The Best of Django Reinhardt Book/Online Audio (Guitar Signature Licks)

bought for my talented husband; he loved it!

:-)

This would get 5/5 stars if it was actually Django, but it's not, it's someone who's learned to play like him breaking the pieces apart for you to understand in piece form. So yes, it's a very valuable tool on your path to becoming great, but I'd recommend a book more devoted to theory, or else a book of actual Django tabs.

I highly recommend this book. I don't understand why some reviewers would criticize it. The transcriptions and tabs are flawless and the performances are spirited. I really enjoyed the CD.Now about the infamous "rest stroke". This stroke came from banjo technique before amplification. In Eddie Lang's 1930's guitar method he claimed that alternate picking was not a good idea because of "volume" in bands. I own Michael Horowitz's book "Gypsy Picking". It's a great book for the style, but in it he states that it is not conducive to bebop. I think this goes for any modern jazz, including modal and free jazz as well. It's too choppy for this later style (Listen to Joe Pass on "Cherokee" on his album "Virtuoso" to see just how limiting this picking is. It sounds choppy and focuses too much on the down beat instead of the subtle syncopation of later jazz, not to mention how sloppy it gets at these speeds. The Ferrer brothers (Boulou & Elios Ferre) have the same trouble when they play modern jazz-again the speed). WARNING!: Doing "Giant Steps" with the rest stroke can cause a brain aneurism, so please, don't try it without proper supervision.If you want to just play Django "prewar" and use a "Selmer Maccaferri" type guitar and be some kind of Django petrified jazz manouche clone, I would recommend the rest stroke (I've even read you should use only two fingers while playing his solos, as though Django wouldn't have done anything to have all his fingers back. Maybe you should buy some butane and orchestrate your own caravan fire to be really authentic). This sort of imitation is not flattering to Django memory and I think, pure silliness.I would recommend alternate picking unless you want to ignore the last 50 years in jazz and the invention of the amplifier. And yes, you can get a powerful and beautiful sound on an acoustic guitar with alternate picking. Check out the Al Dimeola's instructional tape by REH Video (Warner Brothers Publishing). You can argue with his content or musical ideas but not with his superb technique. I also recommend John McLaughlin's acoustic work such as "Qué Alegría" or "My Goal is Beyond" (rare and expensive) . This speed and virtuosity is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to get with the "rest stroke". By the way, Django himself moved on to other guitars such as gibson and other arch tops and incorporated bebop ideas in his solos. Toward the end of his life he was upset that people couldn't or wouldn't accept his new form of playing, just like Hendrix, Coltrane and other great musicians and painters.What I would recommend is what Wes Montgomery did. He transcribed every Charlie Christian solo he could get his hand on, and then went somewhere completely different with it. Charlie Parker learned Lester Young solos and went somewhere else with that as well. The same could be said for Bob Dylan and folk music, or Hendrix and the blues.Live in the true spirit of Django. Buy this wonderful book. Learn the solos. Study the content of the solos and the PLEASE...go somewhere NEW, beautiful and completely, unexpected with it the way Django would have. Now that's real "bal musette".

one of my students showed me this book recently; we looked over it together. Now, i feel it's important to stress that this book claims to be a "step by step breakdown of the guitar style and technique" of django reinhardt. The review is based strictly on that claim. And as such, I believe it isn't quite there. The chord voicings for the most part are not those used by django or his accompanists (who favored simple but thick chord voicings). The notes seem to be more or less correct (i only glanced through the book) and therefore would benefit anyone who just wants to analyze the notes. however, I noticed a number of fingering mistakes. While it's nearly impossible to say with certainty which exact fingerings django used, the picking technique he used lends itself to a particular left hand fingering system. Furthermore, django and the sinti today visualize the fretboard in a specific way (using certain shapes). This is something that is more than meets the eye, and is something, i picked up from listening closely to the records and especially from hanging out with the Sinti in Europe. I also have reasons to believe wes and george benson (and surely many other guitarists) use a variation of this system as well.Anyway, i think the book is certainly useful for anyone who wants to have the notes django played on paper for musical analysis. but for someone who s looking to understand his GUITAR style, and how he approached the instrument both technique wise and mentally; this book isn't quite it.

This is an excellent way to understand Django's playing. The transcriptions are deadly accurate and the audio examples are expertly played. The presentation is great and this book is a major asset to my education as an aspiring jazz guitarist. The ideas of this musical giant jump off the page and even the most difficult, technically challenging phrases are easy to follow. I have never appreciated Django's music and improvisational genius and fire so much as I have after studying this fine folio. Very nice package for the Django enthusiast. Highly recommended.

Missing the accompanying CD.

The transcriptions in this book are very accurate and the cd that comes with it is very helpful. All the songs are played at performance speed and half speed so you can work your way through even the most ridiculously fast licks. I was a little disappointed that the tab for "Nuages" was not complete, but they give you the bulk of the transcription. All in all this is a must have for any serious jazz guitarist.

super bouquin avec TABLATURES CLAIRE NET éxpéditiont COLIS RAPIDE et soigne

ricevuto il libro, con mio grande stupore mi accorgo subito che i voicing degli accordi non sono corretti! questo libro non centra molto con lo stile manouche che dovrebbe rappresentare, ho buttato i miei soldi, quel poco che c'è è strutturato male. mi spiace per l autore che ha speso il suo tempo in tale opera.non lo consiglio, libro che invece ho trovato utilissimo: espirit manouche, scritto in collaborazione con Romane(musicista gypsy jazz affermato)grazie

No es un libro para aprender manouche. es un libro para reproducir con exatitud a django reinhardt. El libro estructura las canciones sparando la intro, el solo, y a vces elfinal de la cancionpara que sepas donde va cada cosa. es un placer poder emular con la guitarra algunos pasajs de violin como daphne o limehouse blues. El cd no esta muy bien grabado,todo hay que decirlo. di un salto del desconcierto al escuhar el primer tema del cd, el cual crei que estaba sacado de un midi de guitar pro. la guitarra esta mal grabada y hay errores de ejecución en algunas canciones. aparte del cd, todo esta muy bien.

Offert à un talentueux ami guitariste, fan de Django...très content des tablatures qui s'y trouvent!!

Libro muy completo.Pero el soporte audiovosual está incompleto, los temas no están enteros.