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The Greatest Guitar Solo in the World - Learn It Play It
Rating: 4.7 out of 5(7 ratings)
160 students

The Greatest Guitar Solo in the World - Learn It Play It

Advanced Gypsy Jazz - Django Reinhardt's "Improvisation No. 1" -
Created byAlex Simon
Last updated 11/2017
English

What you'll learn

  • Play the greatest guitar solo of all time
  • Perform "Improvisation No. 1" and be able to start creating their own advanced works of music.
  • Approach practicing the guitar in a way that will increase your speed, clarity, and expression
  • Play single note tremolo at great velocities
  • Perform orchestral sounding chord tremolos
  • Add Flamenco and Gypsy Jazz color to your chord solos
  • Master the two handed harmonic technique
  • Rip through varying types of chromatic runs
  • Employ diminished open string licks
  • Make your solos breathe with dynamics
  • Explore augmented and whole tone arpeggios
  • Approach the fret board horizontally
  • Play incredibly complex music with the use of only two fingers
  • Tell a story with your music

Course content

1 section25 lectures2h 6m total length
  • Part 1 Introduction How to play Django Reinhardt's "Improvisation No. 1"9:18
  • Part 2 Opening Arpeggios, Melodies12:28
  • Part 3 Some Breezy Chords8:24
  • Part 4 A Little Chromatic Run3:15

    Master a smooth chromatic run in Django Reinhardt's style, using hammer-ons, finger drags, and precise upstrokes and downstrokes on the B and G strings, with slow, metronome-guided practice.

  • Part 5 More Breezy Chords4:02
  • Part 6 Melody after Breezy Chords3:37
  • Part 7 Diminished Run5:21
  • Part 8 Chord Hits and Melody3:48
  • Part 9 Another Little Melody2:08

    Learn a favorite melody from the greatest guitar solo through precise fretting, downstrokes, upstrokes, and a chromatic run, with careful position changes to prevent strain.

  • Part 10 Calm Before the Storm4:31
  • Part 11 High Drama12:42
  • Part 12 Second Passage of Dramatic Part5:16
  • Part 13 Harmonics Melody5:16
  • Part 14 Two Chords Come After The Harmonics Melody1:30
  • Part 15 Single-Note Tremolo2:38
  • Part 16 The Pull Off Lick5:26
  • Part 17 Chromatic Run After Single-Note Tremolo and Pull Off Lick6:00

    Learn to connect tremolo and a pull-off lick into a fluent chromatic run, with deliberate upstrokes and downstrokes, paced by a metronome for smooth momentum.

  • Part 18 Arppegiated Chords After The Chromatic Run5:21

    Connect the chromatic run to descending arpeggiated chords through slow practice, mastering downstrokes, upstrokes, and finger placements on frets, with metronome guidance alongside Django jangles' original recording.

  • Part 19 Notes on the Second Pass of the Tremolo/Pull-off/Chromatic Section4:28
  • Part 20 Chord Hits after The Tremolo/Pull-off/Chromatic Section1:53

    Move a single chord shape along the neck to hit tremolo and chromatic hits, fretting at 6, 7, 8–9, and slide to 11 with subtle vibrato on descending chords.

  • Part 21 Little Melody after Final Chord Hits2:58
  • Part 22 Descending 4ths Melody2:28
  • Part 23 Minor Melody after the 4ths Melody5:52
  • Part 24 The End of Improvisation No.16:26
  • Thoughts on Practicing and Performing Improvisation No.11:34

Requirements

  • No prerequisites but it is advised that you take my Introduction to Gypsy Jazz Guitar course.
  • You will need access to an audio recording of Django Reinhardt's "Improvisation No. 1" for reference.
  • Guitar and a pick are required

Description

Learn how to play one of the greatest guitar works of all time

Django Reinhardt's Improvisation No. 1 is considered by many to be one of the greatest solo guitar works of all time. In this course, I will show you how to play this tour de force, note by note.

This Course is for everyone regardless of Level

Even though this is one of the most advanced pieces of music you can
play on guitar, I've designed this course in a way so that even a beginner can start to practice it. I will guide you through every little detail of how to play it. Guitarists of all levels will learn Django's powerful technique and mastery of the guitar neck.

Learn multiple guitar approaches at once

Improvisation No. 1 draws upon Flamenco, Mediterranean, Gypsy, and Jazz music, as well classical and Impressionists like Debussy and Ravel. On display in this three minute improvised masterpiece is the full spectrum of the Gypsy Jazz guitar virtuoso's techniques, melodies, licks, tricks, phrases, motifs, colors and feel, etc.

As we deconstruct Improvisation No. 1, you will not only become familiar with the piece in great detail, but will also gain insight into how Django's creative genius works. In mastering one of the most difficult guitar pieces of all time, you will learn a powerful approach to performing that can be applied to many other styles and genres as well. 

No music theory or site-reading needed!

You don't need to know how to read music or have a degree from Julliard to take this course. I break down every little detail of the guitar solo from a technical perspective and also explain how the piece works on an artistic level. 

Inspiration for your own, original music

In this course I will not only teach you how to play Improvisation No. 1,
but will also explain how the different parts of the piece function. My goal is to help you understand the creative choices that Django makes so that you can incorporate some of these concepts, colors, shapes, and phrases etc. into your original compositions and performances. You will learn how to approach the guitar as if it were an orchestra.

Get faster and better, faster

I will also show you ways in which you can practice that will help you master even the most difficult passages of music. These practice habits and techniques can be applied to any genre of music and will increase your ability to play guitar more clearly, more powerfully, and with great velocity.

Who this course is for:

  • Anyone who is inpired to learn this great work of music.