Gypsy jazz guitar is a genre based on the music of Django Reinhardt, a guitar player who overcame a severe disability to become a legend in jazz music. Most people have heard music by the Quintet du Hot Club de France or one of the gypsy jazz groups devoted to its style of music. Born in the 1930’s this group with Stephane Grapelli on violin, Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt and Roger Chaput on guitars and Louis Vola on bass, pioneered the concept of lead and rhythm guitar.
The group played popular jazz tunes of the time with Django and Grapelli alternating on the lead with the two other guitars playing rhythm and Vola playing walking bass figures. A drummer was never in the mix. They also wrote their own tunes, many of which have themselves become standards. Some of the group’s compositions include blue Drag, Minor Swing, Djangology, Django Rag, Django’s Blues, Django’s Tiger and Nuages.
The group’s violinist, Stephane Grapelli continued making music until his death in 1997 but the figure that has proved to be the inspiration of many gypsy jazz groups, Django Reinhardt only lived to be forty-three years old. Gypsy jazz has been behind the popularity of the Maccaferri and Selmer style guitars. The guitar that Django Reinhardt made famous was made by the Selmer company in Paris based on a revolutionary guitar design by Mario Maccaferri, one of the first generation of classical guitar players. Surprisingly, Maccaferri was never familiar with Django Reinhardt’s music.
As with all music associated with the tag “gypsy” the music is usually passed on directly from one musician to another. The Quintet Du Hot Club came out of an environment where playing music was simply a part of life. Each musician was both student and teacher. And there were not too many note readers among them. In fact Stephane Grapelli, a classically trained musician used breaks in the groups playing schedule to tutor Django in music. So every guitar player wanting to learn to play gypsy jazz is faced with learning the music of Django Reinhardt, as played by Django Reinhardt.
One element that made Django’s music unique was the fact that, due to an injury in a fire, Django played the guitar using only the first and second fingers of his left hand. This limited the range of notes available to him as he worked his way up and down the fretboard was severely limited. As a result of his injury, barre chords are not found in gypsy jazz guitar music. A close look at Django’s music will tell you he had little use for sevenths in his music.
If you want to listen to some contemporary gypsy jazz guitar, American groups devoted to the genre are Pearl Django and the John Jorgenson Quintet but Europe is still the place where there is most interest in this music, with groups like Hot Club of Hungary and Hot Club of France. If you want to learn to play gypsy jazz guitar, the ability to read tab would be a minimum requirement because there are many examples of Django’s music available as guitar tab.
By: Ricky Sharples
Jazz guitar is an extremely popular guitar style and learning this style of music can pose quite a challenge. There’s no doubt that it can be very time-consuming with many hours of practice to put in if you are to master this rather difficult style. Determination is a deciding factor in those who eventually ‘get there’ and can call themselves ‘jazz guitarists’!
There are many unusual harmonies and chords associated with this style and, at first, this might seem unusual to your ear. However, practice is the key and over time, your ear will adapt and get used to these slightly more ‘exotic’ sounds. You will also need to be very familiar with your guitar and listen to as much jazz guitar music as possible. Get used to the different beats and rhythms, surround yourself with the style. Don’t forget to explore different eras as well. Modern pop often incorporates jazz guitar styles, but also listen to the ‘hot’ jazz of such luminaries as Django Reinhardt. Remember, Reinhardt had fingers missing and he was still a gifted guitarist. There’s hope for you yet!
Use a metronome. This is an invaluable tool that will help to keep you in time. Many musicians have a tendency to speed up as they play, especially if they are solo. This is a natural phenomenon, but one that need to be curbed. Many jazz styles need to be ‘laid back’ with a lazy style of playing that isn’t rushed. Keeping a steady metronome pulse will also allow you to feel the subtleties of ’syncopation’ (the notes falling ‘between’ the beats). Electronic or wind-up, it doesn’t matter, but get a metronome at once!
Open up your mind to the new sounds, harmonies and rhythms that you will experience over the coming months and years. Invest in some good jazz guitar CDs (do a quick search on Google or visit Amazon), find a reputable local guitarist/teacher who can demonstrate this style of playing. Make sure that whoever you decide on to teach you has good references (ask around, listen to him/her play, what qualifications have they got, etc).
Finally, don’t be afraid to have fun and experiment with jazz guitar. More than perhaps any other style, it is free and diverse with a variety of ’sub-styles’ or ’sub-genres’ to explore.
At the end of the day, just get out there and ‘play guitar’, don’t hang back.
I wish you well with your musical exploration!
By: Washington Stoker
The word “gypsy” in itself is a bit mysterious. Dictionaries define the word in a myriad of ways, and it is hard to imagine how the term became attached to a genre of jazz. French guitar master Django Reinhardt made the genre famous. It is a combination of the popular American style of jazz and the musical techniques of a nomadic group of tough-to-classify gypsies of European descent. The instruments used to play gypsy jazz are very specific in a number of ways, and possess a rich history unlike any other.
History
In order to begin learning about guitars used for gypsy jazz, it is important to understand a bit about the history of the genre. Gypsy jazz is a genre derived from the work of French musicians during the 1930’s. It is a combination of improvisational jazz techniques and historical traditions passed down from generation to generation from one musician to another. In general, gypsy musicians do not read standard music notation and beginners will spend hours learning by ear, studying recordings and learning from their elders. Guitar and violin play important roles in gypsy jazz; they are the two most commonly featured instruments. As a result, the guitars used for gypsy jazz generally have a few specific features that are a combination of tradition and practicality for the style of music.
Features
Guitars used for gypsy jazz are characterized by a sound that is quite dry, but also offers intensity in the tone at the same time. The instruments are generally hollow bodied with arched tops. Some of the technical traits of the guitars are floating bridges, easily accessible fingerboards, and simple bracing. Gypsy jazz guitars need to be able to play supportive, rhythmic accompaniment roles, as well as shine in the spotlight with punching solo capabilities as well.
Popular Brands
Probably the most notable guitar used for gypsy jazz is made by Selmer. Django Reinhardt made the unusual Selmer guitar famous with his unique styling and musical interpretation. The guitar is often incorrectly referred to as the Selmer-Maccaferri or just simply the Maccaferri, which was the name of the man who invented it. The design of this legendary guitar has been copied by many other manufacturers including Dell’Arte Guitars, Busato, and Patenotte. These companies tend to produce high-end copies closely resembling the Selmer design. Other manufacturers have tapped into the student and amateur markets by offering more affordable models, like Cigano, which makes student gypsy guitars.
Gypsy guitars are a very specific type of instrument, and stem from a long tradition of music that was developed over the course of time. You needn’t own one in order to experiment with playing this style of jazz; it can be performed on different varieties of guitars with a similar effect. The difference will be in the generated tone. Django Reinhardt’s classic Selmer guitar gave gypsy jazz its trademark, and it is a distinctive sound that will remain forever engrained in the ears of music enthusiasts.
By: David Smithe