The ragtime and early jazz music pioneers during the first decades of the last century didn???t know that the sounds they created would echo in the music that people loved for years to come. They started an American music traditionthat is alive to this day. I was born and raised in Sweden and I have always enjoyed the music from that era but being a Guitarist I never thought that playing back-up in a jazz band was for me. I???d rather do something with thesesongs so that they would fit my approach playing fingerstyle Guitar.Many of the early jazz songs and of course classical ragtime often is played as Piano music with a steady left hand playing bass notes and chords togetherwith the right hand playing a syncopated melody on top. This style of playing is very similar to the alternating bass style on the Guitar. So these tunes easily lend themselves to a fingerstyle arrangement.With classicalragtime I approach arranging by transcribing the original Piano sheet-music. The important thing is to find keys that suit the Guitar and then decide what notes not to play since it is not technically possible to play all thenotes in a Piano score on the Guitar. I like to play in keys that will give me the opportunity to use open strings in the bass while the melody moves up and down the neck. This is especially important since my aim is to make myarrangements not too difficult to play so that the player can concentrate on the music instead of being too concerned with the technical aspects of his/her playing. The most important challenge though is to make the tune soundlike Guitar music not Piano music played on the Guitar.

This book focuses on the key elements of Django Reinhardt's style of Gypsy jazz or 'jazz Manouche'. Author Stephane Wrembel gained his impressive knowledge of the style through years of experience jamming with French Gypsies and studying with masters of the style. Wrembel acquired his skills entirely by ear and has taught scores of musicians worldwide using the method that appears here in text and notation for the first time. Written in English, German and French with all musical examples in standard notation and tablature, Getting Into Gypsy Jazz Guitar shares the secrets of the style in a logical step by step manner, exposing the reader to the authentic Manouche style as it continues to evolve in France and Holland. Intermediate to advanced in difficulty, this method is designed for the guitarist who is already familiar with jazz harmony and note locations on the fretboard. Includes access to online audio.