Major 7th arpeggios in wremble's book ?

anthon_74

Hey there people more experienced at GJ than I !

I recently dug out one of the first books I purchased for soloing in gypsy Jazz, Wremble's getting into Gypsy Jazz. when I first bought the book, I found the section on arpeggio extensions intriguing but far too overwhelming, considering the fact that I was still struggling just to find each chord's basic arpeggio at real time song speed.
Now that I'm better at that, I'm interested in learning more specific arpeggios, with color extensions added, such as dominant 7th, minor 6th etc...

THAT SAID - I'm a bit confused by the major chord extension (adding color pg. 49 arpeggio section) arpeggio diagrams, SPECIFICALLY the fact that the section BEGINS with Maj 7 chords.

Considering the fact that more often than not, when we play a major chord, we're playing a 6 or a 6/9 chord, WHY does the section begin with maj7 chords arps, which implies their greater importance ?

Do you think Wremble just started with maj7 arbitrarily , OR do many of you use major 7 chord color notes when playing over a major 6 or 6/9 chord ?

The fact is, there are so many arpeggio extensions in his book, I'm trying to figure out what the most commonly used ones are (at least to start).

Thanks !!

Passacaglia

Anthony, I recall Dennis talking about this, some time ago:

Dennis wrote:

you can get a lot of gypsy jazz mileage with maj7 arpeggios , m7b5 arpeggios and diminished arpeggios

maj7 works over the major chords, and also over the minor chords and even dominant chords if you're careful.. Cmaj7 over Am... Cmaj7 can also work over D7 if the D7 resolves to G major...

m7b5 works over all sorts of chords... Bm7b5 can work over G7 or Dm.... Dm7b5 can work over G7... Gm7b5 can work over A7...

diminished arpeggios are versatile too ... Abdim7 works over G7, Bb7, Db7 and E7.... you can also do Cdim7 over a C major chord!

Dennis wrote:

... even if we use major 6/9 chords and whatnot the gypsy sound as far as soloing goes is based on the maj7 arpeggio for major chords (or triads), the m7b5 chord for minor and dominant chords... and the diminished arp for dominant or major chords...

I don't solo (well, except waltzes, as etudes), but I've always been intrigued by this.

anthon_74

AWESOME PAUL ! That pretty much answer the question !

By the way are you going to DIJ this year (not sure I am)...

Passacaglia

Glad it's relevant and useful, Anthony. I've found just combing Dennis's stuff is a master class! Hell, just following his rhythm on Sheik is daily zen, for me...

DIJ - I really want to go, not sure I can squeeze it. Just bought a luthier make (very excited), and other than that, we're planning an extended stay, possibly a move, to France, and so we have to save dough. I'd love to go, though, if somehow I can budget it out. You think you'll be going?

anthon_74

Hey Paul -

I might go. It depends on how good I get before it's too late to decide (I've been super inspired and practicing extra lately so you never know...). I want to be good enough to jam with the pros who show up, but they seem to be fairly exclusive. That said, to play with those guys also means the jam won't turn into 15 people playing together, so I'm not against it being a bit exclusive. But I'm going to need a lot of practice to get there.
Although, if it turns out Joshco Stephan is going to be there, I may say to hell with it and go regardless.
Money is also an issue. Though I think I would do my own meal plan this time, since I added it up, and buying meals at the local restaurants is no more expensive then the meal plan.

cheers!
Anthony

Passacaglia

Yeah, it's still in my radar, Anthony. I am completely focused on rhythm, and expect to be, for several years. About the time I hit 58 or so, I expect I will feel good about returning to gypsy picking.

That is also part of the calculus, for me. DIJ was an incredible experience, one of the best weeks I've ever had; Andrew does a bang up job, in my opinion, and I want to keep supporting what he does. But given my singular focus on rhythm, I'd be missing a lot of classes, the lead classes (I'm that narrowly fixed). So, for a few reasons, I guess it's not likely, for me, this year.

If you go, I hope you have a blast. And I hope the weather cooperates!

anthon_74

Well, that's kind of what I''m looking at too. I've realized recently that I have all the resources I need right here to get a LOT better without spending 2K and flying across the country for DIJ. My feeling is, I want to max what I can accomplish on my own before I go back. Otherwise, I'm really just going so I can be around tons of players for a week, and I can do that by going north to Django northwest, for less money and less flying time.

cheers !

Passacaglia

I'm actually going to found the Midwest Rhythm Sesshin.

It's a week of nothing but rhythm playing, for 15 hours a day. Monastic zen meets sybaritic rhythm passion. Catchy title, yes?