How to Use Open String Ghost Notes to Swing Like Django Reinhardt

The afterthought that makes it swing

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make your playing more swinging and groovy. It’s about a special ornament, adding a ghost note on an open string just before the note you’re playing. The open string ghost note is never emphasized at all. It can be half-muted or very quiet – just an afterthought. The note of the open string doesn’t have to have any relation to the key you are playing in. Don’t let that bother you at all. It’s only a kind of sound effect. Django used it a lot and, in this lesson, we’re going to go overboard and see three variations of this element.

Open String Ghost Note #1

This ghost note comes just after your main note. It’s an upstroke with an open string that you play just after the important note, on the same string.

C major scale on a single string

D7 that resolves to G, ghost notes on strings 1 and 2

D7 that resolves to G, ghost notes on strings 1 and 3

Open String Ghost Note #2

This ghost note comes just before your target note. Your target note can be either on the same string of the ghost note or on another string. The ghost note is an upstroke with an open string that you play just before your target note.