Practical Arps

Bones

Ok all really good comments, thanks! After thinking about what you guys are saying I'm thinking that what I really should have titled the post was "Practical Phrases/Licks" rather than arps. It seems like the idea of using long arpeggios for improvisation is not really 'practical' or even desirable since running up and down the arp really just sounds like running up and down the arp. Kinda like running up and down scales in 'modal' music isn't really improvisation.

Of course, one must at least practice the scales/arps enough to know the locations of the various notes (1, 3, 5, 6, b7, M7, b9, etc) in all the various positions on the neck just for navigation purposes but beyond that the next step is learning (or inventing) phrases/vocabulary/ear training.

Soooo, I guess the bottom line is learn the arps but then focus on phrasing and licks???

JDRooke

I should mention one thing about arps that I discovered. The horizontal arps sound good out of the box in a way that vertical/positionals don't. To me, I think you get that flavor you are shooting for quicker. There is are reasons why this is, that are a little bit off-topic at this point.

Bones

JD, yes I guess that kind of is inherent with the sound since supposedly due to his left hand limitations Django used a lot of horizontal patterns??? The horizontal patterns that I've found are certainly doable with the 2 fingers although I have not tried to study how he accomplished his phrases with 2 fingers.

Shemi

I really enjoy trying to work out how he played stuff with 2 fingers, I tend to tab it out thinking in that way. I then will play around with fingerings until I find something that suits me personally although they can be so logical that I stick with them, albeit with 1 and 3 instead. I tend not to spend too much time playing with only two fingers but can get through most of the songs I've done so far although but not always up tempo as that would take a lot of practice and I don't really see the point in my current situation of limited practice time. I think it's a really worthwhile thing to do though.

Limehouse Blues however, that one bugs me. It's the only one so far I've transcribed with licks that I can't work out a logical way he might of played them!

I think to get a good gypsy sounding improv certain arpeggio fingerings are better than others, but equally if not more important is studying and really ingraining the ornamentation into the ears and fingers.

dennis

If you want to transcribe Django and get close to his actual fingerings, you're actually better off using 3 fingers, because Django often opted for a "3 finger" position system. The 2 finger approach can be misleading for certain runs (ie Django's tiger E9 F9 arpeggios).

Django often opted for fingerings based on old habits and musical sound rather than convenience. Watch the J'attendrai video for instance. When he's playing the C major chord while playing rhythm, he doesn't just play any of the C6/9 voicings you'd expect him to play but he plays C major triad (after the F Fm section) that is rather awkward because of his handicap, yet he specifically does this voicing because it s what he hears in his head.

Transcribing Django's voicings over the years has revealed to me that whenever he could, Django always went for what was most musical and not what was his most efficient based on his handicap

Jazzaferri

Yes indeed @dennis Music is what this is about, not licks, not patterns.

I believe that learning short phrases that one can string together is like learning words that you can string together. Eventually one gets to being able to speak a cogent sentence.

Some will find it easier by memorizing licks and solos, some by leaning patterns. If one knows all the letters of the alphabet one still has to learn the words but spelling them right is easier.

Whether you come at this via patterns or licks, listen to and deeply learn the language, so when you say something, it actually has some meaning.