Guitar School

A Video Method for the Gypsy Seven-String Guitar

by Vadim Kolpakov and Oleg Timofeyev

Since the end of the 18^th century, Romani (“Gypsy”) musicians have played a very important role in Russian society.  The so-called “Gypsy choirs” were found all over the Russian Empire, entertaining wealthy aristocrats and common folk alike. While this musical culture was predominantly vocal, there was one instrument that the Russian-Romani musicians preferred to play, the Russian seven-string guitar always tuned DGBdgbd’.

For about two hundred years the Russian-Romani guitar tradition kept developing and evolving.  We can hear some of it on old 78 records and occasionally in old films, but none of this guitar music was ever written down on paper. The only way the Romani musicians learned to play guitar was from a family member –- from a father, mother, uncle, aunt, or older sibling.

This is why the video material we offer here is priceless. The veteran of Russian-Romani guitar, the celebrated virtuoso Vadim Kolpakov shares his art with you, explaining individual licks and whole compositions.  From our Video Method you will learn everything about playing the Russian-Gypsy seven-string guitar, starting from the position of both hands and moving step-by-step towards sophisticated concert compositions. We give the student enough exercises to improve the technique of both hands, and also share a wealth of passages in most common keys.  But most importantly, all of it is taught “from hands to hands”: every lick, every ornament is shown slowly and at the right tempos, and explained thoroughly by Vadim Kolpakov and Oleg Timofeyev.  This is the closest one could get to the traditional Romani way of learning.