Workshops
 The Rosenberg Trio Guitar Workshops
Workshop #1 will focus on rhythm guitar.
Considered one of the very best if not the best rhythm guitarist in gipsy jazz, Nous'che Rosenberg will explain technique, rhythmic patterns and his personal approach to rhythm playing. Nous'che's close interaction with the lead guitar of Stochelo Rosenberg will be demonstrated by both along this workshop, offering participants a precious insight on the Premier band in gipsy jazz and the way they do it, gipsy-style !
Workshop #2 will focus on lead guitar.
From his early days picking up Django's solos by ear and practicing restlessly - the gipsy method - to his accomplishment as a legendary guitarist, blending the Master's work with latin influences, an ear for all things Jazz and his unique touch and vibrato, Stochelo Rosenberg became the incarnation of the gipsy jazz guitarist. Through this workshop, Stochelo will demonstrate and explain picking, improvisation, left / right hand techniques and more, according to participant's wishes.
John Jorgenson - Introduction to Gypsy-Jazz Guitar
"Introduction to Gypsy-jazz Guitar" will be geared towards the player who is just starting to learn gypsy jazz and swing guitar, and will cover both rhythm and lead techniques. For rhythm playing, various chord shapes and patterns that can be utilized in many different songs will be demonstrated along with elementary music theory behind these progressions. In addition, the right hand rhythm patterns that are the very life blood of swing playing will be taught. The beginning lead guitarist will again be shown various scale and arpeggio combinations and how to use them over the most common chord changes in gypsy jazz music. Along with left hand fingering (including the "two-finger" and "four-finger" approaches) various right hand picking techniques will be taught (including "gypsy-picking" and alternate picking). After having taken this workshop, the student should be left with a good understanding of the elements that make up gypsy jazz and swing.
Gonzalo Bergara - The Gypsy Swing Workshop
My main interest is to show you how to teach yourself to play this stuff, share all the advice that has helped me tremendously through all this time. There are two main subjects I'd like to cover, technique and knowledge.
During the technique section we'll talk about both right hand and left hand. We all know how important the right hand is for this style so we have to get that right. The left hand we'll cover fingering, ways to connect all together, vibrato, timing and whatever else we can think of.
The knowledge section is about getting really familiar with the notes on your guitar. You need to know the neck of the guitar better than you know your name. How to practice!!! There are many many tips on how to practice more efficiently. I also want to talk about swing!! Django was always swinging.
Finally we'll cover melodies, how to be more musical, to understand TENSION AND RELEASE and to start making music in a guitar solo.
Sébastien Giniaux - An Approach to Gipsy Lead Guitar
Rich of diverse and numerous musical experiences, Sébastien Giniaux is one of the Leading talents on the French gipsy jazz Scene. His versatility got him to play with bands such as Taraf de Haidouks (eastern gipsy music) to more jazz combos such as the David Reinhardt trio and many others.
In this workshop he offers to study the melody of a few Django tunes (to be decided at the worshop), sound, right hand techinque, rhythm placement, and from that improvising on those grids, first with some Django and other gipsy jazz lincks, arppegios on those grids and then for a more global approach with the idea of developing harmonic principles which can be applied on any tune.
Mathieu Chatelain - Rhythm Tips & Tricks
After ten years of studying rhythm with the gypsies and playing with people such as Dorado & Samson Schmidt, Tchavolo or Angelo Debarre, Mathieu Chatelain now feels ready to transmit what he has learned over a comprehensive workshop which will cover topics such as "chord sound", right hand and left hand technique, gipsy voicings, typical grids, how to read, work and develop those grids, rhythm effects. Also to correct typical mistakes non-gipsies tend to have when they start rhythm. All that in English which wil help understand things correctly.
Dennis Chang Guitar Workshops
The "Traditional" Gypsy Jazz Style
In this workshop, Dennis will discuss and demonstrate some of the nuances that define what we might call the "traditional" Gypsy Jazz style: trills, bends, slides, ghost notes, note choice, etc. Then it'll be your turn to try applying these techniques to your improvisation.
Bebop and Gypsy Jazz
What with over 60 years of jazz history behind us since Django's death, you might want to incorporate bebop/modern ideas into your GJ playing, but without crossing over completely to straightahead jazz. Tricky dance, that, and Dennis can guide you across the floor as well as anyone.
Michael
Horowitz Guitar Workshops
Gypsy Picking Workshop - Right Hand Technique
Right hand picking technique is one of the most demanding aspects of playing Gypsy jazz. This workshop will teach you the rest-stroke picking technique used by Django Reinhardt, Stochelo Rosenberg, Bireli Lagrene, and nearly every other Gypsy jazz guitarist. Learning to play with rest-strokes will give you the "Gypsy sound" by dramatically improving your volume, speed and tone. To help put the rest-stroke technique in context, students will learn several of the most commonly used Gypsy phrases, arpeggios, and chromatic runs which do not appear in my book Gypsy Picking. Students will also learn basic principals of efficient left hand fingerings which, when used in conjunction with the rest-stroke picking technique, allow one to play with improved speed and articulation. These examples will be included in handouts written in both standard notation and tablature.
Gypsy
Rhythm Workshop - Rhythmic and Harmonic Techniques
Accompaniment
in Gypsy jazz is so much more then a few three note chord voicings played with
a La Pompe rhythm. In this workshop I will teach you authentic Gypsy chord
voicings and rhythms which I learned first hand from the the Gypsy guitar masters
in Holland. You will learn advanced 5 and 6 note chord voicings, Gypsy style chord
substitutions, comping, turnarounds, accent patterns, and other advanced rhythmic
devices used be Django, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, Nous'che Rosenberg,
etc. Additionally, we'll discuss numerous regional variations of La Pompe such as the pre-War style, German style, modern style, etc. Gypsy approaches to
Latin rhythms will also be explained.
To put these techniques into context,
you will learn a number of Gypsy jazz standards with authentic chord changes.
Unlike most fake books, these tunes were transcribed from Django's original recordings
or learned directly from the Gypsies. These examples will be included in handouts
written in both standard notation and tablature.
Advanced Gypsy
Rhythm Workshop
This advanced rhythm workshop will teach you the sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic devices used by gypsy jazz legends Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, etc. You will learn rhythmic techniques such as the Shuffle, Long, Hit, Roll, Triplet, Double Time, Tremolo, and Syncopation. Additionally, you will learn how to instantly reharmonize any jazz tune with the following techniques: Adding Tensions, Tritone Substitution, ii-V subs, Gypsy Style Turn-Arounds, Line Cliches, and Deceptive cadences. Some of the most advanced and beautiful Gypsy style chord shapes will also be demonstrated.
To put these techniques into context, you will learn a number of Gypsy jazz standards arranged using the advanced harmonic and rhythmic techniques demonstrated in the class. These techniques were transcribed from original recordings of Django, Bireli Lagrene, and Stochelo Rosenberg or learned directly from the Gypsies themselves. These examples will be included in handouts written in both standard notation and tablature.
Unaccompanied
Django Workshop - Gypsy Jazz Solo Guitar Techniques
Django Reinhardt
composed more than a dozen compositions for the unaccompanied guitar throughout his career. These pieces, many of which
bear the title “Improvisation,” are some of the most intimate expressions
of the musical genius of Django Reinhardt. Unfortunately, Django’s output
for the unaccompanied guitar has often been overshadowed by his brilliant work
as a soloist in small jazz ensembles. Django’s tradition of unaccompanied
guitar playing is still an important part of the Gypsy jazz genre. Contemporary
Gypsy jazz virtuosos such as Angelo Debarre, Boulou Ferré, Biréli
Lagrène, Fapy Lafertin, and Stochelo Rosenberg have recorded Django’s
unaccompanied guitar pieces as well as their own compositions.
This workshop
will explore the techniques that Django, Stochelo Rosenberg, Biréli Lagrène,
and other Gypsy guitarists use to create brilliant unaccompanied guitar compositions.
You will learn authentic Gypsy chord voicings, Gypsy style reharmonization techniques,
arppegiations, Baroque ideas, Spanish/Flamenco ideas, parallel chord usage, scale
passages, chromatic runs, and numerous other techniques which will allow you to
create your own Gypsy style unaccompanied versions of any song. You will also
learn an unaccompanied version of the Reinhardt classic Manoir des mes Rêves (which doesn't appear in my book Unaccompanied
Django). These examples will be included in handouts written in both standard
notation and tablature.
Michael Horowitz is a graduate of the Berklee
College of Music in Boston and is currently pursuing a PhD in Ethnomusicology
at the University of Washington. He recently returned from fieldwork among the
Dutch Gypsies which was funded by the Fulbright Commission, during which he studied
with Gypsy masters such as Fapy Lafertin, Jan Limberger, Martin Limberger and
Paulus Schäfer. He is the founder of the publishing company DjangoBooks.Com and is the author of the book Gypsy
Picking and Unaccompanied
Django. Michael performs with Pearl Django and
The Djangomatics.
Mimi Fox - Flying Solo: The Art of Solo Jazz Guitar
Following in the footsteps of Joe Pass but with her own unique approach, Mimi will break down all the elements necessary for successful solo jazz playing. Some of the topics that she will cover will include rubato playing, single line passages with chords, walking bass lines, thematic development, guitaristic devices (open strings/harmonics etc.) and many other concepts will all be covered in this workshop.
Fabrice Martinez - Gypsy Style Violin
Fabrice is a gifted fiddler who plays with Fishtank Ensemble and travels Europe in a mule-drawn caravan collecting and playing folk music with the group Croque Mule. Originally from France before living in the caravan, his special love is Romanian folk music. He also plays Gypsy, Hungarian, Swedish, and many other kinds of music.
Michael Gray - Violin/Fiddle Masterclass
Workshop
For all violinists and fiddlers who want a little insight
on improvising, this workshop will focus on how to get around on a gypsy jazz
tune or jazz standard. The fiddle styles of Stephane Grappelli, Titi Winterstein,
Regina Carter and others will be used to convey playing ideas and violin tips
such as tone production, how to solo over an easy blues and/or a gypsy jazz standard
like "Minor Swing", improvising a melodic line, and what to do when
you get lost (and how not to get lost!) The general approach will be to help players
to use their own particular strengths in learning how to creatively solo and improvise,
and ultimately, lay the groundwork for nurturing your own style of playing. All
levels are welcome; the ability to read chord charts would be helpful. And, most
importantly, performers of all styles of fiddling and violin playing are welcome.
It's amazing how much traditional styles, both folk and classical, influence the
ability to perform a solo of any style on the instrument.
The instructor
for the workshop will be Michael Gray, violinist of the band, Pearl
Django. Michael has been an adjunct professor of Music at Cornish College
of the Arts, and has taught at the University of Washington (Music 464a). Michael
has performed, recorded and taught extensively throughout the Puget Sound region
Jason Anick - Violin Workshops
Jason Anick joined the John Jorgenson Quintet while still finishing up his jazz violin studies at the Hartt School in
Connecticut. An avid improviser since his early teens, Jason won top honors for improvisation in the ASTA Alternative
Styles competition and performed with the Robin Nolan Trio at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2007. This spring, Jason shared teaching responsibilities with Matt Glasier at the Django in June gyspy jazz camp, coaching students in the violin styles of all the great Gypsy jazz violinists from Stéphane Grappelli to Florin Niculescu and Didier Lockwood. (www.jasonanick.com)
Learn from the Masters
Ever wonder how the great gypsy jazz violinists like Didier Lockwood, Florin Nicolescu, and Stephane Grappelli get their unique “sound”? For this workshop I will compare the various stylistic, rhythmic, and harmonic aspects that give these respected players their unique sound. I will teach a part of each player’s solo over the classic tune “Minor Swing” as well as show some classic licks that will be great additions to your own “musical toolbox”. Finally, I will discuss ways on how you can start to develop your own unique sound. This workshop is open for violinists of all levels.
Perfect your Swing
Getting a solid and authentic sounding swing feel on the violin can often be extremely difficult. For this workshop I will provide some useful bowing and stylistic techniques that will help you perfect your swing. Everyone will take turns soloing over classic swing tunes like “Stompin’ at the Decca” and “Lady be Good” and I will provide individual feedback on how to obtain that special swing feel. This workshop is open for violinists of all levels.
*Please
note: All reservations for workshops will be handled through WICA this year
- please do not contact the individual bands/performers. Private lessons are also
available upon request - please inquire here. |
