The upstroke and downstroke picking technique
The gypsies are obviously playing with a technique that is hard to decode because of the speed at which they play. One example is a very common lick that they use in the higher register. A classic e-string lick, where “12 13 14 15 14 13″ is played with the following picking pattern: “D U D D U D”. Notice that when played repeatedly, there is a continuous “D D u D D u” pattern.
We all know that it is easy to attain a straight constant rhythm easily if you use all downstrokes. You may also notice that when playing the pattern I mention above at a very slow speed, it tends to push you toward a swing rhythm. No matter how hard you try, the “swing” timing creeps into the beat because of the human element and adjustment in skipping the upstroke after every second downstroke. Playing with two fingers can also amplify this effect, because of the human adjustment of moving hand position.
Why is this important? I think that when you start playing with this kind of picking technique, it draws you away from the smooth and connected legatto feel where something like classical music might quite often fit very well into. Contrary to this “legato” feel, swing rhythm is built on a completely opposite foundation: the “stoccato” feel.
This is my little epiphany, you might think differently. These are my thoughts before I knew anything about the “rest stroke” technique, which is much more correct that what I state above.