Workshops
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.
Adrien Moignard - An Approach to Gipsy Lead Guitar
Rich of diverse and numerous musical experiences, Adrien Moignard is one of the young leading talents on the French gipsy jazz scene.
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.
Rhythm Changes Workout
Rhythm Changes (i.e. the chord progression for "I Got Rhythm") is one of the most common chord progressions used in jazz. A full understanding and mastery of this chord progression in a prerequisite for any jazz musician. In this workshop you will learn how gypsy jazz legends Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, etc approached accompaniment for Rhythm Changes. We will discuss Django's more traditional sounding pre-war approach to Rhythm Changes as well as the more modern devices and chord substitutions used by contemporary players. By the end of this class you will have the tools to play Rhythm Changes like a pro! These examples will be included in handouts written in both standard notation and tablature.
Gypsy Jazz Waltzes
Before the arrival of jazz, the accordion driven musette waltz was the predominant form of popular dance music in pre-war Paris. Django Reinhardt and other Parisian Gypsy musicians first honed their technique performing this challenging and beautiful genre. In this workshop we'll discuss both traditional and contemporary accompaniment techniques for waltzes. Jazz waltzes, Latin waltzes, the flat three waltz, and numerous other variations and embellishments will be covered. You will also learn three waltzes, one traditional musette, a jazz waltz, and a Latin waltz. These examples will be included in handouts written in both standard notation and tablature.
Latin Gypsy
Rhythms
This workshop will focus on Latin Rhythms such as the Gypsy Bossa, Boléro, Tango, Gypsy Samba, and Latin waltz. The Boléro is one of the most misunderstood of these rhythms and we'll look at exactly how Django and other Gypsies really play it. We'll also discuss the Gypsy style chord substitutions, comping, turnarounds, accent patterns, and other advanced Latin rhythmic devices used be Django, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, Nous'che Rosenberg, etc. 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.
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
Paul Brady - Django Reinhardt's bebop compositions & Dizzy Gillespie's Influence
Guitarist, writer and jazz historian Paul Brady of the Hot Club of Detroit is currently completing his master's thesis at Rutgers University in Jazz History and Research, titled: "Django Reinhardt The Jazz Musician: His Ability; Influence; and Legacy." Many of Reinhardt's bebop compositions are blatantly influenced by one of his heroes, the bebop pioneer, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. In this workshop, we'll take a look at Gillespie's influence on Reinhardt and discuss how he went about incorporating what we know as "bebop" into his already stunning compositions and improvisations, even before ever hearing Gillespie or Charlie Parker, and how you can take steps to get correct bebop voice-leading into your spontaneous improvisations.
*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. |
