April in Paris: 3rd Annual Django Festival
Workshops

Michael Dunn - Rhythm Guitar Workshop

Gypsy Jazz Rhythm Workshop led by Michael Dunn, renowned luthier and the rhythm king of Hot Club Of Mars. What really identifies the genre of Gypsy Jazz is the way the rhythm is kept with guitars instead of a drum kit. There are several basic ways to play the rhythm and each has its place depending on the song or tempo.

In the workshop, there will be a song(s) which we will use to study the basic rhythm techniques mostly concentrating on the right hand movements. The turnarounds, stops, pulses and pushes will be explored. All this with an aim to realizing that rhythm guitar is not second fiddle, but the most important part of the Gypsy Swing ensemble.

Budge Schachte Guitar Workshop

"Gypsy Bop" Melody Workshop led by Budge Schachte. The melodic vocabulary of the ornamental Gypsy style and Bebop (Bop) jazz are the perfect compliment to each other. Django himself embraced the "Bop" vocabulary towards the end of his career.

In this workshop we will explore a variety of simple scale and arpeggio combinations (ie. "licks") and how to use them over typical gypsy jazz tunes. We'll learn to modify these "licks" through the use of ornaments, including chromaticism and other exotic tricks. Some of these include; "Target Tones", "Guide Tones", "Octave Displacement", "Rhythmic Phrasing", "Motives", "Symmetry", and more... You will leave this workshop with essential skills and an enhanced appreciation of this infectious style. * There will be handouts in Standard Notation, TAB and Chord Diagrams.