Gypsy Jazz Violin

Gypsy Jazz, or Jazz Manouche, has its origins in the 1930’s and the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France. The music is a mixture of French cafe music, Gypsy tunes and American swing standards.

This course will run over 11 weeks and throughout the term, you will look at playing and improvising in the style of Gypsy Jazz through working on a number of standard tunes in the repertoire, tunes which are commonly played in sessions.

We plan to finish the course with a performance/jam session playing along with a lineup of double bass, rhythm and lead guitars.

To get the most from the course, you need to be able to play at a minimum of Grade 5 standard.

Some knowledge of theory and harmony would be useful but not essential.

The course will be all about developing some skills so that you can play and improvise in this style of music and hopefully have a lot of fun doing so.

Artist Bio  

Niall Lynch is a violin teacher with over 30 year's experience working in the Education Authority Music Service and formerly the SEELB. F

For many years he was Head of String Studies in the SEELB and has taught students from beginner to Diploma standard as well as coached and conducted orchestras and chamber ensembles. He has combined a teaching career with freelance performing in orchestras, shows and bands.

Outside of classical music he has recorded and performed with the jazz/improvisational group Dionys and writes, performs and records with Seefin, a trio whose music is a mix of trad. and classical.

In recent years he has been a regular at the Gypsy Jazz sessions in the Sunflower Bar and performs regularly with local outfits Belleville and the Modern Swing Collective.