Gypsy Picks. They play as well as
tortoise shell and are replaceable if you lose it. Expensive they are (i.e. hand
made by Michel Wegen of Holland) but an indispensable tool they are. When you've
tried everything else most end up with a Wegen.
GET RHYTHM: With
audio
Rhythmic
Accompaniment This section will get you swinging with a gypsy swing feel.
Very important section. Get this sorted first.
LEARN THE CHORDS:
With audio
The Gypsy Chords Section below will get you started. This is important, you will
never get the right sound until you stop playing those folk/pop chords. Triads
are where it's at, well nearly anyway. Standard chords are used, there is no
doubt about it, but if you don't know what a triad is then you really need to
check out The Chords section.
ARPEGGIOS: With audio
The Arpeggios Page. A vast amount, more than you
would believe at first of the soloists art is derived from the arpeggios that
he/she has picked up on the way. By no means are they the be all and end all -
you can't solo with just arpeggios - but they sure do help.
TRICKS & FILLS:
The Tricks Page will show you some of the simpler
embellishments that you will have heard over and again on many Gypsy Jazz
tracks.
THE STRINGS:
Surprise surprise I sell these as well, when I've got some in stock that is. I
personally use the Argentine string made
by Savarez of France. They have been long known as the standard Gypsy Jazz
string, giving the tone I demand. They used to have a bad name for wearing out
quickly, luckily the New Concept range has overcome this problem and now hold on
as long as the rest.
TUITION BOOKS:
There are some fine
Django Books specifically on Djangos music and style. Some cover the basics
required by the beginner such as Ian Cruickshanks "Guitar style of Django
Reinhardt and the Gypsies" right through to the mighty "L' Esprit Manouche" a
book in French that will take you through every step of the style in great
depth. If you just want the basic melody then you can do worse than get the "Django
Reinhardt Anthology".
Occasionally we get some books from other sites. Highly recommended
are the Robin Nolan-Paul Meader productions now into their 6th volume.
All books cover chord shapes required and are essential for anyone starting off
as they cover the basics. The second volume covers some slightly more
challenging tunes. The third volume covers the Latin style and the fourth, fifth
and sixth go back to Django classics.
They have recently released the "Gig Book" a handy A5 sized book that covers all
of the tunes released in their play along series and more but without the
accompanying CD.
With the help of the CDs, which on the faster tunes has a extra tracks played at
slower speed for you to get up to speed, you will flying along and soon become
comfortable with those elusive Gypsy chord shapes and playing the melody to many
great Django classics.
Contact
http://www.robinnolantrio.com for the latest hot poop and purchase from
their site.
A new series of books and CD's are now available from Robin Nolans new site. -
www.robinnolan.com
Resources
The Tunes Page is a stack of tunes worked out by
some of the many contributors to the UK Hot Club site. In different formats for
your ease of use.
www.looknohands.com - Interactive scales/chords etc pages!
www.good-ear.com - Trains and tests your ear with chords (jazz ones a
speciality), scales etc.
www.alljazzguitar.com - Terrific site -when available-
www.guitarejazzmanouche.com - French site with extensive chord charts for
much of the standard Gypsy Jazz repertoire
Downloads
TranScribe -
V8.01 Music analyser. Shareware
Many people have their own favourite methods for learning tunes. Some of us
record his solos on cassette, others have been known to hunt down old reel to
reel tape recorders and record the solo's on these slow them down (some even
slow to one octave below) and learn them that way. The major disadvantage with
this method is the pitch change.
If you have a sound card, you can download (1Meg) a shareware copy of
TRANSCRIBE. This efficient program will enable you to open or record your
favourite solo from a CD in wav, aiff. aifc and mp3 formats and then analyze at
your leisure. Advantages of this system is that it is has an inbuilt spectrum
analyser which will pull out individual notes from a chord. Very handy I'm sure
you will agree. Other advantages include 1/4 and 1/2 speed on the fly with
constant pitch for studying the faster riffs. This is what a lot of people have
been waiting for. Please register your copy if you find it useful. IT'S ONLY A
FEW QUID. This will help the designer to improve upon his design and you get
free upgrades.
PowerTab - Tabbed music
creator. Currently Free
One of the best bits of software around for the guitarist and could also be a
great sharing resource for those who are prepared to work out their solo's for
others to enjoy. It works by you adding your notes on the fret of a guitar not
by the notes, so no advanced musical knowledge required, if you can play you can
get it down.
We have a PowerTabs page dedicated to this format
where you can publish your files and download some fine solo's by some of your
favourite artists.
Other Stuff -
Gypsy Style Chords
Because of Django's
disfigurement of his left hand he effectively only had the use of his thumb,
first and second digits. So he had to play chords using these only. It has been
reported though that he was able in some instances to bring his disfigured
fingers into play. We however will be using all of ours.
Django had to find a
method of playing chords with his disfigurement. So he substituted the normal
fingering to triads.
When I have seen the
Gypsy guitarists play on their campsites in France and Holland it is obvious
that the use of standard barre chords is a no no. This is evidently a part of
the heritage that Django left behind.
The triad is an
inherently easy chord to play, and when used imaginatively can be used to great
effect. Especially at speed.
I don't know if you
are familiar with these chords but they are essential to get that Django feel.
They all can be
transposed up and down the neck as required.
I've always found when
learning chords that putting them into context with a tune makes the task a
little easier. So I'll first show you the chord shapes to the tune:
Djangology
And then for the tune
Douce
Ambiance
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PAUL
VERNON CHESTER
