Soloing over quick changes

andy

Hello folks,

Thanks to Michael for setting up this new forum, and all you other guys for moderating and contributing.

I'm not only a beginner in this style, but after getting into it for six months, we went and had a baby and I found myself with no time for practice. Nine sleepless months later, I've come back to my guitar and found I've forgotten practically everything I knew! Would someone be kind enough to give me a couple of pointers:

1. I'm reasonably comfortable with arpeggios and Djangoesque scale choices (at least in theory), but how do I utilize them when the chord changes every other beat and I can't get past the first two notes before we're onto another chord? Say I was going to noodle over 'Swing 42'. At the moment I would play notes in C maj until it came round to the Gmin6 and then I'd play a single Bb to reference that chord. Is this the sort of thing I should be doing, or is there another way to think about it?


2. Can someone remind me when and where to play the diminished arpeggios? I'm really confused about this. I figure I can play them over any chord, but that they are particularly suited to V7s. Do you play the run starting two frets above the root of the V chord, or one fret below or where? Please remember that I'm just trying to get the basics at the moment, so some clarification on what would be the most 'obvious' or even 'cliched' thing to do would be helpful, as once that's down, I can start experimenting with more interesting sounds.

Thanks guys, I'm sure I'll have a lot more to ask in the coming weeks. I have to go now, as the baby's woken up.

Cheers,
Andy

djangology

Can someone remind me when and where to play the diminished arpeggios? I'm really confused about this. I figure I can play them over any chord, but that they are particularly suited to V7s. Do you play the run starting two frets above the root of the V chord, or one fret below or where?

over a Am6 with the root on the low string, you start the arpeggio by playing the A and then the minor 3rd. if you add leading tones to this arp then you get the full octatonic scale.

over the A7 chord with the root on the low string, you start the arpeggio by playing the A and then the major third. if you add leading tones to this arp (except you add a post-tone to the A note) then you get the full octatonic scale.

andy

Ok, that helps...

But to clarify -- over Amin6 play the dim arp starting from A (on the 6th string). Over A7 play A followed by the dim pattern starting on C#, which is the same as if you were playing it starting on G -- in other words, starting two frets above the root.

Am I right?

Any tips on I-vi-ii-V?

Cheers,
Andy

Jack

Hi Andy. An easy way to get a handle on diminished runs over 7 chords is this: you can start on any chord tone except the root. That is, start on the 3, 5, or b7. (I'm assuming you remember the fingering.) Why can you do this? Because you'll be outlining a 7b9 chord. Another way to think of it is to start the run on the b9, which would be one fret above the root.

Hope that helps.
Jack.

andy

Thanks Jack, that's a really good way of explaining it. It made sense as soon as I picked up my guitar to check it out.

Cheers,
Andy

Jack

Andy,

Glad it helped. I meant to mention this as well: when you've got a change from a minor chord to the dominant (say Gm to G7), it can be a good spot to throw that in. A Gm arpeggio over the Gm, then a diminished run starting on G# (the b9 of G7). I'm a terrible lead player, but when we play Just One for Babik, that part always sounds right.

Best,
Jack.

marciero

An easy way to get a handle on diminished runs over 7 chords is this: you can start on any chord tone except the root.

It's also very effective to start on the root, perhaps preceded by some approach notes, for an ascending diminished run over a dom7. But then the next note of your run will be two full steps higher. I probably got this idea from the Romane book-don't know if it's a Django thing or not..

Mike

Jack

That's pretty similar to the above: two full steps higher will bring you to the third...

djangology

you can start on any chord tone except the root

The reason for this is explained in the second paragraph of my last posting, if you read carefully enough, but I think MY original explanation is better for beginners.

The reason being that my explanation will prevent any accidental playing of the WH diminished scale. I say in the second paragraph to add a post-tone, which would be 2 frets below the root or one fret above, which is in sync with all of your comments.

start on the 3, 5, or b7

this comment only applies to the major shape diminished pattern that I described also in my second paragraph of my original post. it does not apply to the minor shape pattern in the first paragraph.

Jack

djangology wrote:

start on the 3, 5, or b7

this comment only applies to the major shape diminished pattern that I described also in my second paragraph of my original post. it does not apply to the minor shape pattern in the first paragraph.

Good point-this is why I stick with rhythm!

Best,
Jack.

djangology

me too... but I realize that I need to be careful where I stray in the music theory realm because sometimes I do turn out to be wrong...

in the case of this diminished stuff, there is really a lot more little wierdnesses about the whole thing and you can always find situations where my basic rule (as described above) won't fit... one of these days I hope I end up understanding it all.