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The Fellowship of the Fret

Have you ever stopped to think what being a fretted instrumentalist can mean? Have you ever considered your instrument as an exclusive membership token to what is, perhaps, one of the most exclusive groups in existence? .The name of the Fellowship – well it has no name except for one word frequently heard; “The Fret’’ It is a brotherhood (and sisterhood, too) despite its unofficial nature, It has its conflicts and disagreements and will continue to have them as long as fretted instruments and their owners are in being. In no other section of the musical world exists this parallel and if proof be needed one has only to attend a Fellowship Gathering.
I do not remember reading exactly what constitutes a Gathering. To the uninitiated the word Fellowship may conjure up images of strange rituals and mysticisms, at best, an exclusive meeting of some nebulous body known vaguely as “The Fellowship” whose activities are not for the average musician. Until one has attended such an event one cannot fully realise the meaning of this phrase; “The Fellowship of the Fret”

The Fellowship is not noted for its numerical strength in fraternity. Perhaps because of the small numbers, the majority of fretted instrument players are known to each other without the existence of a National Body. Outside this comparatively small circle it can be difficult to understand how universal membership of the Fellowship is.
Let us take a look inside the hallowed space where a fraternity of the fret is in full swing. Everyone present is the owner of (or is associated with) a fretted instrument. Here you may talk freely of nuts, bridges, machine heads, wire wounds, guts and nylons and be fully understood for some 6 hours. One may listen to or ignore the many contests which are the often reason (not to mention the excuse) for this gathering beneath one roof of more players of the “Round Hole, Petite Bouche, Archtop Guitars and other kindred Instruments than one hitherto imagined.

In the tuning area we may see a fantastic collection of oddly shaped cases ancient and modern and—with the popularity of the electric instrument still on the increase - a variety of ancient and modern amplifiers. One feels free to talk, without introduction to other instrumentalists.
There may, perhaps, be a small, hardy minority able to sit through the entire proceedings without becoming bored but constant repetition of some of the test pieces makes this unlikely. Despite this there is something for everyone, if taken in not-too-large doses, and one does not need to remain in the performance zone the whole of the time. I well remember the impact of my first gathering three years ago. At that time I knew but few of “The Fellowship” and it is true to say that on arrival I knew only one person present. On leaving, however, I had increased the number of my acquaintances and have continued to do so at each successive event. For me this is the part I look forward to most of all; the regular meeting with friends. Friends who, I know, will not be bored by constant talk of things associated with music—from players to performances; instruments to amplifiers.

So many feel compelled to re-attend the “Fellowship of the Fret”

Acknowledgements to Jeffrey Pocock for this article. (Frodo of the Fret)

Trish Elphinstone on Gypsy Jazz Trish has been playing the saxophone for about fourteen years now. She started playing the sax because she liked the sound and it was a useful way to relieve examination stress! She joined the Oxford Polytechnic (now Brookes University) big band, mostly played "air sax", and became the band driver as a means to avoid being kicked out. After being a hard rockin' chick for a while, she went on to play in an African King Crimson/Gong 'experimental' jazz-flavoured hip-hop band. Being in these bands gave room for improvisation and she wanted to know more. She attended a beginners' jazz course at Ruskin College, Oxford. At the end, she and some colleagues from the course formed a small jazz band and ended up gigging. She found out about summer jazz workshops, including the Jamie Abersold and Glamorgan courses. Dissatisfied with waiting for the summer, she enrolled and completed the City Lit course, and unexpectedly is now happily doing a jazz degree at Middlesex. Catch her at the Half Moon Pub Oxford and visit her Django's Music Analysis Site above.

Jazz Theory (150 Pages)

Jazz Guitar Lessons

Minor Swing Arpeggios

Scales for Minor Swing
You can use an A harmonic minor over the whole thing but it sounds a bit bland.
Or
Am use the A dorian- A,B,C,D,E,F#,G
Dm use the D dorian- D,E,F,G,A,B,C
E7 use the altered- E,F,G,G#,Bb,C,D or Spanish scale- E,F,G#,A,B,C,D
Bb use the Bb Lydian- Bb,C,D,E,F,G,A
if you use a balance of scales and the arpeggios written out on the pdf download you'll sound great

Birelli Lesson

Djangoism Tuition Page
Djangoism Techniques

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Ivor Mairants Arpeggio Ex1

Manouche & Minor Pentatonic Scales

Django Solos

http://chordfind.com/

Djangopedia

www.gypsyjazz.de

Useful site for those on tour of Europe or the World in Search of Manouche Jam Sessions

Here is an overview of all gypsy jazz jam sessions that this site knows of. If yours is missing then contact them and send them your info or Chord Charts

On this site are some chord charts of popular session tunes for study purpose. There is also a Bb-version for horn or reed players. You can also find 'play-alongs' here.

GypsyJazz Guitar

http://nuagesdeswing.free.fr/jouer/jouer_index2b.html

http://www.manoucheries.com/grilles.php

Tuition Videos

http://www.youtube.com/user/davidrattray
Dave Rattray
A self-taught musician Dave has studied the guitar with the Gypsy Masters Fapy Lafertin and Lollo Meier in the Netherlands. Dave was inspired by a 'lesson' from the great Martin Taylor when Dave was 13 yrs old to learn finger style jazz guitar. Dave plays in a duo with the acclaimed Scots musician Guitarist Sandy Wright.
Mirror images - he is not a Southpaw! Check out those adjacent demos

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Tuition Web Sites

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http://gypsyguitar.wordpress.com/

http://news.guitarojam.com/artists/gypsy-jazz-guitar-a-one-man-genre-372/

http://www.djangobooks.com/

http://www.learn-acoustic-guitar.com/gypsy-jazz-guitar-a-one-man-genre