Ascending Lick

Bones

Haha oh ok. Yeah I was thinking it was weird for him to use an alternate tuning but who knows. Thx

Buco

For those who can't read notation, use the fretboard tool, it's accurate. Or use the tab, only add +1 to the number you see for the B and E strings. But I imagine this is something that got goofed up internally on the soundslice engine and could be easily fixed on their side...

PS strike that, if you use a fretboard tool, the note letters are accuarate (soundslice reading standard notation) but the fretboard placement is inaccuarate (soundlice reading tab) again only B and E strings.

Buco

And yet another example of his genius in simplicity. He does

• lick over C triad using approach notes
• E minor arp over A7

Then he starts the ascending-descending arps which are very simple basic shapes, here's what they are if you're thinking CAGED approach to improvising:

• Dm, think E minor shape
• A7, think, well A7 shape
• Dm, D minor shape
• Fm, E minor shape
• C, C shape
• E7, ok this one is trickier on paper but visually simple, he's playing Ab dim over E7 but the shape is basically G7
• Am, think D minor shape
• Eb dim, he's playing it from the A dim position (A dim with the 5th string root) but basically think Ab7 in the A7 shape. Again this one is much simpler visually than what it might sound on paper.

At least that's how I see it, don't claim to be an expert in CAGED approach. But the whole point is how visually simple this stuff really is. This guy will never stop to blow my mind...

vanmalmsteen

I find CAGED The way to go for this style of music

wim

It's executed with such precision that it sounds as though Django is playing something more wild than it really is- he's literally just playing the arpeggio of each change, really fast. But he's phrasing "over the bar line": starting each arpeggio group on the "and of 2" beat, then the end of each arpeggio lands on the 1 beat of next chord (it's also targeting notes that are part of the next chord).

So one thing that helped me is to think of the notes at the end of each group as belonging actually to the subsequent chord. If you do that, then everything is exactly "inside", each note within the bar lines is part of the chord on that bar.

No shortcuts or tricks here, just oodles of technique :)

mac63000

But he's phrasing "over the bar line": starting each arpeggio group on the "and of 2" beat, then the end of each arpeggio lands on the 1 beat of next chord (it's also targeting notes that are part of the next chord).

This is really the beauty of it here, imo. The shapes are simple but the phrasing is masterful. Thanks for transcribing @Wim Glenn !

Buco

Yup, like many other Django things, the phrasing makes the magic.

Buco

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/101189#Comment_101189

Dennis was big on the CAGED approach to improvising during the last year's Django in June. I remember him saying something like give me any solo and I'll be able to link it to the CAGED thinking.

vanmalmsteen

Thanks for that information Bucco. Dennis is a highly respected educator, makes me feel like I’m on the right track, hearing that!

wim

I've transcribed the segment from the original post https://www.soundslice.com/slices/Jj6Vc/

It's not so logical like the section in After You've Gone was. Django seems to play some notes that don't really make sense (or maybe I'm just not hearing the pitch correctly)

Thanks to @coreycr for helping me with the metre