Hungarian Gypsy Music and Django
Reinhardt
By: Kiersten Kolstad
Hungarian Demographics
35,919 square miles
• Location: Eastern Europe
• Population: 10,031,000
(2009)
• Ethnicities: 94%
Hungarian, 2%
Roma/Gypsy, 2% German,
4% other.
• Religion: 54% Catholic,
15% Protestant, 1%
Jewish, and about 30%
are atheist.
Roma and Gypsy People
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The term "Gypsy" means anyone
leading a nomadic life, but it
usually refers to the Roma who
are a traditionally nomadic people
found throughout the world.
The Roma share a common
heritage that sets them apart as
an ethnic group.
Originally left from India as early
as the 11th century.
The Roma were persecuted
throughout Europe in 15th century,
especially in Hungary where they
were forced into slavery.
The various Romani tribes are
divided into clans.
Many Roma work as musicians
and entertainers, and have had a
strong influence in music. Musical
tradition are still flourishing in
Eastern Europe.
Gypsy Music
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Primary instrument is
the violin (which they
put the most emphasis
on), also fiddles, a bass,
a cimbalom, accordions,
and can contain vocals.
string instruments
incorporate prominent
glissandos between
notes and chromatic
notes.
Most commonly heard in
small groups of 4-6
people playing in
restaurants and on the
streets.
The scale that is used is
the Hungarian Gypsy
scale. It has an exotic
sound and can be made
by raising the 4th degree
of a harmonic minor
scale to introduce a gap
or augmented second.
Gypsy Music cont.
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One instrument is primary focus at a
time.
Hungarian melodies are usually played in
a strict succession: first the slow
movements, the medium tempo “palotas”
and then the fast “czardas” or the “faster
friss czardas”
Preference for diminished chords.
Primary Instruments
- Cimbalom and bass
create the harmony
- Cimbalom-player
beats the rhythm with
small hammers that
shape the harmonies
- In Gypsy music a
traditional violin is used
but Gypsy musicians
usually chose violins
with a dark tonal-quality
from which they can
create a unique sound
• Djula & Tony - Friss Chardas Hungarian
Gypsy Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPga4KzrVfg
Django Reinhardt
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Was born as Jean Reinhardt on
January 23, 1910 in Belgium.
Reinhardt's nickname "Django" is
Romani for "I awake.
As a child he spent most of his youth
in Romani encampments close to
Paris.
Played Banjo, Guitar, and Violin from
an early age.
At the age of 18, Reinhardt was
injured in a fire and had badly injured
his third and fourth finger of his left
hand. Therefore he could only play
with his pointer and index finger, and
only used his other two fingers for
chords.
In 1934, Reinhardt and violinist
Stephan Grappelli formed the
“Quintette du Hot Club de France“
Reinhardt went to America and
played and recorded with many
American jazz musicians including
Louis Armstrong.
Still continued to compose music and
wrote one of his most prominent
pieces “Djangology” until his death on
May 16, 1953 at age 43.
Quintette du Hot Club de France
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Quintette du Hot Club de France was a Jazz
group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist
Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephan
Grapelli.
The group evolved from a series of
backstage jams led by Django Reinhardt,
with Stephane Grappelli, then bassist Louis
Vola, and rhythm guitarists Roger Chaput
and Joseph Reinhardt.
the quintet created and popularized
popularized the Gypsy Jazz style.
When WWII broke out the band was on tour
in the UK, Django returned to France while
Grapelli stayed in the UK.
Django continued using the Quintette name
with a different group.
This version of the Quintette did not issue
many recordings, although they did issue the
composition Nuages, later to become a jazz
standard.
Minor Swing
Instruments
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One lead guitar
Two rhythm guitars
Bass fiddle
Violin
Django’s Guitar style and Gypsy
Jazz
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Arpeggios: Django used a lot of arpeggios in his solos
Chromatism: Chromatic notes are an important aspect of the gypsy sound and are used in many
of his songs including Nuages, Honeysuckle Rose, J’attendrai and Minor Swing.
Glissando: a slide that results in a rapid series of ascending or descending notes.
String Bends
The diminished sound:
Hungarian Gypsy Scale:
And in Gypsy Jazz…
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The lead guitar (and violin) are played in a chromatic style with a heavy swing feel
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The drum is replaced by 2 rhythm guitars that are played using a specific technique called “La
Pompe". It’s a kind of strumming is done by playing a fast up-down strum followed by a down
strum.
Nuages
Excerpt from one of his songs called Nuages played in the Hungarian
gypsy scale: 1 2 b3 #4 5 b6 7
Comparison
Similarities
- Use string instruments for rhythm/beat of song
- Utilize the Hungarian Gypsy Scale
- Put emphasis on one instrument
- Violin and Bass
- Use the chromatic notes and Glissando’s
-Consist of a small group of musicians.
-Diminished chords
Django Reinhardt
-Use of acoustic guitars
-Replaces drum and creates tempo through
“la pompe”
-Maintains consistent tempo
Hungarian Gypsy music
-Uses Cimbalom
-Uses accordion
-Cimbalom and bass sets the rhythm and harmony
of piece
-Changes tempo throughout the piece instead of
staying at one steady one
Works Cited
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http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/roma__gypsy__music_778/en_US
http://nigeldickinson.com/albums/gypsymusicdancebears/gypsy_music_dance01.jpg
http://g.sheetmusicplus.com/Look-Inside/large/3150401_01.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Hungary#Folk_music
http://www.budapesthotels.com/touristguide/Music.asp
http://www.answers.com/topic/django-reinhardt
http://img1.photographersdirect.com/img/16876/wm/pd1796113.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iJ7bs4mTUY&feature=related
http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t166/T166655A.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_music
http://www.earth-photography.com/Countries/Hungary/Hungary_Budapest_Aerial0.html
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/europe/gypsy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Hungary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy_style
http://www.jazzguitar.be/django_reinhardt.html
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http://www.dicts.info/img/ud/double_bass.jpg