Coquette Improv help

hanear21

Hi, I'm currently practicing Coquette and the parts where it switches around between DMaj Em7 and A7 has me a little bit stumped. I'm able to kind of fake it by switching quickly between a DMaj and A7 arpeggios but I'm not really sure why it works when it does.

I understand that this is sort of a 2-5-1 situation but I don't really know how to think about it in terms of what I should do over those quick one bar changes. I'm still quite the beginner, if that's not obvious Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

klaatu

Em7 is a mode of the D major scale, Ionian to the D major Dorian scale. Modes are something we typically don't worry about in gypsy jazz. If you're not familiar with the concept, suffice it to say that the same notes are employed in each, which is why it is working for you.

AmundLauritzen

You can play A7 licks over both Em7 and A7. Learn the dim arpeggio that works for A7: Bb, C#, E, G if I'm not mistaken.

There are many standard A7 licks using open strings for gypsy jazz. Those also come in handy for that progression.
Listen to your favorite players soloing on that progression and learn their lines. Django should be first priority, then all the others. Stochelo and Bireli always play great licks on that progression that are worthwhile to learn.

Learn the licks first, then analyze them and find out what makes them tick. Then take the essence of the licks and make them your own.

hanear21

Thanks for the tips! Here's a video of me playing it. http://youtu.be/D44iqBUlGA8

You can see I stick in DMaj (I don't stray too far from the melody for that matter) for the 2-5-1 and it sounds pretty good, despite my own lack of skill

FrankieDetergent

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Mitch

Hi Hanear

Juste play the arpeggios matching each chord, so on the Em you play Em arpeggios and then on the A7, youi play the A7 arpeggio and so on.

As said Amund, match this with Django licks and you should have enough material ti improvise.

But after having watched your video, I think your playback is too slow to get you into the swing, maybe you should take it up like 10 or 15 % faster, just a bit.

The thing you lack is technique because I can hear enough melody or arpeggios for you to continue that way but, unless mistaken, you don't seem to use the rest-stroke technique, do you?

Best,

hanear21

Thanks for the feedback all! It's true I haven't spent much time learning licks, I'm still learning the basic arpeggios.

Mitch, I do use rest strokes but I'm probably not that good yet I really just started a couple months ago. Also, the sound quality of the recording is pretty bad it sounds a lot less tinny in person. You're right though, the tempo is a little slow and probably most useful just for practice.

Wow almost 70 people have viewed that video already, I imagine a lot of those views came from this forum. I'll try to post a new video every couple of months and see if I improve. Maybe I'll actually tune my guitar next time too