Gypsy style

The term Romani style refers to the way Eastern European music is played in coffeehouses and restaurants, at parties, and sometimes on-stage in European cities. Music played in this style differs from actual Romani music played by Romani and Sinti people, many of whom regard the term "gypsy" as a slur when applied to their community.

It is mainly instrumental and usually performed by strings, except in the Romanian variant where the panflute is the main instrument. The accompaniment may be executed by various instruments, but by preference includes a cimbalom and a double bass.

instrumentation

the repertoire

the idiom

Music played in this style can easily be recognized among many other styles. Characteristic elements of the style include:^[1]

Among these items the last one — the idiom — is decisive: it is mainly the way of playing that determines whether a tune is played in Roma people's style or not. It is — just like in jazz – not the combination of instruments that determines the style, but its characteristic performance.

Notwithstanding this, the first two items – instruments and repertoire – will be discussed before the main issue – the idiom – will be dealt with.

Repertoire[edit]

The music played in this style is usually of Hungarian, Romanian, or Russian origin. But also, melodies from Czech, Bulgarian, or other East European origins may be used.^[2]

The Hungarian melodies are always played in a strict succession: first the slow movements, ballads or lassans, then the medium tempo palotas, and thereafter the fast czardas or the even faster friss czardas. A special role is played by the nóta, written music in a folk style, but played by heart in this style.^[3]^[4]

The Romanian melodies have altogether other characters, melodically simple but with more complicated rhythms. The fast hora is played in a straightforward 2:2 or 2:4 rhythm, the sirba in a complicated rhythm. The slow doina resembles the blues in jazz and is often improvised with a rubato background of chords.^[5]

The Russian melodies are characterized by songs that easily can be remembered. Well-known melodies, such as Black Eyes or Kalinka, stem from the Russian repertoire. Slow movements alternate with czardasses; also Cossack songs are played in this article's style.

A special class is formed by melodies written by Western European musicians in this style, such as the Monti czardas, nicknamed Spaghetti Czardas by its critics.

Chords are more often varied than in the original melody

Harmonic transitions are introduced that did not exist in the original

A harmonic transition that occurs in the original is emphasized so that it sounds as if it were an added harmony

At the end of a melody sometimes a transitional chord is added to prepare for the repetition of the melody

There is a preference for , like in some types of jazz music

diminished chords

Exotic scales like the so-called "" are rarely used. All melodies are in the classic minor and major tone scales, the harmonies are uncomplicated and have usually a "classic" sound.

Gypsy scale

In a few phrases, only an East Asian influence, or a small part of the , was recognized.

scale

It is the improvised way of playing that makes the music sound in the "style": the rhythmic shifts, the ornaments, the treatment of the tone. "Beautifully played and very characteristic," was the verdict. "Very clever," was said of the small rhythmic shifts in the fast melodies. "It lets the music swing, in a way similar to jazz, although with another character."

The harmonic structure of the slow movements has a special character: the dissolving of a chord is often postponed so that tension is created. “The soloist postpones the solution,” or “He lingers on the ,” were characteristic statements.

dominant

In Romanian music, the rhythmic variations were appreciated, but not found complicated.

When listening to Russian melodies the remarkable statement was made that the style does not differ – at least in the ears of this panel – from that of Hungarian tunes. The melodies may stem from another repertoire, but the manner of playing is not different. Even the in some of the Russian melodies made use of the same characteristic and improvising style as the violin in other records.

balalaika

A panel of three musical experts was once requested to listen to music played in the style. The panel consisted of an internationally known conductor, a teacher of musical theory, and a musician with experience in improvised music. They listened to a variety of Hungarian lassans, palotasses and czardasses; to Romanian cântecs, horas, sârbas and doinas; and to Russian romances and czardasses. Their statements were unambiguous:^[6]

Prominent artists[edit]

These include the Gipsy Kings, Taraf de Haïdouks, and Musafir (music band). ^[7]

"Zigeunermusik" by the Hungarian musicologist Bálint Sarosi, Budapest 1970, which book is available in Hungarian, German, and English.

"Zigeunermuziek", Delft 1996, F. H. Kreuger 90-407-1362-6, (Dutch).

ISBN

"Gypsy Music", the great musical encyclopedias.

For typical Hungarian Gypsy music see , or in a relaxed, almost jam-session-like, atmosphere see [2]

[1]

Romanian Gypsy-style music in a Bucharest restaurant:

[3]

The Monti czardas is of non-Romani origin, but is played here in a Gypsy style: . And listen to the Russian folksong "Les Deux Guitares" by the same virtuoso [5]

[4]

In these examples the interaction between cimbalom and violin is clearly visible; as well as the role of the double bass, the second violin and the piano; and sometimes those of the clarinet or accordion.