Denis Chang C Major Lick

hanear21

Hello all, I have a question regarding one of Denis' licks from his 1st DVD. He does a lick (it's the last one he teaches) where he takes a C chord and says if you just know the three notes of the C chord you can do this really cool lick where you move around all over the neck. It's just based on where all the different C chords are on the neck but I'm having a really hard time conceptualizing how the lick works.

It starts out like this if you tabbed it.

---------------------
---------------------
------------------------------------------------------3---2---1---2---
-------------------------------------3---2---1--2---
---------------------5---3---2--3---
---5---3---2---3---

I know where the C chord appears across the neck, what I don't understand is how do you know which notes to play since they are not all C chord notes.

Thanks

Jazzaferri

Its a phrase that on the bottom string starts a tone above the fifth, goes to the fifth, then a semi under and then the fifth, moving up to S5 then a tone above the root, the root, a semi below back to the root then on S4 a semitone above the third of the C chord the third (E) a semi below and back to the third then onto the S4 where what you played on bottom string S6 gets played again an octave above.

Usually played as 16ths. Its one of those cool sounding no brainer licks that one can be used to sit on while one gathers mental energy to figure out where one is going next. aKa dexterity exercises. Very useful at higher tempos.

hanear21

Hmm thanks Jazzaferri when you explain it that way it makes more sense. It looks like it's just going to take a bit more work than some of his other licks since it can be applied in so many places.

Jazzaferri

Once you get that pne down and if you have a decent knowledge of scales you can use the concept and make up your own on other chords if one is so inclined

The concept of approaching the desired note as set out is called an enclosure in jazz

kjguitar87

This is a technique called an enclosure. Basically you take a chord note and add an extra note to each side of it. For example the first part of the lick is an enclosure of the note G (3rd fret, E string), adding the notes A(5th fret) & F#(2nd fret).

Here I've highlighted the chord tones in Denis' lick:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------6--[b]5[/b]--4--[b]5[/b]
--------------------------------------------------------------7--[b]5[/b]--4--[b]5[/b]------------
-----------------------------------3--[b]2[/b]--1--[b]2[/b]---7--[b]5[/b]--4--[b]5[/b]--------------
-------------------5--[b]3[/b]--2--[b]3[/b]------------------------------------------------------
---5--[b]3[/b]--2--[b]3[/b]------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps!
Kyle

AmundLauritzen

You can apply the enclosure concept to minor chords too, although the chord tones for minor prefer a slightly different configuration of enclosures.

Put on some kind of backing playing a pure minor chord and try out to enclose the chord tones with chromatic and scale tones. If you use your ear to try to find the right combination, you will learn a lot!

Enclosure licks seem to be universal in the sub-styles in gypsy jazz. I hear both Dutch and French players use it. I guess it's because it was used by Django so much. A staple in his vocabulary. A must know.

dennis

man i wish that lick was mine but i stole it from Snoop Dog from his 1987 Montreux Jazz Fest album

anthon_74

Check out stephan wrembles getting gypsy jazz book. He has a section where he talks about the above approach and the below approach. Spend some time practicing both approaches and you will start to see chords this way. This lick is very common in gypsy jazz.

Anthony

Passacaglia

dennis wrote:

man i wish that lick was mine but i stole it from Snoop Dog from his 1987 Montreux Jazz Fest album

hanear21

Still working on enclosures so even though I asked this nearly 6 months ago, I'm glad to see more responses. I've found it to be really useful in what I think is called the A section of rhythm changes-based tunes.

Also, thanks Denis, I should have known the D-O-double-G was behind such a nifty riff