Bossa Dorado fast lick - alternate picking vs. Stochelo Rosenberg's technique

[@iurigama1869]

I really like how you explain the way you would approach studying and practicing these difficult passages. Always good advice that I can carry over to whatever I am playing.

[@pixytomsongs]

Thanks christiaan, you're a gift to the gypsy jazz community. It's a rare thing for such a great player to have the ability to analyse and teach as well as you do. Kudos :-)

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Pixy Tom Thank you so much Tom!

[@AsafElbaz]

Love the fact you address the physical aspect of playing. Far too often we think learning a lick is knowing the notes and rhythm, but your analysis gave me insight into the gypsy technique and sound. Thanks!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Asaf Elbaz Thanks, that kind of approach comes from the violin. Focus on detailed physical aspects of technically demanding phrases is the key to progressing quickly technique wise!

[@draganbabic1331]

Thanks for such good explanation Christian,now is much easier for me to understand, how I sould to play this liks

[@15111936]

Christiaan,your commitment to the art of gypsy jazz guitar and all the effort you put in mastering it is adorable.Thank you!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Pieter Mazur Thanks so much Pieter!

[@dingoswamphead]

Nice and clear, Christian

[@stephenpeter63]

Christiaan, many thanks for this hugely helpful video. Previously, I was able to play this lick but my fingers were all over the place and I couldn't find a consistent way to play it reliably. However when you introduced the idea to me of organising this solo (and indeed any other solo) into either open hand or closed hand sections, I could instantly play it the way you suggested and much faster and more consistently. I have watched many of your videos but this one has caused quite a shift in the way I think about solos now especially when I try to run up and down the neck. For me personally, this is probably the most helpful video on gypsy jazz soloing I have seen on KZbin in the five years since I started playing it and I've seen hundreds.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Thanks Stephen. Glad it's working for you!

[@dranidis]

Great videos! The tip about changing positions and the closed/open principle can do miracles.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Thanks!

[@doglivebilly]

Dankje wel voor de les

[@gessgess3882]

I am grateful to you for your lessons and beautiful pronunciation in English. Thanks to your lessons, I will be able to learn great guitar playing.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Thanks for your comment! Great to hear you are enjoying the content!

[@jimberman8692]

Good common sense in adaptive technique. Thanks. Liked and subscribed.

[@rp1agu]

Oh how nice! I'm currently working Bossa Dorado on the Rosenberg Academy, perfect timing. First song i chose to learn too :)

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+naikolaze I'll make more vids like this one!

[@user-ic5xu4jh6z]

I created a lick by my self and now i know it's more difficult than Stochelo's. But if my fingers get tired i will use his one :-D The best trick for me is to learn small peaces perfectly of a lick put it then together! Thanks for uploading!

[@Freakybananayo]

lets hear it!

[@andresemiliano3995]

Thanks a lot Christiaan!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

You're welcome Andres!

[@ianpeden2906]

Thanks a lot for this. I'm not struggling so much now!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Ah, nice to hear!

[@loefrederix9503]

Goed werk: helder en aangepast aan de iets minder geniale gitaristen! Doorgaan!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Graag gedaan!

[@mattdowie92]

Thanks Christiaan. I have been waiting for an explanation of how Stochelo plays this lick for a long time!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Matthew Dowie When I started learning to play guitar it was one of the first things I wanted to get to the bottom of!

[@depshallburn]

If you inspect the lick carefully you might see that it fits under a common 2 note per string diminished arpeggio shape. The only difference is you play up chromatically 2 notes from the D (the first note - 5 on A string) while the inner 4 strings are kept in the arp shape (up until the last B, 7th fret on the high E). Heres the shape for reference: E|- - - - - - - - 10 13 B|- - - - - - 9 12 - - G|- - - - 7 10 - - - - D|- - 6 9 - - - - - - - A|5 8 - - - - - - - - - E|- - - - - - - - - - - -

[@gowe100]

Master this and you have a 2 for 1! ...same lick SR uses in Coquette - only straight triplets vs. these 16ths.

[@argyle6674]

Do any players use strictly alternate picking in gypsy jazz? I am a bebop player, and using downstrokes every time I switch strings is very difficult. Is there one exercise that can cure that problem? Thanks.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

There are no strict alternate pickers as far as I know. Olli Soikkeli plays mostly alternate though, he also sweeps down but no fast double down strokes. If you search my channel for "technique" you'll find a lot of videos with exercises to develop the double down stroke!

[@davidfreel1451]

Hey Christiaan thanks for all your hard work. I am using this fingering, 123 142 142 4. Constant DUD (although I am playing mi picado). Try it and see what you think. About LH efficiency with an integrated pinkie, all combinations are good up to around 150 bpm after that LH string crossing with successive 234 combination gets unreliable. Loved the orchestration stuff, hope there will be more !

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Hi David, yes that's the dim fingering system used by Angelo Debarre. Nothing wrong with that but I do think that Stochelo's system in the end is easier to master!

[@josiecrotwell8627]

Hi Christiaan, hope your trip is going well... maybe you have already done this somewhere but on that video of Stochello playing with Rocky Gresset on Caravan, which I have watched about 500X now, Rocky does some very interesting chord work on his solo about 4:30 into the tune. I would love it if you did a video sort of analyzing that section, and also point me to the video where you go through the several ways to play that "stairway to heaven" minor pattern which they are using over the Fmin on Caravan. Also maybe talk about how to "push" the beat - I mean they just PUMP that Caravan, it is so easy to drag, but these really great gypsy jazz players seem almost ahead of the beat ,but it sounds so cool and powerful. Anyway just an idea. Take care my friend

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Good idea!

[@DizzyKrissi]

The title is misleading. It should be called: economy picking vs Stochelo

[@travelingman9763]

Good video for Gypsy Jazz! Why don't I hear any of the players using Wes and Pat Martino string gauges and Flatwounds? Instead for light strings and thick picks that all achieve the same sounds. The Left hand is certainly important to for a sound that is different from others using the same picking technique. All interesting and especially why some become the copied vs imitators. Your videos are more intelligently done than most that I've seen about Gypsy techniques.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Traveling man Thick gauges on a gypsy jazz guitar sound terrible and will prevent you from using the nice vibrato. Also flatwounds will completely kill those guitars and will take all the bite out of it. The top gypsy jazz players all have a wildly different sound!

[@travelingman9763]

What about speed pros and cons flats vs roundwounds? Have you tried Thomastik flats? I shared a video of yours on my facebook and think your videos are the most intelligent videos that Ive seen. Right on brother!

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

I tried Thomastik flats on my archtop for some time. I changed to roundwounds after I saw Peter Bernstein play roundwounds on his archtop and noticed that the chord solos had much more bite. I don't think I'll ever go back to flats, my guitar came alive after I put roundwounds on it!

[@travelingman9763]

I played Peter's 175,L-5 and his Ziedler. The Ziedler is the best one due to neck nize and nut setup. That tone came from his high nut action on that 1745 and his chops. He never played real fast for long stretches. That action. However his personality is based off cats like Wes his favorite and Stan Getz. Pete simply is a smart cat /experienced who prefers to play soulfully using the Blues and swing traditional elements. He looks for new devices to stop repeating himself and I pointed out one that he had just learned from a pianist. Overall, truth has to come out in the music and not technical b.s to hide behind. I think you are on track brother. If you decided to not fit in musically and follow what you really want to do..you would be one hell of a force! I tried all you have done stringwise but the string noise gets to me when acoustically practicing. Fretwear is enhanced with roundones vs flats.Unfortunately I chose the guitar for Jazz because I was first a Blues cat( I heard BB, Albert King, Albert Collins, Freddie King all "live"...should have been a pianist or sax cat. I was forced to play trombone by a music teacher(I wanted to play guitar) but due to that I played all kinds of European Symphonic music and learned to read. I played at Montruex on bone as part of aJ azz ensemble while in High School. Later toured with Lou Donaldson while in College for 17 days in Spain. Revenge..haha!

[@pieterbuurtjes7543]

Hello Christiaan, why wouldn't you play this with your pinky? So in all closed positions?

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Because diminished arpeggios in gypsy jazz are often played at high speeds. It is just much easier lifting your third finger over and over than it is your pinky!

[@gowe100]

You certainly can - especially if you've developed a strong pinky. CvH mentions earlier to change fingerings to what's comfortable. I play Dim Arp's with 1 & 4.

[@vantagestudios]

I'm coming from another genre so I will probably catch heat for this... but I fail to see how mixing pick stroke direction is as effective as pure alternate picking wherever possible; with specific exceptions such as setting yourself up for other phrases (as would be the case with bowed instruments). Why complicate a pattern more than you need to? I am a rock/blues player but started on cello, which I played for many years first.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Jay Wilson Pure alternate picking is certainly more efficient, economy picking even more so but pure alternate picking is usually taught with the palm on the bridge. It is impossible to get a good and powerful sound out of a gypsy jazz guitar that way. The power of gypsy technique is the ability to get a good sound out of any guitar. Also because half of the technique is economy you make up for the double downs the other way!

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

It is strange that some things are faster, or at least more fluid in my case as I have not mastered the downstroke technique, than with alternate picking. This seems counter intuitive but true. Are you able to comment on the RH technique of sebastian gineaux. I've never seen such a relaxed RH which makes his playing sound effortless.

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Sebastien Giniaux has a very unorthodox right hand technique. It's fantastic but he's the only one in gypsy jazz playing like that!

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

I thought so but wasn't sure. Thanks for confirming. I spent my life focussed only on alternating picking and it was one of my students who got me interested in Gypsy Jazz again that brought these techniques to my attention.

[@BradB]

Gotta be careful to not catch DDS. Double down strokitis

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

+Brad B The cure is lots of PS4!

[@Locke19901]

Am i the only guy who likes to play the last B (the 2nd to last note) on the B string 12th fret?

[@ChristiaanvanHemert]

Probably not Locke19901. I always say: do whatever feels comfortable to you so by all means, change the fingerings!

[@ekinulasyildiz2840]

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