Need Serious Help on Technique

luciotheunknown · October 22

Hey guys, I'm completely new here and am looking for some help. I am a student based in Montreal, Canada picking trying to pick up gypsy jazz as I absolutely love the genre. I've listened to plenty of Django over the years and have mustered up a very shoddy version of Minor Swing and a little bit of When Day Is Done. The problem is I learnt these songs with normal technique and haven't adopted the floating hand technique. I've scoured youtube and have had some success in learning it but have some general questions:

1) Do I use the pointy bit of my pick or the side of my pick or the back of my pick? I can't exactly identify how players are holding it in the first place as the picks seem pretty rounded.

2) Also to do with picks, is it absolutely essential I have a thick pick? I am using a 1.2mm purple Alice pick.

3) How do I strike the string with a rest stroke while keeping a support finger on the body? When my hand moves laterally my finger wants to move with it off the body.

4) I am using a 100 dollar acoustic guitar and it sounds a bit wirey - is it worth investing in a gypsy jazz guitar?

5) Do I have to learn rhythm first before going on to melodies?

6) Does anybody know any teachers in Montreal/online teachers to help me get started.

Sorry for the onslaught of questions, just feel a bit lost with the different views of different people online, some direction would be nice. How I usually learn music is a put a track in audacity, slow it down, and learn the notes - this seems a little more involved but I really want to learn.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Lucio

Joonas · October 22

A few thoughts:

1) You don't need a massively thick pick. Stochelo Rosenberg seems to use a 1.8mm pick.

I've practiced gypsy picking on an ordinary acoustic (Taylor guitar): Gypsy Jazz etude (All of Me)

2) Don't anchor your fingers or wrist. You can slide your fingers along the strings or guitar but do not push them down. In fact I have a small callous on my little finger of right hand that keeps touching the strings, but do not push them down and make them your anchor point. Don't keep a little finger on the body or smth similar. Your arm rests on the guitar.

3) You don't have to learn rhythm first imo. I kept going back and fourth between alternate picking and economy picking until I found that the so called "gypsy picking" was the most comfortable of them all. At least for me. It's not that suitable for styles like rock or metal but for jazz it just suits me.

4) Buying a gypsy guitar helps but just as I posted before, I've practiced and played before on an ordinary acoustic and everything was fine. The main thing that changed when I got a gypsy guitar was that the distance of strings to the body aggrevated. You want a gypsy guitar at some time but you can learn all the basics and practice on your ordinary acoustic.

paulmcevoy75 · October 22

1) I use the round side of the pick. A lot of players use the purple Dunlop tortex which are cheap and available. I use a 1.3mm Dunlop primetone in the same shape.

2) thickish is probably helpful. But you don't need a monster pick, see above.

3) there's a lot of good gypsy picking tutorials on YouTube. I think Christiaan Van Hemert has a great one. It's a lot of practice. I keep my fingers curled so that the knuckle of my pinky is on the guitar top. And then everything slides with that.

4) I think it is difficult to learn this style effectively with a martin style guitar. The bridge geometry is very different. There are cheap guitars around.

5) you can work on both.

6) Montreal has a pretty good GJ scene. Christine Tassan runs a jam weekly I think. There's like 3 luthiers making great gj guitars in Montreal. I'm trying to move there.....