I want to learn two more waltzes. I am beginning to work on Swing Valse now, which was written by Baro Ferret. A majority of “Swing Valse” seems to be easy enough for me to do it but I still need to build speed when I play it. It will probably take me another 5-6 hours to finish memorizing it, and probably many additional hours to develop muscle memory of it. I am not sure if that is slow, but thats how long it takes me.
I was very inspired after listening to the “Musette Guitars” CD. Many of these tunes seem nearly impossible to play but actually tackling them reduces the intimidation. I will also probably try to finish learning “Chez Jacqet”, bringing the total number that I know to 4, including Montagne Ste. Genevieve, Chez Jacqet, and Adieu Lacheben.

You start with aeolian (minor) and raise the 7th. That should be harmonic minor.
In the diatonic series the next mode would be locrian (starts at the second of minor).
The second harmonic minor mode is just that: locrian with a sharp 6. As you move up the modes the sharped note moves down a step. The series continues with ionian #5, dorian #4, phrygian #3, lydian #2, mixolydian #1 and you’re back at minor #7.

There is a strong correlation between Michael Horowitz’s transcription for Improvisation #2, on page 39, and to the lesson on page 138 of Romanes “Espirit Manouche” lesson book. For anyone interested in the improvisations, i suggest comparing.
Also, if your a beginner, I would strongly suggest starting there. It will help you to learn the major and minor chord shapes and how to move them diatonically.

I just wanted to take a moment to remind the people whom read my weblog that I am not formally trained in music and that I am not a music teacher. As tempting as it might be for the reader to read my comments, either on this weblog or on the bulletin boards, and think that I am trying to teach others, change the way people think, or tout any miniscule knowledge that I might have on the subjects, you should realize that I am only reflecting and trying out ideas on people and trying to learn, just like most of us are.
None of my visitors should take my postings as fact. Rather, I would love to hear from people about how my ideas have helped or hurt.
Everyone should realize that I have been involved with gypsy jazz merely because I love it. I love to talk about it, debate ideas with people, learn new things, and share the music with people who are open to it. It is one of those things that I know just enough about to get myself into trouble.
I consider myself possibly the worst gypsy jazz guitar player in Portland, if not only for the reason that I am the only one without a band. I am trying very hard to find someone who feels good enough about my playing to want to start a band with me. Until then, I will keep woodshedding and sharing my random ideas with people, and hopefully nobody will think any worse of me for doing so.

Inspired by the coverage of the pentatonic scale in the Bireli interview in the December 2003 issue of Guitar Player magazine, I decided I would post something about the pentatonic minor aside from the simple Bireli method of stacking the scale across the fretboard. This pentatonic lesson came from Dan at http://danadler.com
To start with, the 2-3 combination on the scale charts below always start on the b7th degree of the minor pentatonic. The notes are: (b7 1) (b3 4 5).
Extended A Minor Pentatonic (2-3 Formula starting on b7 degree)

E|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|
B|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|
G|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|
D|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
A|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
E|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|
        5

The 3-2 combination is an inversion of this which starts with the 3 notes on one string. Therefore it starts on the b3 of the minor pentatonic scale and the combination always starts on the b3rd degree of the minor
pentatonic. The notes are: (b3 4 5) (b7 1)
Extended A Minor Pentatonic (3-2 Formula starting on m3 degree)

E|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|
B|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|
G|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|
D|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|
A|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
E|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
        5

The Minor 6th pentatonic replaces the b7 degree with the 6th degree in the minor pentatonic. This gives the scale a sound which is derived more from the melodic minor scale. This scale was extensively used by John Coltrane over Dominant 7th chords in the following inversion. The Am6 pentatonic scale is: A C D E F#. When played from D, over a D7 chord you get: D E F# A C, which relates to D as: 1-2-3-5-7, so you can interpret it as a D9 arpeggio, or as a D mixolydian which is missing the 4th and 6th degrees.
Extended pentatonic fingerings can also be used for the m6 pentatonic scale. The formulas still remain 2-3 and 3-2, but now, whenever you have 2 notes per string – there is a minor third interval between them (3 frets) instead of 2, since the b7 is replaced by the 6th.
Extended A Minor 6th Pentatonic (2-3 Formula starting on 6 degree)

E|–|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|
B|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|–|x-|–|–|
G|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|
D|–|–|x-|–|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
A|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
E|x-|–|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|
           5

Extended A Minor 6th Pentatonic (3-2 Formula starting on m3 degree)

E|–|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|–|x-|
B|–|–|–|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|
G|–|–|–|x-|–|–|x-|–|–|–|
D|–|–|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|
A|–|x-|–|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
E|x-|–|x-|–|x-|–|–|–|–|–|
        3

I was practicing my minor 6th arpeggios when I came across this epiphany. A perfect chord substitution for the Gmin6 chord is the Emin7b5 (half diminished) chord, or a C Dominant 9th without its root note (strange inversion). Therefore, over a C dominant chord, such as in Limehouse Blues, I could start a G minor 6 arpeggio or a Emin7b5 arpeggio from the E. If this doesn’t mean much to you, it should, because this unlocks a link between the Dorian mode (min6th) and the Locrian mode (min7b5). I think it could allow me more flexibility in arpeggio choice but I am still trying to absorb my thoughts on this.
Be careful about what I say here because I am just theorizing and I could be completely wrong. You should analyze it for yourself and come up with your own theory. Below is the Gminor 6th run that I am talking about.

—————6-10-6—————————–10-
————-8——–8-5——————–8-11—-
———–7————–7—–7——–7-9———
——-5-8——————8-5—8—-8————-
—–5——————————10—————
-3-6————————————————-
-12-10——————
——-11—————
———-12-9———-
—————12——-
——————13-10-
————————

Another issue to consider is how you realize the whole thing. You might substitue a non-diatonic GmMaj7 or a Gmin7 for the Gmin6. You really wouldn’t make that kind of substitution on a Em7b5.
I noticed that in the head to Djangos Tiger, on bars 9-12, there is a Bmin6 followed by a Cmin6 arpeggio that is following the E7 and F7 chords. Very interesting when you think about it.

Continue reading »

A pretty D major 7 pattern in the key of G that sounds nice.

——————–10-14-12———————————
—————–10———-13——————————
————9-12—————-14-12-11———————
———10——————————14-12-10————
—-9-12——————————————12-10-9—-
-10——————————————————-10-

The dominant patterns are really important in many gypsy jazz tunes which have a strong dominant foundation of chords like Sweet Georgia Brown, Tea for Two, Rose Room, Melodie Au Crepuscule, Avalon, Anouman, Limehouse Blues, Honeysuckle Rose, and even the B-parts to Micro and Caravan.
Aside from the common jazzy Mixolydian mode, here I lay out a dominant G7 pattern that you can practice that is in the key of C or Am.

——————-5-7———————–
—————5-6—–6-8——————-
———–4-5————-7-9—————
——-3-5———————7-9———–
—2-5—————————–8-10——
-3————————————–7-10-
————————–8-7-10-
———————8-10——–
—————-9-10————-
———–9-10——————
——8-10———————–
-8-10—————————-

And transposed into the key of G major is the following D dominant 7 pattern, which is really the pattern that I mostly use.

———————10—-10———————
——————10—-13—-10——————
—————11—————-11—————
———10-12———————-12-10———
—-9-12———————————-12-9—-
-10——————————————–10-

And a finally, a more difficult run, based on the D7 chord in the key of G major.

——————–8-11-12-8————————–11-
—————–10———–10——————–10—-
————9-11—————–9—————11——-
———10————————10———10———-
—-9-11——————————9—-11————-
-10————————————-10—————-

And finally, of course, the standard diminished patterns fit over the top of dominant patterns as a substitution and I use those all the time, always using the rest stroke technique.

No matter how many scales or arpeggios that I post on this site, it is absolutely no substitute for how much you will learn by learning some of Djangos solos note for note. By learning the entire solo to a single song, you will learn many things that I could never cover in a single posting on this weblog. Try downloading the free “Tabledit Viewer” and learning the Minor Swing arrangement and also the Minor Blues solo. Also, try learning the entire solo to a tune that is in a major key as well.
Before you embark on this project, it is slightly important that you know a good chunk of chords and arpeggios so that you can recognize patterns and runs in a tune when they occur. Write down all the specific arpeggios that you find in a song and then try to also improvise over the tune with the patterns that you found.

For minor passages, in addition to knowing the entire full minor arpeggios, which are easy to learn, you should know some smaller minor patterns.
Here is one in A minor.

———7-5-4-5-|————13-12-11-12-
-6-5-4-5———|-12-10-9-10————-
—————–|————————
—————–|————————
—————–|————————
—————–|————————

And a second example in C minor.

—————–|————————
-4-3-6-4—–3—|-8-7-9-8—–6———-
———–4—5-|———–7—8——–
———5——-|———9————–
—————–|————————
—————–|————————

Of course, you should build 2-3 more of these 2-3 string patterns on your own for your own toolchest and for your own practice and individuality. Everyone should build a set of small arpeggios to fall back upon as “bullets” to make statements when your playing in situations where you can’t find the inspiration to play with complete improvisation.
This is something I really struggle with. It is hard to develop the ability to “compartmentalize” parts of a solo into a small 2 or 3 string area. When practicing I generally think of the large arpeggios and try to end them on a “bullet” but I haven’t quite achieved this ability yet.