Learning arpeggios?

Polkat

Okay guys, I've been struggling with this for too long. I'm studying swing jazz (think Grappelli) and presently I can improvise fairly well basically using scales....and that's the problem. All my licks sound heavily scale based. I am aware that arpeggios are a mainstay of this kind of improvising, but I've been having problems thinking in an arpeggio mindset. I have most of the Gypsy jazz, Django, and Grappelli books, but they only seem to cover basic scales.

Can anyone suggest any books that discuss and teach the use of arpeggios in swing jazz?

BluesBop Harry

http://www.hyperhipmedia.com/HM0015.html

(also replied in the UK forum)

Bones

I had the same problem on guitar until I just concentrated on transcribing and trying to understand which arpeggio they were playing (and pretty much quit practicing scales except for maybe harmonic minor which also shows up in a lot of Django solos). Now I pretty much just use arpeggios (except not fast enough yet!)

Polkat

Thanks for the responses guys. I've been using scale based melodic improvising for so long that, as I said, it's hard to get a mindset to play arpeggios. I get started on one and within a few notes I'm playing a scale again. It's not as bad perhaps as I make it sound. I can get a good improvising sound, but when I listen back to stuff I've recorded it just sounds too scaly.
What was the full name of that gypsy jazz book for guitar that had a lot of arpeggios in it?

lemanouchecbien

Polkat wrote:

What was the full name of that gypsy jazz book for guitar that had a lot of arpeggios in it?

This is Stephane Wrembel Book "Getting into gypsy jazz" But their is tabs only, I do not know if you can use this book. The best would be to get the DVD's that Bluesbop harry suggested, if it is as good as his guitar DVD, you won't regret one cent.

Michael Bauer

Wrembel's book is really quite good. He is working on a more expansive book now, but I have no idea when it will be done. Stephane's book will help you visualize all the arpeggio patterns in your head, and I think could work really well with the Denis Chang videos.