The best way to learn how to play gypsy jazz is to surround yourself with players in the style, listen, watch, and emulate. However, depending on where you are in the world, you may not have ready access to players in the genre. What to do? Well, if you are lucky enough to be able to use the internet, then you have a good many fine examples to draw upon. YouTube is a great source of all kinds of videos from full programs to short minute or so demonstrations of players of various skill level. However, because some posts come and go the links I’ll give are active as of this posting, but I can’t guarantee they will always be available. My tactic is to ‘capture’ them somehow, and enjoy them while you can. If you find the link missing, just let me know, but all you have to do is search on the YouTube site for ‘Gypsy Jazz’ and you will get a lot of hits.
Many gypsy jazz players offer this advice, “Your solos will only be as good as your ability to play rhythm.” Translation – don’t get too far ahead of yourself in learning gypsy jazz. While we all want to play a great solo, take the time to learn how to play rhythm. You’ll find many more opportunities to jam with folks with more experience and skill, if you can play a ‘freight train’ rhythm guitar. Take a look at the top players in Gypsy Jazz and you will see that they all are stellar rhythm players. One of my favorites is Tchavolo Schmitt – check out his playing on ‘Mira Pral’.
Of course, you need a bit of preparation to get the most out any guitar lesson, so approach learning this style with at least a grounding in basic chord shapes, and knowledge of your instrument. While you can learn this style as a wet-behind-ears beginner, you need to have some ability to play guitar to get the most benefit from the examples I reference. Don’t be put off though, just work harder.
La Pompe
As far as getting a handle on learning ‘la pompe’, I turn to a couple of YouTube channels that offer play-alongs. The trick about ‘la pompe’ is proper right hand placement, stroke, and rhythm. The left hand must actually grip and release in coordination with the right hand stroke. There are several variations, but one popular one is the use of a subtle ‘grace’ note in the first stroke. It’s sometimes hard to hear, but if you watch enough players, you will see it, and be able to hear it. Execution of ‘la pompe’ is similar to the rhythm heard in Western Swing jazz, and other straight 4/4 swing rhythms, but it’s different. Beats 1 & 3 are stressed more than beats 2 & 4, which are ‘whipped’. Also, some players tend to strike beats 1 & 3 more on the bass strings, and whipped the chords on 2 & 4 more on the treble side. So, listen to as many examples as you can to get the feel, and of course, take a look at the example videos.
playbacklapompe – This generous individual has many videos that illustrate the style. this link is to his demonstration of ‘la pompe’, which shows the proper arm/hand placement to execute the style. Once you are comfortable with playing it, check out his play-alongs, too.
Denis Chang – The Art of Accompaniment – Denis has a lot of examples on the style. Most of these are outtakes from his instructional DVDs. If you can afford the full DVD ‘The Art of Accompaniment’, you will get your moneys worth. He is a very gifted player/teacher and the DVD takes the viewer through the many variances of gypsy rhythm. Take a look at the YouTube examples, and you’ll get a very good representation of his style of teaching.
