Great lesson for gypsy jazz style players, as for me it is kind of foreign because I don’t use that style of fingering. Many great Jazz and Bebop guitar players use three fingers mostly in their playing, occasionally or often using the fourth finger a lot like Wes Montgomery did, and you do too, but I think that the majority of the Jazz and Bebop guitar players use four fingers always, it is a whole different world in Gypsy guitar for what I can see, very difficult style to master technique wise, specially because of the use of three fingers mostly and the hard to master picking technique needed for this style.👍🏼🎼🎶🎵🎸
When I first came across your video , I was watching it on a different youtube format and didn't see your name etc . But I said to myself ("I'm hearing a slight 'Dutch' accent") I was sure of it my parents immigrated to California in the the early 60's right after I was born . They didn't teach us the dutch language sadly . So I have this void that only Dutch accents can fill ....does that sound strange ? It's music to my ears wherever i can hear it so thank you Christiaan , even with your very slight accent theres more music than just the guitar haha doi hartstikka leuk ! [additional edit] I wanted to brag about my Dad's musical days in Zwartsluis , Genemuiden , and Zwolle . I've only seen one photograph of the harmonica trio he played in throughout the 50's but they were very good ! He played the smaller 6 or 8 centimeter harmonica , another guy played one that looked to be a foot long , and the third guy played a hinged double harmonica that seemed to be 20 inches long or something . Incredible . My dad was Klaas Schraa😃
Gypsy jazz uses the downward pick slant afaik and often 2 or 4 notes per string to keep the alternate picking going, plus economy picking/sweeps and some exceptions eg. double down …Troy’s discovery was very important for people trying to play faster whether it be gypsy jazz or other styles.
Christiaan, all these licks can be picked without any double downs using different fingerings and if you accent every third note you don‘t loose the triplet feel.
Trying to learn Gypsy jazz lately. I quite get this double downstroke technique but I find it difficult when improvising and not using learned licks. Anyway, these are cool licks to use thanks !
I had a look at this video and i understand your point. I think improvising is akin to speaking. We are all proficient in speech because we have a big dictionnary of segments of phrases we have heard and that we know are working in a given context without havng to think about the grammar ( modes ). You can make a phrase that is grammatically (modally ) correct but does not mean anything..
Thanks Christian for these wonderful licks. Even for a "classic" jazz player they give some insight into the flow of gypsy music especially the diminished runs which are essentials into building consistent improvisation skills. Unfortunately many jazz modern theories underestimate the efficiency of these licks or put them on the back seat ( ie .. charlie christian 30's style) without recognizing their efficiency event in modern-day context.
Thanks. I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm always surprised at bebop jams that the guitar players there do not seem to use the dim arpeggios like gypsy jazz players use them. They really are the key to amazing flow and command of the neck!
Thanks for the great lesson! I find playing with speed to be pretty challenging so It makes me laugh when you play through a lick and then comment on how easy it was :)
Haha, sorry. But really, if you have mastered the basic gypsy jazz picking techniques it is much easier to play than it seems, which is what I meant to say!
Great lesson! One question: what about (in particular right hand) muting? I see that floating right arm technique in gypsy jazz all the time which makes me wonder if it's a concern whether you're muting the strings you're not playing or not. In the last lick example I can hear the open lower strings resonate as you finish the lick, and if the key of the song was transposed by a half step I'd imagine it sounding quite dissonant. Perhaps it's not even an issue due to how the melody cuts trough the resonance.
Don't worry about muting in jazz or gypsy jazz. You will never notice due to the rhythm section. Now, if you're playing with distortion, that's a whole different ballgame!
Nice, just what I needed. I'd like to know the difference between an arch top and gypsy jazz guitar, as you mentioned, you may pick differently, scale length? Compared to a flat top? Great skills, enjoying your videos. Time to practice
Christiaan, thank your for your lesson. Some very detailed information here. Do you know any electric guitar player that uses a pure or a mixture of gipsy jazz picking? I am trying to come up with a combination of alternate and sweep technique.
I agree that it is the only correct way to play that genre. Tonal reasons are why to me. However, I do not think it is superior to alternate picking. In addition, alternate picking is more versatile. It is used in every genre except Gypsy Jazz.
dear christian thank you for your lessons they are great!! the one thin g that bothers me is "why is the playing soo fast?/..........lots of time the notes are cllipped which in turn .......you lose some of the beauty of the instrument, the music.......i just dont get it,,,,,,,,,django played with so much feeling which is lost with all this concentration on speed///can you help me????
I think concentrating on ones left hand fretting is at least as important as the right hand. Concentrate on accuracy and don't press too hard. Make sure shifts between notes are as swift as possible. In a strange way, Django's two fingered limitation may have helped him in this - the two strongest fingers and fretting runs with lots of accurate slides...
The thing is all gypsy players use pickslanting and forearm rotation. It's strange that u deny that. In every close up on Stochelo playing u can see it.
+Paul Schneider Of course we use that, we just don't use two way pick slanting because we do not change strings with an up stroke. That's what I meant, sorry if that was not clear!
What kind of guitar is this electric one? What kind of acoustic guitars do you guys use for gypsy jazz? Hey thanks for teaching us this stuff, if I had any money i would send some but right now with this virus thing going around the world.. everything is totally screwed up for a long time to come.. All I can do is stay home, eat stale bread and cheap peanut butter, and practice..
Do all descending and ascending licks always start on a downstroke? How do you deal with this when you do a 3 note per string run and in the middle of the run, one string may only have two notes and it skews up the pick pattern? This is always throwing me off.
A strict gypsy technique dictates movement quite a bit. It's perfect for certain movements, but I do prefer to have a technique that works equally good in any direction!
Hi Chris, I have some questions regarding the Summit & have left you & Tommy emails about it. I'd like to attend, but would like to ask a few questions so I can decide which sessions to attend. Any chance one of you might respond? Bob
Christiaan, is the rule of thumb with “gypsy picking,” anytime you change a string, down stroke? I’ve watched the videos on this and don’t think you do a poor job casing it or explaining it, I just wanted a little more clarification. Or do you find yourself with exceptions? Thanks!
Yes, I do that 99.9% of the time. The very few licks that I have chosen not to do this are difficult to play for me because starting a string change with an upstroke is something that is a similar task for me as writing with my left hand: I suck at it!
Great! Thank you so much! Do you have a Venmo I can send you some dollars, I watch your videos and would love to support you, and you answered quite a few of my questions over the the last couple of years
I like the style a lot, but to play with volume or especially overdrive, it can be messy. Because your palm must mute the other strings to avoid sympathetic feedback, but for this style, you drape it over to hang in the air. My first teacher played this way but I noticed, was not good for other styles. It is a great sound, for this style, but I had to switch to a more modern approach for other styles.
Hi Christiaan, great video as always. I have seen some super gypsy jazz players use pick slanting, or even specifically mentioning it as required -- e.g. Joscho Stephan (czcams.com/video/JFwP-ne_d8U/video.html) and Dani Rabin (czcams.com/video/PzNxcxUp1Z0/video.html) -- and they have a great, liquid sound. Maybe they play in different areas, or different style of gypsy? Don't know, thought you'd want to check it out. Thanks for all your vids! jz
Very good point. You can clearly see Bireli Lagrene, Joscho Stephan and Antoine Boyer changing pick slanting to UPWS on VERY fast descending lines in some close up videos. Remi Harris too uses a hybrid technique with occasional UPWS.
Troy Grady is actually more an economy picker very much like the Gypsie picking you are demonstrating here. The 80's guitar players in Troy videos such as Yngwie and Eric Johnson are also economy pickers and pick slanting is most definitely an important feature for both these players, which is why Troy talks about it so much. He did do a piece on Steve Morse one time who is an avid alternate picker. In any case, I hear you talking about the double down stroke when switching strings, what about double up stroke when switching strings (ascending runs)? I noticed most guys (can) only do the double downs and not the ups mostly because that would require two-way pick slanting.
Economy picking is where you play two down (the double down referred to here) and one up and requires an odd number of notes per string to work. It's much easier to play that way whilst ascending but there's an extra movement required to play descending (put down the finger and then lift it) which makes it difficult. From what I've seen of Troy Grady he's an alternate picker who alters his pick slant in order to change strings. There's no one way to play, you have to have enough technique to be able to adapt to what you are actually playing.
"Gypsy Jazz doesn't use pick slanting." Oh yes you do! Gypsy Jazz guitarists are primarily downward pick slanters. This is why you aim to have the last note on each string be an upstroke, while having the first note on each string a downstroke. Also, this is why you always sweep down and not up.
Lesser Brother Actually I hold the pick so lightly that it slant itself when it touches the string for both a down and an up stroke. I don't sweep up because it changes the sound too much but there are players who do that like John Rijsdijk and Jorgui Loeffler and make it sound excellent!
Christiaan van Hemert Ah, I see. It makes sense that your constant downstroke technique is there for the purpose of tone. Thanks for sharing your licks, this is very helpful information.
Interesting video & exercises, but I still don't really understand. I love the genre of gypsy jazz (hence why I'm watching this video)-- so no offense intended-- but what is the advantage of this picking technique over getting really good with economy picking & pick slanting? I get the "you can play it on any guitar" part, & that's cool, but I don't have any problem playing the other techniques I'm learning on any of my guitars, so that's not really a big concern for me. Is the advantage just that you don't have to learn pick slanting? Because either way you're having to devote time to learning a technique, so that doesn't seem like a reason. I just recently learned economy picking & pick-slanting after years & years of mostly just alternate picking when I didn't take guitar as seriously, and I'm all for learning a variety of different techniques if you have the time to devote to it (I'm not suggesting there's no point in learning this by any means)... But with economy picking there is a very clear logic to why to do it: you can play faster if you take advantage of economy of motion, similar to how classically trained guitarists think. Economy picking prioritizes the shortest path to the next string, which alternate picking doesn't always. And pick-slanting also has an obvious raison d'etre. If your picking motion is at 90 degrees to the strings then it can be easy to get caught on the string you just played or others when switching between strings, & if you have to do an extra motion between picking one string & picking another to get around an obstruction, then that's an inefficient use of motion & time & typically leads to problems maintaining rhythm when you play faster tempo 8th & 16th notes & don't have time for extraneous movements. So what is the reason for this picking style? What is the advantage of the half-rest and rest strokes? What does it do better than economy picking? Because after learning economy picking, trying to play your exercises was very unintuitive to me. Not saying they were badly made, & I can tell a lot of effort went into them. I just didn't understand the reasoning of why you chose to use alternate picking in certain string changes, economy picking style double downstrokes in some, where you're ascending from the lower strings so it's efficient to do so (thinking it through, I'd be inclined to pick the upward string changes with double upstrokes too if I'm coming from an upstroke), & then doing double downstrokes even when it's not economical in others. I get that that's the technique, but it just feels so forced to me now when I could just take the more direct route & economy pick it. Coming from alternate picking I can understand why this would be advantageous in situations where the second downstroke is naturally the most economical path & alternate picking it would require going out of your way, but it feels like a strange half-measure compared with economy picking, where I can see a clear mechanical logic to why it's done that way. Is it all about the triplets? Does it help keep the rhythm in 3/4 or 6/8 better than economy picking would? And if so, I'm curious about why not every triplet consists of down-up-down. I feel like there's something I'm missing, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll check out some more videos & resources on the subject. I think the technique will make a lot more sense when I understand the motivation for using it.
if Django Jimi Hendrix Wes Montgomery had followed rules on how to pick correctly. You would not have heard of them. All truly great guitarists are innovators who do not follow any rules they just play how they feel is right
Powerful is debatable..Wes used his Thumb and Albert King used his thumb! More notes/faster ..impresses other musicians and usually attains speed of lines never sung by those who matter..the audiences who pay us. You are a smart and versatile academic type of musician. I m trained also on trombone and have toured on guitar with Jazz greats! Bear in mind Dizzy G.'s embrochure was anti-academic concieved but look what he did!
Very true, although virtuoso playing is just a part of the gypsy jazz tradition (starting with Django himself), you can't really escape it! This is also because the rhythm section in gypsy jazz is very static and usually the focus is completely on the soloist. Therefore he/she needs to be able to have very good flow and a nice balance between, single line, chords and fast runs!
It's just a different school of guitar picking technique ("gypsy jazz picking" or "rest stroke picking"). I have many videos on my channel exploring that technique!
Try doing it for a month. At first I struggle with it too, but after two months it became a natural thing for me. Now it’s hard for me to pick the old way again. When you’ve become comfortable with it you will never go back. I only pick differently on strat now (the knob and switch are in the way), other than that, gypsy picking all the way. It’s so fluid.
@@JayChokdee I had seen this and could not comprehend it till Christopher Brennan explained it (as part of rest stroke) and I just started today and I feel completely lost but I’ve noticed cross picking seems to be more fluid for me this way.. I’m not faster yet but I get less interference.. I hope I can get there in 2 months
It's been worth the effort for me to practice the floating wrist position (after 25 years of anchoring my palm). At first I practiced only unfamiliar material - and using only the new technique to make the switch. Now I practice all picking, old and new stuff with my wrist floating. But when performing, I might occasionally rest my palm for smaller movements or use it to mute, especially on the electric but I don't have to practice that, and more importantly, I don't have to rely on the additional anchor point which restricts my intervallic and dynamic range. Andreas Öberg and Olli Soikelli take this combination approach to extremes I can only dream of.
@@alimbawip5345 yeah surprisingly I’ve come a long way in one month & like you occasionally fallback to anchoring but only occasionally and I get a way less choppy, smoother sound. It’s helped me make major strides in playing Tony rice - church street blues. It’s incredible. I’m actually faster this way if I can my wrist relaxed.
"We don't use those tricks" Sorry but I find that a bit disrespectful. Maybe you don't mean it that way. Maybe you should watch some more Troy's content, he analyzes gypsy picking as well.
I guess what you and the rest of the gypsy picking players don't get is that how you don't anchor your right hand. It floats in the air. How about teaching that?
i rested my hand for 20 years and it drove me crazy for being unable speed up or even pick prperly, until i started from zero with help of vids like this AND playalong with some django favs. after 3 month i already figured out the floating right hand and it totally got me rid of technical picking issues. so my cents for all frustrated players are: dont give up, dont rush, exercise slow and play with backing tracks while studying djangos solos(!) AND LEARN THEM. play them fast once u know them u will start to vary them almost autoatically. and listen to people like christiaan^^
Double down strokes seem so unnecessary ..they are slow and uncomfortable to play..isn't it supposed to be about economy of motion?...this and having to start on a down stroke on every string is an awful thing to burden you your picking hand with ...it totally amazes me how the gypsy players are so fast ...but these days guy's like Troy Grady and many other modern players using slanted pick and edge picking ect ...can play way faster...at least on electric guitars...
I think the reason that it's necessary is that on an a acoustic guitar it makes your playing a lot more clear and has a strong full bodied attack. if you pick down on one string and up on the string above (e.g. E string to B string) this will never sound as clear and well articulated as a double down. the use of extra down strokes also goes well with the gypsy picking hand position where the hand is not resting on the body of the guitar which allows it to resonate properly. There are certain licks and patterns that are harder to play using the Gypsy picking technique, but all of the licks and vocabulary in this genre sound best when using the proper technique. I don't think Troy Grady is faster than any of the great Gypsy guitarists... Listen to Jimmy Rosenberg's intro and second solo in this version of Dark eyes Dark Eyes czcams.com/video/Y5soVdF1bXw/video.html incredibly fast and effortless! If you want to really shred using Gypsy picking you simply avoid phrases that require more than one down stroke in a row. For the the standard medium to fast swing 8th note lines you hear in Gypsy Jazz the double down strokes are easy and shouldn't hold you back once you get used to them. On electric or jazz guitar this technique isn't necessary but it's very hard to play gypsy jazz phrases on an acoustic without it, i tried playing gypsy jazz using alternate picking for a couple of years. everything just sounded thin and weak and i couldn't play fast enough. I guess what i'm saying is the Gypsy picking is great for playing Gypsy jazz haha!
The double-down... brilliant idea, thanks! Not knowing that might have stopped me properly getting this style. (alternate picker and slurrer here).
Just seeing this,wow,!! and I love it, been wanting to learn this style but didn't know how to go about it.love your videos man.Thanks
Welcome to the channel Richard. Hope to see you in a twitch stream sometime. twitch.tv/ChristiaanVanHemert
Excellent videos as always, thank you Christiaan 👍👍👍☘️🇮🇪
Love your instructions! They are so well prepared and motivating. Thank you!!
Great lesson Cristiaan!
Great lesson and amazing playing!
Great explanations, great video, thank you, subscribed and shared !
Very cool lesson!!! Thank You for sharing!!! All The Best!!!
awesome info and demonstration! thank you
+iloverumi You're welcome!
thanks a lot Christian for the "perfect" lesson! Indeed I got so much from it. Bravo
Thanks Joseph, good to hear you enjoyed it!
great work and playing. thank you.
Very good stuff!
TKS christiaN this helps a lot Bless You MR😎🎸Love Gypsy Music your Good. VERy Helpful💗Licks👍 ✌
great one, Christiaan !! important !!
Thanks so much Bernard!
Great lesson and material. Looking forward to getting these under my fingers.
Thanks Alec!
Instantly subscribed! Thank you!
Nice and you're welcome!
Freaking awesome thanks for sharing mate.
You're welcome Obie!
thank you sir!
Great stuff again!
Micah 🏴
Great lesson for gypsy jazz style players, as for me it is kind of foreign because I don’t use that style of fingering. Many great Jazz and Bebop guitar players use three fingers mostly in their playing, occasionally or often using the fourth finger a lot like Wes Montgomery did, and you do too, but I think that the majority of the Jazz and Bebop guitar players use four fingers always, it is a whole different world in Gypsy guitar for what I can see, very difficult style to master technique wise, specially because of the use of three fingers mostly and the hard to master picking technique needed for this style.👍🏼🎼🎶🎵🎸
Christiaan thanks a lot! You are a great teacher. Very clear! Now I have to practice. hope to master it in less than two years. Abe Cherem
Your post is four years old did you master it
@@riceflatpicking4954 Still practicing
@@riceflatpicking4954 I got it, not yet at your speed, but is doable. Thanks !!!
Gonna send you some cash on Patreon you’re really helping me a lot... thank you so much
Me too! Great videos, million thnx
When I first came across your video , I was watching it on a different youtube format and didn't see your name etc . But I said to myself ("I'm hearing a slight 'Dutch' accent") I was sure of it my parents immigrated to California in the the early 60's right after I was born . They didn't teach us the dutch language sadly . So I have this void that only Dutch accents can fill ....does that sound strange ? It's music to my ears wherever i can hear it so thank you Christiaan , even with your very slight accent theres more music than just the guitar haha doi hartstikka leuk !
[additional edit] I wanted to brag about my Dad's musical days in Zwartsluis , Genemuiden , and Zwolle . I've only seen one photograph of the harmonica trio he played in throughout the 50's but they were very good ! He played the smaller 6 or 8 centimeter harmonica , another guy played one that looked to be a foot long , and the third guy played a hinged double harmonica that seemed to be 20 inches long or something . Incredible . My dad was Klaas Schraa😃
Woooooooooooow super thank You
Gypsy jazz uses the downward pick slant afaik and often 2 or 4 notes per string to keep the alternate picking going, plus economy picking/sweeps and some exceptions eg. double down …Troy’s discovery was very important for people trying to play faster whether it be gypsy jazz or other styles.
what troy are you referring to?
@@sifirbosluk4214 Troy Grady?
Christiaan, all these licks can be picked without any double downs using different fingerings and if you accent every third note you don‘t loose the triplet feel.
I love how calm you are...i'd be sweatin'
Can't pull this shit off when you stressin'!
best gypsy jazz teacher ever! thanx!
Wow, thanks man!
@@ChristiaanvanHemert hope to see you in Samois this year!
Yes, I'll be there!
Trying to learn Gypsy jazz lately. I quite get this double downstroke technique but I find it difficult when improvising and not using learned licks. Anyway, these are cool licks to use thanks !
+Stephane Bernard Watch my 'Forget Modes' video for my thoughts on that subject!
I had a look at this video and i understand your point. I think improvising is akin to speaking. We are all proficient in speech because we have a big dictionnary of segments of phrases we have heard and that we know are working in a given context without havng to think about the grammar ( modes ). You can make a phrase that is grammatically (modally ) correct but does not mean anything..
Yes, that seems about right!
Thanks for all these videos. What is the logic of starting on the up stroke though?
Woot!
Love the sound of your guitar. What make is that? Excellent lines to practice the technique.
Thanks, it's a "Peerless Monarch" archtop!
Thanks Christian for these wonderful licks. Even for a "classic" jazz player they give some insight into the flow of gypsy music especially the diminished runs which are essentials into building consistent improvisation skills. Unfortunately many jazz modern theories underestimate the efficiency of these licks or put them on the back seat ( ie .. charlie christian 30's style) without recognizing their efficiency event in modern-day context.
Thanks. I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm always surprised at bebop jams that the guitar players there do not seem to use the dim arpeggios like gypsy jazz players use them. They really are the key to amazing flow and command of the neck!
That you for posting... actually use some of this already
You're welcome!
It sounds.stupid handy.m.greetings!!
My friend you look like 2nd Son of Bruce Lee 🤠👊
I like that Gypsy jazz rest stroke picking 👌 😎 looks perfect for me...
Thanks for the great lesson! I find playing with speed to be pretty challenging so It makes me laugh when you play through a lick and then comment on how easy it was :)
Haha, sorry. But really, if you have mastered the basic gypsy jazz picking techniques it is much easier to play than it seems, which is what I meant to say!
probably your best less ...hvala
+rene kordić Thanks Rene!
What brand of guitar is that? What amp do you play through? Nice tone.
Great lesson!
One question: what about (in particular right hand) muting?
I see that floating right arm technique in gypsy jazz all the time which makes me wonder if it's a concern whether you're muting the strings you're not playing or not. In the last lick example I can hear the open lower strings resonate as you finish the lick, and if the key of the song was transposed by a half step I'd imagine it sounding quite dissonant. Perhaps it's not even an issue due to how the melody cuts trough the resonance.
Don't worry about muting in jazz or gypsy jazz. You will never notice due to the rhythm section. Now, if you're playing with distortion, that's a whole different ballgame!
Most powerful for gypsy phrasing, I'm sure! For a multitude of other styles/movements it's definitely not the best way though 🙂
a lot of rock and blues guitarists use this technique combined with pull offs
Nice, just what I needed. I'd like to know the difference between an arch top and gypsy jazz guitar, as you mentioned, you may pick differently, scale length? Compared to a flat top? Great skills, enjoying your videos. Time to practice
How do you differtiate between 8th note triplets, 16th notes, and 16th note triplets?
Christiaan, thank your for your lesson. Some very detailed information here. Do you know any electric guitar player that uses a pure or a mixture of gipsy jazz picking? I am trying to come up with a combination of alternate and sweep technique.
Rocky Gresset and Noe Reinhardt come to mind!
@@ChristiaanvanHemert Thank you Cristiaan. I am.going to check them out.
@@ChristiaanvanHemert Just discovered also Olli Soikkeli'
I agree that it is the only correct way to play that genre. Tonal reasons are why to me. However, I do not think it is superior to alternate picking. In addition, alternate picking is more versatile. It is used in every genre except Gypsy Jazz.
dear christian thank you for your lessons they are great!! the one thin g that bothers me is "why is the playing soo fast?/..........lots of time the notes are cllipped which in turn .......you lose some of the beauty of the instrument, the music.......i just dont get it,,,,,,,,,django played with so much feeling which is lost with all this concentration on speed///can you help me????
I think concentrating on ones left hand fretting is at least as important as the right hand. Concentrate on accuracy and don't press too
hard. Make sure shifts between notes are as swift as possible. In a strange way, Django's two fingered limitation may have helped him in this - the two strongest fingers and fretting runs with lots of accurate slides...
The thing is all gypsy players use pickslanting and forearm rotation. It's strange that u deny that. In every close up on Stochelo playing u can see it.
+Paul Schneider Of course we use that, we just don't use two way pick slanting because we do not change strings with an up stroke. That's what I meant, sorry if that was not clear!
Kannst du deutsch ?
What kind of guitar is this electric one? What kind of acoustic guitars do you guys use for gypsy jazz? Hey thanks for teaching us this stuff, if I had any money i would send some but right now with this virus thing going around the world.. everything is totally screwed up for a long time to come.. All I can do is stay home, eat stale bread and cheap peanut butter, and practice..
Can you talk about the half rest stroke? I'm not familiar with this.
If you look in the description of this video there's a bunch of links to videos with detailed explanations on the half and full rest stroke!
Hi there
Can the gypsy jazz picking technique be applied to traditional jazz repertoire?
For sure!
Do all descending and ascending licks always start on a downstroke? How do you deal with this when you do a 3 note per string run and in the middle of the run, one string may only have two notes and it skews up the pick pattern? This is always throwing me off.
A strict gypsy technique dictates movement quite a bit. It's perfect for certain movements, but I do prefer to have a technique that works equally good in any direction!
Hi Chris, I have some questions regarding the Summit & have left you & Tommy emails about it. I'd like to attend, but would like to ask a few questions so I can decide which sessions to attend. Any chance one of you might respond? Bob
Hi Bob, I'm sorry for not responding. I talked to Tommy and he said he was gonna call you. I'll ask him again!
Thanks Chris, I appreciate it. I look forward to seeing you both at the Summit.
I spoke with Tommy........I am so IN! I am really looking forward to seeing you next month. Thank you again so much for both of your help.
+Boaaab Stoen Nice! See you soon!
🎼🎼👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Christiaan, is the rule of thumb with “gypsy picking,” anytime you change a string, down stroke? I’ve watched the videos on this and don’t think you do a poor job casing it or explaining it, I just wanted a little more clarification.
Or do you find yourself with exceptions? Thanks!
Yes, I do that 99.9% of the time. The very few licks that I have chosen not to do this are difficult to play for me because starting a string change with an upstroke is something that is a similar task for me as writing with my left hand: I suck at it!
Great! Thank you so much! Do you have a Venmo I can send you some dollars, I watch your videos and would love to support you, and you answered quite a few of my questions over the the last couple of years
I'm in Europe so no venmo. I do have a PayPal.me link: paypal.me/ChristiaanvanHemert
I like the style a lot, but to play with volume or especially overdrive, it can be messy. Because your palm must mute the other strings to avoid sympathetic feedback, but for this style, you drape it over to hang in the air. My first teacher played this way but I noticed, was not good for other styles. It is a great sound, for this style, but I had to switch to a more modern approach for other styles.
Very nice,, feel like a beginner. .again,,lol
I don't understand why triplets repeated over and over is considered music. I do like jazz in general though.
Hi Christiaan, great video as always. I have seen some super gypsy jazz players use pick slanting, or even specifically mentioning it as required -- e.g. Joscho Stephan (czcams.com/video/JFwP-ne_d8U/video.html) and Dani Rabin (czcams.com/video/PzNxcxUp1Z0/video.html) -- and they have a great, liquid sound. Maybe they play in different areas, or different style of gypsy? Don't know, thought you'd want to check it out. Thanks for all your vids! jz
Very good point. You can clearly see Bireli Lagrene, Joscho Stephan and Antoine Boyer changing pick slanting to UPWS on VERY fast descending lines in some close up videos. Remi Harris too uses a hybrid technique with occasional UPWS.
Troy Grady is actually more an economy picker very much like the Gypsie picking you are demonstrating here. The 80's guitar players in Troy videos such as Yngwie and Eric Johnson are also economy pickers and pick slanting is most definitely an important feature for both these players, which is why Troy talks about it so much. He did do a piece on Steve Morse one time who is an avid alternate picker. In any case, I hear you talking about the double down stroke when switching strings, what about double up stroke when switching strings (ascending runs)? I noticed most guys (can) only do the double downs and not the ups mostly because that would require two-way pick slanting.
Economy picking is where you play two down (the double down referred to here) and one up and requires an odd number of notes per string to work. It's much easier to play that way whilst ascending but there's an extra movement required to play descending (put down the finger and then lift it) which makes it difficult. From what I've seen of Troy Grady he's an alternate picker who alters his pick slant in order to change strings. There's no one way to play, you have to have enough technique to be able to adapt to what you are actually playing.
Reminds of a Godzilla movie .....I didn't not know why
I would argue Greek Bazouki players would be up there also.
"Gypsy Jazz doesn't use pick slanting." Oh yes you do! Gypsy Jazz guitarists are primarily downward pick slanters. This is why you aim to have the last note on each string be an upstroke, while having the first note on each string a downstroke. Also, this is why you always sweep down and not up.
Lesser Brother Actually I hold the pick so lightly that it slant itself when it touches the string for both a down and an up stroke. I don't sweep up because it changes the sound too much but there are players who do that like John Rijsdijk and Jorgui Loeffler and make it sound excellent!
Christiaan van Hemert Ah, I see. It makes sense that your constant downstroke technique is there for the purpose of tone. Thanks for sharing your licks, this is very helpful information.
Interesting video & exercises, but I still don't really understand. I love the genre of gypsy jazz (hence why I'm watching this video)-- so no offense intended-- but what is the advantage of this picking technique over getting really good with economy picking & pick slanting? I get the "you can play it on any guitar" part, & that's cool, but I don't have any problem playing the other techniques I'm learning on any of my guitars, so that's not really a big concern for me. Is the advantage just that you don't have to learn pick slanting? Because either way you're having to devote time to learning a technique, so that doesn't seem like a reason.
I just recently learned economy picking & pick-slanting after years & years of mostly just alternate picking when I didn't take guitar as seriously, and I'm all for learning a variety of different techniques if you have the time to devote to it (I'm not suggesting there's no point in learning this by any means)... But with economy picking there is a very clear logic to why to do it: you can play faster if you take advantage of economy of motion, similar to how classically trained guitarists think. Economy picking prioritizes the shortest path to the next string, which alternate picking doesn't always. And pick-slanting also has an obvious raison d'etre. If your picking motion is at 90 degrees to the strings then it can be easy to get caught on the string you just played or others when switching between strings, & if you have to do an extra motion between picking one string & picking another to get around an obstruction, then that's an inefficient use of motion & time & typically leads to problems maintaining rhythm when you play faster tempo 8th & 16th notes & don't have time for extraneous movements.
So what is the reason for this picking style? What is the advantage of the half-rest and rest strokes? What does it do better than economy picking? Because after learning economy picking, trying to play your exercises was very unintuitive to me. Not saying they were badly made, & I can tell a lot of effort went into them. I just didn't understand the reasoning of why you chose to use alternate picking in certain string changes, economy picking style double downstrokes in some, where you're ascending from the lower strings so it's efficient to do so (thinking it through, I'd be inclined to pick the upward string changes with double upstrokes too if I'm coming from an upstroke), & then doing double downstrokes even when it's not economical in others. I get that that's the technique, but it just feels so forced to me now when I could just take the more direct route & economy pick it. Coming from alternate picking I can understand why this would be advantageous in situations where the second downstroke is naturally the most economical path & alternate picking it would require going out of your way, but it feels like a strange half-measure compared with economy picking, where I can see a clear mechanical logic to why it's done that way.
Is it all about the triplets? Does it help keep the rhythm in 3/4 or 6/8 better than economy picking would? And if so, I'm curious about why not every triplet consists of down-up-down. I feel like there's something I'm missing, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll check out some more videos & resources on the subject. I think the technique will make a lot more sense when I understand the motivation for using it.
if Django Jimi Hendrix Wes Montgomery had followed rules on how to pick correctly. You would not have heard of them. All truly great guitarists are innovators who do not follow any rules they just play how they feel is right
Powerful is debatable..Wes used his Thumb and Albert King used his thumb! More notes/faster ..impresses other musicians and usually attains speed of lines never sung by those who matter..the audiences who pay us. You are a smart and versatile academic type of musician. I m trained also on trombone and have toured on guitar with Jazz greats! Bear in mind Dizzy G.'s embrochure was anti-academic concieved but look what he did!
Very true, although virtuoso playing is just a part of the gypsy jazz tradition (starting with Django himself), you can't really escape it! This is also because the rhythm section in gypsy jazz is very static and usually the focus is completely on the soloist. Therefore he/she needs to be able to have very good flow and a nice balance between, single line, chords and fast runs!
Check out Mark Elf's Gypsy picking vs Benson's czcams.com/video/ZKWhf6LO2sc/video.html
I’ve been playing for 30 years and I just don’t get how you can play like this with zero contact from your right hand or forearm on the guitar at all.
It's just a different school of guitar picking technique ("gypsy jazz picking" or "rest stroke picking"). I have many videos on my channel exploring that technique!
Try doing it for a month. At first I struggle with it too, but after two months it became a natural thing for me. Now it’s hard for me to pick the old way again. When you’ve become comfortable with it you will never go back. I only pick differently on strat now (the knob and switch are in the way), other than that, gypsy picking all the way. It’s so fluid.
@@JayChokdee I had seen this and could not comprehend it till Christopher Brennan explained it (as part of rest stroke) and I just started today and I feel completely lost but I’ve noticed cross picking seems to be more fluid for me this way.. I’m not faster yet but I get less interference.. I hope I can get there in 2 months
It's been worth the effort for me to practice the floating wrist position (after 25 years of anchoring my palm). At first I practiced only unfamiliar material - and using only the new technique to make the switch. Now I practice all picking, old and new stuff with my wrist floating. But when performing, I might occasionally rest my palm for smaller movements or use it to mute, especially on the electric but I don't have to practice that, and more importantly, I don't have to rely on the additional anchor point which restricts my intervallic and dynamic range. Andreas Öberg and Olli Soikelli take this combination approach to extremes I can only dream of.
@@alimbawip5345 yeah surprisingly I’ve come a long way in one month & like you occasionally fallback to anchoring but only occasionally and I get a way less choppy, smoother sound. It’s helped me make major strides in playing Tony rice - church street blues. It’s incredible. I’m actually faster this way if I can my wrist relaxed.
"We don't use those tricks" Sorry but I find that a bit disrespectful. Maybe you don't mean it that way. Maybe you should watch some more Troy's content, he analyzes gypsy picking as well.
I guess what you and the rest of the gypsy picking players don't get is that how you don't anchor your right hand. It floats in the air. How about teaching that?
I did, search for "Q&A with Christiaan episode 2" and I explain all!
Hendrix didnt anchor his wrist or right hand either, he curved his hand inwards. I know its irrelevant but its interesting :) I prefer this technique
i rested my hand for 20 years and it drove me crazy for being unable speed up or even pick prperly, until i started from zero with help of vids like this AND playalong with some django favs. after 3 month i already figured out the floating right hand and it totally got me rid of technical picking issues. so my cents for all frustrated players are: dont give up, dont rush, exercise slow and play with backing tracks while studying djangos solos(!) AND LEARN THEM. play them fast once u know them u will start to vary them almost autoatically. and listen to people like christiaan^^
Wow, thanks for sharing Doctor Too-Much!
Marty Friedman has the same picking technique..
Economy picking is far faster and easier than this :/
Double down strokes seem so unnecessary ..they are slow and uncomfortable to play..isn't it supposed to be about economy of motion?...this and having to start on a down stroke on every string is an awful thing to burden you your picking hand with ...it totally amazes me how the gypsy players are so fast ...but these days guy's like Troy Grady and many other modern players using slanted pick and edge picking ect ...can play way faster...at least on electric guitars...
I think the reason that it's necessary is that on an a acoustic guitar it makes your playing a lot more clear and has a strong full bodied attack. if you pick down on one string and up on the string above (e.g. E string to B string) this will never sound as clear and well articulated as a double down. the use of extra down strokes also goes well with the gypsy picking hand position where the hand is not resting on the body of the guitar which allows it to resonate properly. There are certain licks and patterns that are harder to play using the Gypsy picking technique, but all of the licks and vocabulary in this genre sound best when using the proper technique. I don't think Troy Grady is faster than any of the great Gypsy guitarists... Listen to Jimmy Rosenberg's intro and second solo in this version of Dark eyes Dark Eyes czcams.com/video/Y5soVdF1bXw/video.html incredibly fast and effortless!
If you want to really shred using Gypsy picking you simply avoid phrases that require more than one down stroke in a row. For the the standard medium to fast swing 8th note lines you hear in Gypsy Jazz the double down strokes are easy and shouldn't hold you back once you get used to them.
On electric or jazz guitar this technique isn't necessary but it's very hard to play gypsy jazz phrases on an acoustic without it, i tried playing gypsy jazz using alternate picking for a couple of years. everything just sounded thin and weak and i couldn't play fast enough.
I guess what i'm saying is the Gypsy picking is great for playing Gypsy jazz haha!
Took much talking
I'm going for the record!
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