Inventing your own patterns to play is also a cool thing. Don’t try to use these unless you first understand where to place these arpeggios over the correct chords.
The first is a pattern based on the whole tone scale. It is moveable by intervals of 2 frets up and down the entire fingerboard.
———6-8-|—–8—–10——12-|—–6—–8—–10-|
—–5-7—–|—7—–9——11—-|—5—–7—–9—-|
-5-7———|-5—–7——9——-|-5—–7—–9——|
————-|———————-|——————–|
————-|———————-|——————–|
————-|———————-|——————–|
The second is a pattern based on a diminished scale. It is moveable by an interval of 3 frets all the way up and down the fingerboard.
————-4-5-7-8-|—–8—–11——-14-|——5——8-|
———6-7———|—6—–9——-12—-|—6——-9—|
-4-5-7-8————-|-5—–8——11——-|-7——10—–|
———————|———————–|—————|
———————|———————–|—————|
———————|———————–|—————|
I will sometimes try to make things up based on patterns like these.
The diminshed patterns are killer. Notice how the first diminished pattern resembles a maj7 arpeggio and also notice that the second diminished pattern resembles a minor6 arpeggio. Does this mean that simple major and minor arps are also moveable?
These ideas are inspired by a book I bought called “Intervallic Designs for Jazz Guitar : Ultramodern Sounds for Improvising”, by Joe Diorio.
Patterns
My Favorite Albums
Here is my list of my favorite gypsy jazz albums of all time ordered from favorite to least listened to. I will update this list every few months as my taste in music changes.
1 Tchavolo Schmitt\Miri Familia
2 Lollo Meier\Szigano swing
3 Romane\Impair & Valse
4 Angelo Debarre\Romano Baschepen
5 Schnuckenack Reinhardt Quintet\Czardas Puszta und Zigeuner
6 Jimmy Rosenberg\Portrait Of Jimmy Rosenberg
7 Bireli Lagrene\Bireli Lagrene – Gypsy Project
8 Musette Guitars\Musette Guitars Souvenirs De Django
9 Bireli Lagrene\Gipsy project And Friends
10 Fapy Lafertin\Star Eyes
11 Romane with Stochelo Rosenberg\Elegance
12 Rosenberg Trio\Seresta
13 Maurice Ferre\Le Train Gitane
14 Tchavolo Schmitt\Alors Voila
15 Dave Biller\Leroy’s swing
16 Titi Demeter Trio\Jazz manouche
17 Fapy Lafertin\Hungaria
18 Stephane Wrembel\Introducing Stephane Wrembel
19 Angelo Debarre\Angelo Debarre Quebec Live 2000
20 Moreno\Yochka
21 Tchan Tchou Vidal\Tchan-Tchou Vidal – Nomades
22 Angelo Debarre\Come into my swing
23 Tchan Tchou Vidal\Guitare Party
24 Angelo Debarre\Ludovic Beier And Angelo Debarre – Swing Rencontre
25 Fapy Lafertin\Fleur D’ennui
26 Tchan Tchou Vidal\Tchan-Tchou Vidal – Swingin Guitars
27 Angelo Debarre\Angelo Debarre – Impromptu
28 Bireli Lagrene\Routes To Django
29 Patrick Saussois\Alma Sinti Rhythms Gitans
30 Titi winterstein quintett\Djinee tu kowa ziro
31 Jimmy Rosenberg\Sinti (Featuring Jimmy Rosenberg)
32 Ninine Garcia\My Dream Of Love
33 Dorado Schmitt\Dorado Schmitt – Live Besanton
34 Romane acoustic Quartet\Acoustic quartet
35 Matelo Ferret\matelo tzigan LP
36 Bireli Lagrene\Fifteen
37 Jimmy Rosenberg\Trio
38 Hans’che Weiss Quintett\Dja maro drom
39 Rodolphe Raffalli\A Georges Brassens
40 Hot Club de Norvege\Hot Club de Norvege – Swingin With Jimmy
41 Hot Club de Norvege\Hot Club de Norvege – With Angelo & Moreno
42 Angelo Debarre\Angelo’s back in town
43 Matelo Ferret\Jo privat – Manouche Partie
44 Colin Cosimini Trio\Cosimini Trio Under Paris Skies
45 Phillippe Nedjar\Shadow
46 Raphael Fays Trio\Raphael Fays – The gipsy way
47 Raphael Fays Trio La nuit des gitans
48 Mike Reinhardt Sextett\Happy Bird
49 Schnuckenack Reinhardt Quintet\Musik deutscher zigeuner (vol.8)
50 Jimmy Rosenberg\Jimmy Rosenberg – On Hot Club Records
51 Samson Schmitt\Self Titled
52 Tchavolo Schmitt\Memoires
53 Boulou & Elios Ferre\Boulou – Intersection
54 Moreno\Bolero
55 Boulou & Elios Ferre\Boulou – Trinity
56 Joseph Reinhardt\Joseph Reinhardt – Hommage
57 Boulou & Elios Ferre\Pour Django
58 Gary Potter\Hotter than hot
59 Boulou & Elios Ferre\Gypsy Dreams
60 John Jorgenson\Franco American swing
61 Joscho Stephan\Django forever
62 Gary Potter\Minor swing
63 Moreno\Marina & Moreno Quartet Jazz Tzigane
64 Patrick Saussois\La Roulette
65 Les Yeux Noirs\Gypsy Swing
66 Coco Briaval\Manouche
67 Mandino Reinhardt\Digo
68 Yorqui Loeffler\For Magnio
69 Tom Conway\Hot Gypsy Nights
70 Andreas Oberg\Young Jazz Guitarist
71 Paulus Schafer Gypsy Band\Into The Light
72 Matelo Ferret\Tziganskaia and other rare recordings
73 Minor Swing Quartette\swing de paris
74 Titi winterstein quintett\Titi Winterstein-I Raisa
75 Pearl Django\Pearl Django Avalon
76 Jimmy Rosenberg\Hot club de Suede (Live)
77 Stephane Wrembel – Live At Birkfest 2002
78 Angelo Debarre\Ensemble La Roue Fleurie\Gypsy Guitars
79 Rosenberg Trio\Live at Jazz a Vienne 2000
80 Ultraswing\Actual Size
81 Schnuckenack Reinhardt Quintet\Swingin with Schnuckenack
82 Oscar Aleman\oscar_aleman_swing_guitar_masterpieces_1938_to_1957
83 Romane\Samois -sur-seine
84 Patrick Saussois\Alma Sinti Le chemin des forains
85 Romane\Ombre
86 Pearl Django New Metropolitan Swing
87 Fapy Lafertin\Fine & Dandy with Tim Kliphouse
88 Pearl Django\Pearl Django Mystery Pacific
89 Swing Gitan\Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan
90 Reinier Voet & Jan Brouwer\Reinier Voet & Jan Brouwer – Bric a Brac
91 Robin Nolan\Travels
92 Basily\Antara
93 Note manouche\W Mandino Reinhardt & Marcel Loeffler
94 Am Ketenes – Tous Ensemble
95 Jimmy Rosenberg\Presenting Ola Kvernberg & Jimmy Rosenberg
96 Rosenberg Trio\Caravan
97 Rosenberg Trio\Gipsy Summer
98 Raphael Fays Trio\Gipsy new horizon
99 Bireli Lagrene\Move
100 Note manouche\Gypsy music from Alsace
101 Minor Swing Quartette\c’est magnifique
102 Rosenberg Trio\Rosenberg Trio, The – Gypsy Swing
103 Angelo Debarre\Angelo Debarre – Caprice
104 Colin Cosimini Trio\Self Titled Album
105 Bireli Lagrene\Blue Eyes
106 Tchavolo Schmitt\Gypsy Reunion – Swing 93
107 Tony Green\Tony Green – Gypsy Jazz
108 Rosenberg Trio\Live At The North Sea Jazz Festival
109 Tolga Emilio trio\Gipsy , jazz , and latin flavors
110 Raphael Fays Trio\Raphael Fays – La Guitare a Dadi en Jazz
111 Pearl Django\Under Paris Skies
112 Hot Club Sandwich\Hot Club Sandwich Digga Digga Do
113 Boulou & Elios Ferre\Boulou – Nuages
114 Hot club of S.F\Hot Club Of San Fransisco – Live
115 Hot Club Sandwich\First Album
116 The New Quintette Du Hot Club De France\New Quintette Du Hot Club De France
117 Martin Taylor\Martin Taylors Spirit of Django – Gypsy
118 Orkest Polytour\Le Roi Des Jongleurs
119 Bireli Lagrene\Standards
120 Romane with Stochelo Rosenberg\Double Jeu
121 Martin Taylor\Spirit of Django 1995
122 New York Festival Live At Birdland\Various Artists
123 Jimmy Rosenberg\Jimmy Rosenberg – Wine-Soaked Whispers
124 Rosenberg Trio\Suenos Gitanos
125 Orkest Polytour\Django Chante
126 Frank Vignola\Blues for a gypsy
127 Bawo and Lulo Reinhardt\Ab i reisa
128 Club Tabou\Club Tabou Mange Tout
129 Boulou & Elios Ferre\Boulou And Elios Ferre – New York
130 8 1_2 Souvenirs\Happy Feet
131 Rosenberg Trio\Rosenberg Trio, The – Impressions
Whole tone scale with melodic minor
I noticed a nice place to fit a whole tone scale. When soloing with a melodic minor pattern you can throw in whole tone intervals and then jump right back into melodic minor. The melodic minor I show here is the Ionian m7 version of the scale. Some people prefer to use the 7b5#5 “Altered” version of this scale, which is called the “altered dominant” and so approach this with caution and experiment for yourself.
This is the whole tone, which is moveable:
|—————7-9-|-
|———-8-10—–|-
|—–8-10———-|-
|-7-9—————|-
|——————-|-
|——————-|-
This is the Ionian E melodic minor pattern (which is the same as Eb “altered dominant”).
|——————————-7-9-11-|-
|————————7-8-10——–|-
|——————6-8-9—————|-
|————–7-9———————|-
|—–6-7-9-10————————-|-
|-7-9———————————-|-
All the modes of this scale can be found here.
Aside from simply knowing the simple Dorian scale, the “Altered Dominant”, or some of the regular scales in Ionian mode, I dont personally promote learning to solo using a “modal” approach. I prefer the arpeggiated approach and as a rhythm player it makes more sense that way anyways.
My soloing method
There is a simple method that I use to approach soloing. When playing in the key of G major, imagine the G note on the B string is the center of your universe. With this in mind, the following patterns can be at your hand.
First, the E harmonic minor:
|————————–7-8-|-
|——————-7-8-10—–|-
|—————8-9————|-
|——–7-9-10—————-|-
|-7-9-10———————–|-
|——————————|-
Second is the whole tone and the diminished, which are both moveable:
|—————7-9-|———–6-9-|-
|———-8-10—–|———8—–|-
|—–8-10———-|—–6-9——-|-
|-7-9—————|-5-8———–|-
|——————-|—————|-
|——————-|—————|-
Third is the melodic minor ( which I am not totally sure works but sometimes I throw it in anyways).
|——————————-7-9-11-|-
|————————7-8-10——–|-
|——————6-8-9—————|-
|————–7-9———————|-
|—–6-7-9-10————————-|-
|-7-9———————————-|-
Fourth is the E minor 6 and the Gmaj9 stacking patterns:
|————–7-9-|————————–7-9-10-|-
|————8—–|——————-7-8-10——–|-
|——–6-9——-|————-6-7-9—————|-
|——9———–|——-4-5-7———————|-
|-7-10————-|-4-5-7—————————|-
|——————|———————————|-
Finally, the generic E minor pattern (and its leading tones).
|-7———|-
|—8——-|-
|—–9—–|-
|——-9—|-
|———7-|-
|———–|-
Notice how each of these have similar shapes when they pass through the B string. Try these with a G major tune like Hungaria or Sweet Georgia Brown.
When I solo I will imagine all these shapes and play around with how they fit together with each other.
Neopolitan minor
The Neopolitan minor scale, as Romane would describe in his “l’Espirit Manouche” book, is a useful pattern to use in addition to the standard harmonic minor scale. As you know, the harmonic minor scale (Ihm) is the most useful scale for a beginner soloist to learn since it fits so well over any progression with a Im and a V7 chord adjacent to each other, like with the song Dark Eyes.
The A Neopolitan minor is much like the A harmonic minor but is shaped more like the standard A minor bar chord, which is very useful if you are a soloist who uses the ACE system that Wrembel teaches or the full CAGED system.
In a standard A harmonic minor scale the “exotic” sounding note is the F note on the B string. The Neopolitan minor just uses the flat version of this note, perhaps creating tension in some important way? Here is a chart of the scale comparison. As you can see, the Neopolitan minor resembles the minor bar chord.
E||—————————4-5-7-|————————-4-5-7-|
B||———————–5-6——-|———————4-5——-|
G||—————–4-5-7———–|—————4-5-7———–|
D||————-6-7—————–|———–6-7—————–|
A||——-5-7-8———————|——-6-7———————|
E||-5-7-8—————————|-5-7-8————————-|
Also notice therelationship between the Neopolitan minor scale and the major arpeggios. In particular, compare the “notes” sections, which contain similar notes. Romane mentions this scale in his book “l’Espirit Manouche” and so I suspect there is something of importance here.
B Neopolitan Minor
intervals: 1,b2,b3,4,5,b6,b7
half-steps: 1-2-2-2-1-2-2
notes: B,C,D,E,F#,G,A
G maj11
a.k.a.: GMaj7(add11), GM7(add11)
intervals: 1,(3),5,7,(9),11
half-steps: 7-4-6 (excl. optional notes)
half-steps: 4-3-4-3-3 (incl. optional notes)
notes: G,(B),D,F#,(A),C
G maj9
a.k.a.: GMaj7(add9), GM7(add9)
intervals: 1,3,(5),7,9
half-steps: 4-7-3 (excl. optional notes)
half-steps: 4-3-4-3 (incl. optional notes)
notes: G,B,(D),F#,A
G maj7
a.k.a.: GMaj7, GM7
intervals: 1,3,5,7
half-steps: 4-3-4
notes: G,B,D,F#
G 6/9
a.k.a.: G6add9, G6(add9), GMaj6(add9), GM6(add9)
intervals: 1,3,(5),6,9
half-steps: 4-5-5 (excl. optional notes)
half-steps: 4-3-2-5 (incl. optional notes)
notes: G,B,(D),E,A

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