How Timothée Chalamet Realized to Play Guitar as Bob Dylan

 Larry Saltzman isn’t a guitar trainer by means of business — he’s a high-end consultation professional who’s toured with Simon and Garfunkel, performed in Saturday Night time Are living‘s space band, and sponsored up artists from Jewel to Darlene Like to Celine Dion. However for the previous decade or so, he’s been moonlighting as a tutor to A-list actors, maximum just lately bringing Timothée Chalamet from near-zero guitar skillability to the purpose the place he used to be ready to play for actual as Bob Dylan in his Oscar-nominated A Entire Unknown efficiency — and serve double responsibility as SNL‘s host and musical visitor.  “Timothée by no means sought after to take the simple method out,” Saltzman says. “If there used to be a shortcut, he didn’t wish to find out about it.”

How did you get started educating guitar to actors?
My pal, [violinist] Sandy Park had beneficial me to be the guitar trainer for Meryl Streep for the [2015] movie Ricki and the Flash. The telephone name used to be like, “Hello, we heard you’re a trainer. Are you interested by educating an actor?” I used to be like, “Smartly, I’m now not a full-time trainer. I may just almost definitely flip you directly to any individual excellent.” They mentioned the actor could be extra inquisitive about placing out with me than any individual who simply has scholars coming and going all day. I used to be now not determined for the gig. I’m laying down a wide variety of regulations for them. Like, “I will be able to’t almost definitely do it at a given time each week. The actor would need to be versatile in the case of the time table.” They usually’re being attentive to this and so they’re indulging me in some way. Then the 5th telephone name used to be, “We’re going to let you know who it’s now. Don’t inform anyone, since you inform the unsuitable particular person, they’ll inform any individual who has a digital camera. Other folks will likely be ready, paparazzi will in finding out. The actor desires to turn up at your house each Monday morning at 11 for the indefinite long run for the following couple of months.”

How did the Timothée Chalamet mission come about?
It used to be the similar more or less factor. They didn’t inform me who it used to be. With those non-disclosure agreements, they don’t need other people blabbing about it. I’m now not on Fb, you realize what I imply? I’ve none of that more or less stuff. After 3 or 4 or 5 telephone calls, they in the end mentioned it’s Timothée Chalamet. I truly didn’t know who Timothée used to be. They mentioned it’s Bob Dylan tune. For me, it used to be unbelievable as a result of I’ve a sister who’s 5 years older than me, so actually when I used to be 10 years previous and my sister used to be 15, the ones albums had been entering our space, like actually from the primary Dylan album. I performed guitar from when I used to be 11. So I used to be very a lot in track with what they had been.

What used to be your preliminary method?
I had a script. I seemed on the script, and I used to be a excellent citizen. I made an inventory of the 20-some-odd songs within the script. I spoke with [director] Jim Mangold, and I organized them in a hierarchy of issue, beginning with simple ones like “Masters of Battle,” which used to be identical to two or 3 chords. His reaction used to be good. He mentioned, “Nice, do this, but when Timothée desires to be told a tune that’s now not within the script, you must train him that tune too.” I used to be like, “Smartly, why would I wish to train one thing that doesn’t ever get performed within the film?” He mentioned, “As a result of that would possibly point out he’s enthusiastic about that tune and inquisitive about that tune, and that’s precious too, although it’s now not within the film.”

What had been your first periods like?
When he were given to my position and we had our guitars in our arms, I requested if he’d performed, and he mentioned just a bit. He more or less knew one or two chords and shaped a few chords, and that’s what he did. I may just inform he used to be simply very musical in an instant. He went to LaGuardia [High School]. I don’t know what is going on there — I believe they’re educating them appearing, they’re educating them making a song, and he used to be rapping, which is so rhythmic and so musical. I wouldn’t be stunned if he may just learn tune. He no doubt is aware of intuitively tune principle. We did numerous discuss tune principle. It almost definitely sounds fatal and uninteresting, however I at all times did it within the context of, “How would Bob relate to this?” Even if we had been speaking in musical phrases in regards to the 4 chord, the 5 chord, I might say to him, which I imagine to be true, when Bob talked to musicians, that is the lingo that he would say.

How did you file and arrange the fabric?
My Dropbox record on that is ridiculous. My Timothée/Dylan Dropbox folder is intense. For every tune, I might clearly have an MP3, after which I had this program referred to as Transcribe the place it’s essential to play it and it’s essential to sluggish it down. That used to be truly useful. It’s worthwhile to 0 in on no matter you wanted to concentrate on. For every tune, I had a Learn Me file with other YouTube movies that I sought after to look at, after which I might have lyrics with chords, like a people solution to do it. I wrote issues out with almost definitely a couple of little phrases of encouragement right here and there. Every tune had its personal factor.

How did you method educating Dylan’s guitar taste?
The method is cumulative, which means that Bob has a tendency to have numerous the similar vocabulary. Whenever you’ve discovered that bass-note stroll down, Bob’s going to do this one million instances. When it comes to groove, that took him a minute, however in the case of the all-important groove of the correct hand — that used to be very herbal to him. I at all times say you’ll be able to’t train any individual that in the event that they don’t have that. In contrast to Paul Simon or James Taylor, who’re very chic guitar avid gamers with numerous methodology, Bob’s much more tough and in a position. Bob’s preparations had been so freaking best for what he used to be doing. They’re inventive and now not generic. They’re by no means simply E minor to D—there’s at all times somewhat little bit of a hammer-on or attention-grabbing voicing. Dylan virtually at all times performed the F together with his thumb. He by no means did barre chords [early on]. He at all times used his thumb so much. When he performed a D with an F sharp within the bass, he performed like that.

“Masters of Battle” used to be the primary tune we labored on. I mainly gave him all of the chord shapes, after which I gave him the lyrics with the chord adjustments over the lyrics, which is any such people solution to do it. We talked so much about historical past and about how these items had been taught to other people within the fifties and sixties.

You needed to take on “Don’t Suppose Two times, It’s All Proper,” which is a notoriously difficult finger-picking section.  
It blew my thoughts to revisit it. And it’s a truly speedy pace. I used to be intimidated by means of educating it to him. I used to be intimidated from taking part in it myself. He wasn’t intimidated by means of it. He simply did it. It has somewhat humorous hammer in it that comes round each from time to time. Now and again Bob would possibly range the development. However in the course of me explaining it to him, he’s already taking part in. I imply, it wasn’t taking part in like at pace and completely, however he’s already like going. For the fingerpicking ones — there weren’t many fingerpicking ones. “Lady from the North Nation” used to be a fingerpicking one. However I confirmed him the other patterns that experience names like “outdoor in” and “inside of out.” Other folks have named them. I confirmed him that stuff, and wow, he took to it in an instant. We did songs like “I Was once Younger Once I Left House” that weren’t within the script, and he were given into them. 

How in regards to the electrical stuff?
Once we checked out songs like “Maggie’s Farm,” I had all of it labored out. I used to be now not messing round. I’d word such things as, “Bringing It All Again House model, capo 3, key of E, Newport model, key of D, no capo.” For “Maggie’s Farm” and the opposite Newport songs, Bob more or less had his little vocabulary in regards to the electrical, which wasn’t tailored a lot from his acoustic taking part in.

You concept you handiest had a couple of months to paintings in this with Timothée, however as an alternative you had 5 years, partially on account of the pandemic. 
We began truly round Thanksgiving 2019, and filming used to be going to be like April. He’s coming over slightly regularly — a few instances every week, or possibly I wouldn’t see him for 2 weeks after which he’d come over. The scoop is coming round of this pandemic. Oh, now there’s one case. Oh, now there’s ten circumstances. By the point the shutdown came about round March thirteenth, we were given information that filming is postponed. We had been going to reschedule it for 4 months later. Must be wonderful. We get to the following couple of months and it’s like, “Oops, pandemic’s now not getting any higher.” 

Then when it will recuperate, “Oh smartly, Tim’s were given to do Dune.” Then it virtually become a factor of like, will it ever get made? However Tim at all times mentioned, “I’ve religion that is gonna get made.” We switched to Zoom in large part. When he used to be up in Woodstock all the way through the pandemic together with his pal, they truly sought after me to return as much as Woodstock. It used to be like, “Larry, come as much as Woodstock, we’ll grasp and play guitar for like 4 days.” But it surely used to be the peak of the pandemic while you didn’t even wish to get in a taxi.

Did you do any paintings with the harmonica?
He began by means of himself, after which they employed a colleague of mine, Rob Paparozzi, who’s one in every of New York’s nice harmonica avid gamers. Against the tip, me and Rob spent some nice time with Tim. We did like one unbelievable five-hour consultation with me and Rob Paparozzi and Tim, and we had such a lot a laugh. Tim used to be so hooked in to appearing us stuff. Me and Rob, we’re beautiful skilled guys, we’ve been round somewhat bit, and I might say to Rob after, “Isn’t that peculiar that he owned it on that degree?”

How concerned had been you with the true filming?
In my humble opinion, the explanation why I wasn’t at the set is that Timothée is the type of one that, when he confirmed up at the set, he had it in combination. He didn’t want like, “Oh my God, are you able to usher in Larry? I omit which is the D minor.” He’s now not working on that degree.

It feels such as you and Timothée and everybody concerned felt a undeniable weight of accountability with those duties.
A chum of mine mentioned to me, “For people who find themselves more youthful, who don’t know such a lot about Dylan, they’re gonna cross see this film, and that is gonna be their Dylan.” Other folks don’t have effort and time to truly pay attention to the whole lot that Dylan ever recorded. That’s why I took it very significantly. I understood the accountability. Other folks such as you and me who’re tune fanatics, we perceive the accountability. I didn’t take a unmarried shortcut. I truly didn’t.