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Loving this discussion about arpeggios, imo they unlock the Django style more than anything else aside from proper rest stroke technique. And why? Because once you have a decent rest stroke going, playing even the most basic major, minor and diminished arpeggios will expand the fretboard so much further than any scale-based approach will ever provide. And that's not to say you shouldn't practice your scales and learn modal theory; if anything, having that knowledge will only unlock the fretboard that much more...when combined with full arpeggios.
On that note, Adrian's arpeggio exercise might seem daunting at first but imo, this is one of the best you can practice to develop fluidity of every picking technique (down strokes, alternate picking, sweeps):
Should also add that playing through the scale in terms of chords and arpeggios is also how you keep developing your ear as well, which becomes even more important when you realize the key might be changing with each chord change in any given tune (and your ear will become even more free once you realize "key" can become quite subjective depending on what you're hearing)
I don't remember where I found this, probably on this forum, but here's the tab for that Adrien arpeggio exercise.
It is very similar like an exercise that was given when Les Doigts De L'homme came to Django in June (2011), except Adrien (2018) is adding in the diminshed triad arp in between each scale degree
Plus taking the same idea through all the scales, on to the A (5th) and D (4th) string as starting each arpeggio; adding tones (as a for instance I usually play in a given key the 5th chord with a flat 7th included. However, sometimes even more . . .I chord with a 6th, ii cord with b7, iii with a b7, IV with a natural 7th, V with a b7, vi with a natural 6th, vii with the b5 and and a b7, or as a full diminished - this instead of Moingards warm up sometimes). Also, using the idea that @Wim Glenn mentioned through keys, and with 4 note chords (ie. 7th or 6th chords on the top 4 strings: Wrembel talks about this a lot)
All this, and I am really just a rhythm player!! (But they are great warm ups!)
Cheers, and good luck!
Ben
That's from the Selmer 607 school, which I highly recommend if you're not a beginner. Lots of great content and insights there.
I found the Daniel Givone method book to be a great source of CAGED major and minor grips…
It’s totally in French—- no English—- but that doesn’t actually create terrible difficulties.
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
Lango, by "grips" do you mean chord shapes for comping? thx
No, Mike by “grips” I mean arp fingerings, not chord fingerings.
Like when you grip the guitar neck, you can divide it up into Givone-style “boxes” of different hand-sized regions… so if I’m in the key of G, for example, what chord tones can I play if my hand is in the 0-3 fret region? The 2-5 fret region? The 5-8 fret region? Etc.
And once you get those ‘grips’ under your fingers, it becomes a lot easier for your ears and fingers to find non-arp, non-scale “color” notes like b3, b5, #5, b9, #9, 13, b13’s…
And the good thing about the guitar is that once you know these grips in the key of G, then you can move the same fingerings up to Ab or A or any other key you want….
Will
PS Not to forget of course that the GJ style is also known for non-“grip” techniques like “horizontal” arps or playing horizontally along the fingerboard using just one string…
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."