Hi GMC! My name is Vasilije Vukmirovic, and it’s pleasure to be here with you guys!
In my first lesson, I played a little piece which I composed to introduce you to gipsy jazz. The song is in E minor, and chords are, E min, C7, F#7, B7. Basically, it’s I-IV-V, although sounds a bit strange with C7. C7 is used to create little harmonic movement, don’t be confused. You will see that use lot of down-strokes(after which I rest my right hand on the next lower string) and that is to create that special "gipsy sound". That is crucial for gipsy jazz playing, I will discuss it more deeply in my next lesson, for now, focus on learning the piece and playing it really slowly. Pay attention to that fast arpeggio part, and most importantly, pick hard.
I used guitar rig preset called twangy tone, in jazz section, it is great for that old Django-style sound!
I also advise you to improvise over the backing tracks, harmony is very easy, so step on! Use E harmonic minor for now, there are more possibilities of course, but I don’t want to confuse you, so play what you feel like, experiment and enjoy!
In the next lesson we will discuss basics of Gipsy jazz technique, till then, have fun playing!
See ya!
Vasilije
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