Django licks explained : 1 min videos

MartinG

Hi ! I'm about to publish a serie of 1 min. videos showing Django Reinhardt ideas and licks. Here is a prototype, "Django Reinhardt lick #1 : Dorian mode over a major chord" :

(EDIT : here is the final video)


These videos will be made... well, for you guys ! So please tell me what you think about it. Is it clear ? Does the video editing helps undertanding the musical idea ?

Petrov

I look forward to the new series. Thanks.

Josechiky

Clear enough.Thank you for sharing

Petrov

I like it. Appreciated the references at the end when django used this idea.

croth

Hi. This is a great presentation and of course I liked the lick a lot. I see the other (probably more advanced) posters thought the presentation was "clear enough' and, while I respect that for them, I for one being not a "mode thinker" didn't find it so. I don't understand the generalized reference to the Dorian mode in this without naming what Dorian mode you have in mind. In my admittedly limited knowledge of modes, there would be no sharps or flats in the Dorian mode of C Major. The lick, however, has both a Bb and an Eb, placing it in what I would think of as Bb Major pitch collection, or perhaps the Dorian mode of Bb Major (which would be C Dorian, I think?). Could you please take a moment to explain to the less theory-oriented players like me which Dorian mode the first example (in C) is derived from and why you (or Django) chose that mode to play over that C chord? I do understand how it translated to the Eb changes of the second example. However, without understanding the "why", it would be hard for players like me to apply it to other things outside of the examples that you presented. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Scoredog

While I think the lick is nice (there are millions of nice licks so choose what you like) croth is somewhat correct and because of the major third in the lick so the initial lick does not feel like Dorian. It is closer to a blues lick. What might be clearer is the lick starts Dorian and resolves to major.

geese_com

The example shown is C dorian mode over a C major chord.

I think what he is trying to show is that Django would, in this example, superimpose the dorian mode over the major chord of the same root even though it is "wrong" in theory terms.

Lango-Django

The C minor pent scale is C, Eb, F, G, Bb... doesn't this lick relate to that somehow as well?

geese_com

Lango-Django wrote: »

The C minor pent scale is C, Eb, F, G, Bb... doesn't this lick relate to that somehow as well?

C Dorian = C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb
C Min Pent = C, Eb, F, G, Bb

The lick contains a D and an A so that would make it Dorian.

You can also kind think of it as C Min Pent with passing tones, but the passing tones are part of the Dorian mode.

Either way, the most important thing is that it sounds cool regardless of what the theory is.

MartinG

Thank a lot everyone for your suggestions !! It will really helps me correct a few things.

As said before, C Dorian is C D Eb F G A Bb C
This idea is really the C Dorian mode played over a major chord, "wrong" theoretically (but so wonderful )
It's not a blues lick, which should contains some Gb to be labelled "blues".

Django really thought the dorian mode, even if he probably didn't name it this way. All the references at the end of the video prove it (I'll put link in the description when the final video will be published). He also played Cm6 very often, and probably thought this C dorian as an embellishment of the Cm6 arpeggio.

This specific idea requires some theoretical knowledge (like "what's the dorian mode ?") but in some other videos to come, ideas or licks won't require any, it will depend.

According to me, there is a limited amount of licks and ideas that are specific to Djang's playing, maybe 150-200 (rough estimation). My goal is to share and teach this knowledge and to help musicians learn through Django, whose playing I find really beautiful and inspiring :-)

steffo

MartinG wrote: »

As said before, C Dorian is C D Eb F G A Bb C
[...]
It's not a blues lick, which should contains some Gb to be labelled "blues".
[...]

Already the minor third or seventh over a major chord can make it „bluesy “ (context).

The old church mode Dorian is like a key of its own, not seen here.