Gypsy Jazz Guitar Tip 1

by Etienne Jeanne

Hi everyone,

This month first gypsy guitar's tip will be about a certain way of playing the rhythm guitar while accompanying another instrument alone, we also more generally call that technique the "bass-strum style", but it gets more efficient with waltz, Russian and gypsy tunes, the guitar taking over the role of the bass.

The principle is very simple, but needs a lot of practice to master (as usual). Play the bass note on the beat, and the chord on the after beat. The difficulty resides in the fact that each pick's stroke MUST be a DOWN stroke.

The example we choose to illustrate the bass-strum style is a basic form in E minor, with chords in first position of the neck, the simplest one everyone knows on guitar (chord changes in 4/4, 4 bars : E minor - A minor - B 7 - E minor)

1) The pick will first hit the E string (the biggest one on a guitar) on the beat, coming down on the A string without playing it. The pick will then play in one time the rest of the strings on the after-beat with a down stroke (right hand movement from top to bottom). This has to be played in one shot, no cut, the arm must not move from its original position, only the wrist is acting.

Then place the little finger on the big E string, 3rd fret (G bass), and do it again (hit the G on the beat, the pick coming down on the A string without playing it, and down stroke on the rest of the strings on the after-beat).

2) Go to A minor position, the pick will hit the A string on the beat, coming down on the D string without playing it, then down strike the rest of the strings. Place the little finger on the A string, 3rd position (C bass) and repeat the move.

3) Go to B7 position, the pick will hit the A string on the beat (positioned on 2nd fret, B bass) coming down on the D string without playing it, then strike down the rest of the strings on the after-beat ; repeat the same move choosing F# as a bass for the second B7 bar.

4) At last, come back on E minor position, doing the exact same move as seen in 1)

You can do the same exercise on a waltz, but  you down strike the rest of the strings twice after each bass (the waltz rhythm poum-tchac-tchac)

This exercise has to be practiced slowly at the beginning, and remember that your arm must not move from its original position, only the wrist is moves.

See you next month for more gypsy jazz guitar tips...

4/4

3/4