Django’s

Chromatic
Flourishes
B Y C H A R L E S H . C H A P M A N

RECENTLY I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY a few tips, including the following techniques from your thumb. In fact, the experts don’t even
to travel to France to experience and participate that will add a Gypsy flair to your solos. touch the back of the neck as they ascend.
in the 20th annual Django Reinhardt Festival. Open-strings and chromatic slides. One of Ex. 1 illustrates the move. In beats three and
This three-day event is held in his home Django’s trademarks was a fast run containing four, keep your 2nd finger on the second string,
town—the village of Samois sur Seine, on the chromatic notes and open strings. He would of- and simply slide up the neck from C# to F#, pick-
tiny island of Ile du Berceau. Here I listened to ten conclude such runs by using a rapid, one- ing a note on each fret as you pass it. (Depending
many of the finest Gypsy jazz players pay tribute finger slide to ascend on one string to a new po- on the musical context, you can continue higher.)
to Django and was fortunate enough to pick up sition. The trick is to avoid using any pressure Use alternate picking as shown.
Ex. 1 Ex. 2 hints at Django’s longer runs. Again,
release thumb keep your fretting-hand thumb off the back of
Short Chromatic Slide

ö# ö n ö# ö ö ö# ö ú .
2 the neck, maintain a gentle, yet firm pressure
44 2 2

ö Î
1 2 2 2

& ö# ö ö ö ö # ö ö # ö
====================== =
with your 2nd finger, and use strict alternate
picking.
2 3
³²³²³²³²³²³²³²³²
2 3 1
1 Diminished arpeggios. Ascending with di-
minished triplet arpeggios is another great Gypsy-
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 jazz move (E Ex. 3). Pay attention to the fingering
T 0 1 2 3
A 0 1 2 3 and picking. This lick works over a Gdim7, but
B
if you develop the ability to “spit it out” smoothly
and quickly, you can use it in other ways. For

ö ö# ö n ö# ö n ö
Ex. 2 2 example, in a G blues, you can play the phrase
ö # ö
release thumb 2 2 2

ö # ö
2 2

ö
2 2

ö# ö
Long Chromatic Slide 2 heading from G7 into C7 or C9 (the IV7), or re-

ö# ö n ö# ö ö ö# ö ö# ö
2 2 2
2

4
1 2 2 2

ö
1 2 3 3 turning to G7 from C7 or C9. Experiment with
4
& ö# ö ö ö ö # ö ö # ö
====================== = other keys and string sets.

³²³²³²³²³²³²³²³² ³²³²³²³²³²³²³²³
1 2 3 1 2 3 Incorporate these techniques in your play-
ing, and heads will turn the next time you
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 perform. g
T
0 1 2 3 4
A
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3
B Charles H. Chapman is a Professor at Berklee
College of Music. Look for his new Mel Bay
Ex. 3
ú.
books—The Drop 2 Concept for Guitar and Bass

bö ö bö ö ö ö ö ö
3
Diminished Triplets
3 3 Line Basics—as well as a CD of nine George Van
ö
3 1

4 bö bö ö
3 1 2
Eps chord solos arranged for 6-string guitar (also
Î
2 1 2 1 2

&4
======================
3 3 = from Mel Bay).

² ³ ³ ² ³ ³ ² ³ ³ ² ³ ³ ³
3 3

3 6 9 12 15
T
2 5 8 11
A
3 6 9 12
B
www.truefire.com

1 3 4 GUITAR PLAYER NOVEMBER 1999 “I still prefer physically dragging the sound out of the guitar.” —Adrian Belew, June ’82 GP
 BOOK BROWSING
OPEN CHORD ADVANTAGE

from Creative Concepts] is re- through some intense fingerings and

MOST GUITAR BOOKS FOCUS ON
exploring popular styles, developing tech-
nique, or mastering music theory, but John
Bunge’s Open Chord Advantage [$14.95
freshingly different. This book sounds. You’re sure to find grips you’ve nev-
explores open-string voicings er played before—what a treat!
in every conceivable position, Excerpted from a chapter on chromatic
key, and flavor. We’re not talking chord progressions, the following example
garden-variety G , C , or Em : offers a feel for Bunge’s material. This 16-bar
Bunge fills 62 pages with 29 ex- journey illustrates how to integrate open-
ercises covering a passel of ma- string voicings with more common jazz
jor, minor, dominant 7th, minor voicings and barre chords. Bunge writes,
7th, major 7th, major 6th, mi- “You can start using these open-string
nor/major 7th, and minor 6th chords right away. If you try them in some
shapes, as well as various sus- music you know, you’ll find the sounds will
pended, extended, and altered open up new dimensions—especially in
fingerings— all in standard tun- songs that have become boring or routine.
ing. Even better, try writing some music using
Using concise and friendly these chords.”
prose, Bunge explains the theory behind his For more information on the author or
chords and provides useful application and other titles from Creative Concepts, visit
practice tips. It’s a very musical journey www.creativeconcepts.com.

Cm7 F7 E F b
B 7 E7 E b Fm
(4) (2)
4 1 3 2 X 1 2 4 3 X 2 3 1 X 1 3 4X XX 1 4 2 2 1 3 4 2 1X 2 X 1 3 4X
III III III IV III
( )

( )

4
&4 {
=================================
=

Fm7 B 7 b A B b E 7 b A7 A b Cm
(2) (4)
2 X 1 4 3 X XX 1 4 2 3 2 1 2 1 4 3 X 4 1 3 2 X 2 3 1X 4 3 2 X XX2 1 4
III III V V IV IV VIII
( )
( )

=================================
& =

Cm7 C7 F Am Am7 A7 Dm Dm
(4) (4)
XX 1 3 4 1 2 4 X 2 2 3 1 2 1 3 2 3 2 1 X 1 1 1 X 3 2 1
X X VIII IX X X X V

( )
( )

=================================
& =

© 1999 Creative Concepts Publishing Corp. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.guitarplayer.com NOVEMBER 1999 GUITAR PLAYER 1 3 5
 Liquid
Clusters
HERE’S A COOL WAY TO INCREASE THE
number of chord voicings you have at your fin-
gertips, build fretboard confidence, and improve
fretting-hand dexterity. As you explore this con-
cept, you’ll discover a whole new way to look
at chordal playing—one that blurs the distinc-
tion between comping and soloing.
Modal voicings. The game is simple:
• Select three strings. These can be adjacent
or non-adjacent.
• Choose a major scale.
B Y• OnAeach N ofD the
R selected
É B Ustrings,
S H locate and
finger a note from your chosen major scale. This
becomes your starting voicing. To allow for max-
imum fretboard prowling, fret this first voicing
in the lowest possible position.
• Harmonically ascend through the major
scale by playing three-note clusters composed
of scale tones. Stay within the scale, and don’t
skip any notes.
• When you reach the upper limits of your
fretboard, reverse direction and descend to your
starting point.
Ex. 1 illustrates the process. In this instance,
we’ve selected the top three strings and the C
major scale. Notice how each string contains
a sequence of notes from within C major: B, a scale will help you break free from the con-
C, D, E, and F on the third string; C, D, E, F, and straints of standard chord voicings and position
G on the second string; and A, B, C, D, and E playing—what the late, great Howard Roberts
on the first string. When you play each three- called “frozen blocks of sound.” g
note cluster harmonically, you get a series of
modal voicings that you can use either in con- San Francisco-based André Bush melds jazz,
junction with standard chord structures or as R&B, and blues on his latest disc Invisible City.
substitutes for them. The album features jazz heavyweights Steve Smith
Ex. 2 shows what happens when you mix ad- on drums and David Liebman on soprano sax-
jacent and non-adjacent strings. We’re still in ophone. For more info, visit www.andrebush.com,
C major, but this time, we’re playing on the fifth, or e-mail Bush at andrebush@aol.com.
second, and first strings. The bottom intervals—
either major or minor tenths—yield an open
sound often used by classical guitarists.
Chords into lines. You can transform these
modal voicings into lines, as in Ex. 3. In this
IIm7-V7-Imaj7 cadence, bar 1’s arpeggios come
directly from the voicings we played in Ex. 1.
Their inherent interval jumps create intriguing
melodic contours.
When you’ve got the hang of moving three
voices up and down the neck within a given ma-
jor scale, try four strings. Also, be sure to exper-
iment with other scale types—such as melodic
minor, harmonic minor, and diminished.
This technique of moving linearly through

Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 3 Dm9

ö ö
G13 Cmaj9

ö öö ööö ööö ööö öö öö öö öö ö ö

öö öööö w
4 3
4 4 4 2
4 4 4 4 4 4 1 1
ö ö
1 4 2

& ö
4 1 1 1 3 1
2 2 2 3

& ö ö ö ö ö =
1

========= = ========= =========

& =
2 2 3 2 3
3
1 1 1
1 1
etc.
etc.

5 7 8 10 12 5 7 8 10 12 12 10 5 1 3
1 3 5 6 8 3 5 6 8 10 T
8 1
T 4 5 7 9 10 T 10 4
A A A
B B B
2 3 5 7 8

T i p s J a r
“If you just play a scale for two octaves, you’re doing it by

rote. You don’t really learn anything because you’re not exer-

cising your mind—which you must do if you want to impro-

vise. Play the scale using interval skips.” —JOE PASS, APR. ’76 GP

1 3 6 GUITAR PLAYER NOVEMBER 1999 BU S H PH OTO : S T E V E J E N N I N G S

 F L A S H B A C K : S E P T E M B E R ’ 7 4

Irving Ashby on Accompanying

Oscar Peterson
JAZZ GUITARIST IRVING ASHBY that tape and my guitar. Right there on the
had the tricky job of accompanying piano tape, he’d say, ‘Okay, hold it. Now in this
virtuoso Oscar Peterson. “I used to comp passage that’s coming up, I want you to play
brass section-type licks,” Ashby told GP. in unison with me, but an octave lower.’
“You couldn’t give Oscar the Freddie Green Man, the things on those tapes were skull-
treatment, because those ‘chomps’ would busters. I couldn’t complain, though, be-
get in his way. You had to fill the gaps with cause Oscar thought enough of me to make
call-and-response things. special tapes.” g
“The musical demands Oscar made
were horrendous. If something I voiced
clashed with something he played, Oscar
was too much of a gentleman to remark
about it, but I’d know it, and was expected
never to do it again. I later learned that Herb
Ellis [who followed Ashby and Barney Kessel
in Peterson’s band] used to become nause- Irving Ashby backing another famous boss—Nat King Cole—whom he joined in 1946.
ated at the thought of going back onstage
to face that ‘monster’ on piano.
“Oscar would stop by my hotel room,
give me a tape of tunes for that night, and
say, ‘Have fun, man.’ I’d spend all day with

Lick of the Month

T H E J A N G L Y 1 3

THIS MONTH’S LICK COMES
courtesy of Ira Gitlin, who hails from
Takoma Park, Maryland. “The D13 voicing
that precedes the lick is my favorite bluesy
IV7 in the key of A. With its open strings
and poignant minor second, this extend-
ed chord sounds more jangly than jazzy.
The lick spins this D13 voicing into a four-
bar phrase. The open first, second, and
third strings provide the 9, 13, and 11, re-
spectively, and those harmonies are
cloned as we move up the neck. Pluck
the strings with a pick-and-fingers at-
tack, let everything ring, and hold those
bends! Happy twanging.” g

D13 D13(IV) A(I)

nö ö nö
ö n ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö(n ö) ö(n ö) ö ö ö n ö (ö) ö ä Jö n e(ö)n ö ö
1

### n www
1 4
2
44
2 3

n ö
3 3

ö
3 1

& ww nö ö
================================
öj n ö # ö ö ö n ö (# ö) w =
3
1
2 1
2
1 hold 1
B---------R B B R B
0 0 8 8 8 0
T
0 0 8 10 12 10 10 3 3 3
A
5 0 5 9 11 11 11(12) (12)11 5 (7) 5 (7) 5
B
4 4
5 0 3 4 5 0 3 (4) 0

Send us your candidate for Lick of the Month custom T-shirt that’s available only to Lick of the dress, and phone number. Materials won’t be re-
(preferably notated and on cassette), along with Month club members. Mail your entry to Lick turned, and please don’t call the office to check
a brief explanation of why it’s cool and how to of the Month, Guitar Player, 411 Borel Ave. #100, the status of your submission. You’ll get your shirt
play it. If we select your offering, you’ll get a funky San Mateo, CA 94402. Include your name, ad- if your lick is chosen.

“You’ve got to get it mentally, and you’ve got to get it mechanically.” —Otis Rush, Oct. ’87 GP NOVEMBER 1999 GUITAR PLAYER 1 3 7
 BACK TRACK

Dancing Ex. 1

öö
Dm7 D Dorian

ö ö ö
3

with Dorian & öö ö ö ö ö ö

2 3 4 1

========= =
1 1
3 4
3 1
1

Dm7

T
6
B Y A N D Y E L L I S A
5
7 5 7 9
5 7
B 5 5 7 8
IF YOU MADE IT THROUGH LAST gressions stay within a single tonal center, while
month’s “Modes in a Nutshell”—an overview of others switch tonalities every few measures?
Ex. 2
how modes are constructed and how they relate For instance, take a blues in G. Though savvy
to major scales—you’re ready to start making players customize their lines for each chord, Dorian Dorian
some modal noise. you can get away with playing a G blues scale 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Fits like a glove. Ever noticed how some pro- over G7, C7, and D7—the I7, IV7, and V7. In 2
3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 3 4 4 4
Ex. 3 4 4 4
ö 4
b
= 112-138
D Dorian ~~~~~~ E Dorian ~~~~~~~
ö ö ö bö bö
Gtr. 1

ö ö b ö b ö
4

ö ö ö b ö
1 3

ö ö ö ö bö bö
1

4
2 4

&4 { ö ö ö ö ö ö bö ö bö bö bö
3 4 1 3 1

================================= 4 1
=
3
~~~~~~~
1
~~~~~~
T .. 5 7
5 6 8
5 7 8 10
6 8
6 7 9
6 8 9 11
A 5 7 9 6 8 10
B 5 7 8 6 8 9

Dm7 b E m9

44 ööö ... b ööö ...

Gtr. 2
ööj úú ööj öö ööj úú ööj úú b öööj ööö öööj úúú
4

ö ú ö ö ö ú b ö ú b
2 3

& { ö.
=================================
ö ú
1
3
1 ö ö ö ú bö . ö ú bö ö ö ú = 1
2

T .. 6
5
6
5
6
5
6
5
6
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
A 7 7 7 7 7 4 4 4 4 4
B 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6

A Dorian C Dorian ~~~~~~~

ö ö bö ö
~~~~~~~
5
ö # ö ö ö b ö ö
ö ö
4

#ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö bö ö
1 3 1 3 1
4

=================================
& ö ö ö ö ö ö ö b ö 3 4 1
={ 3

~~~~~~~
1
1 3 4
~~~~~~~
T 5 7
5 7 8
5
3 5
3 4 6
3 5 6 8
..
A 5 7 9 3 5 7
B 5 7 9 3 5 6
5 7 8

Am7 Cm7

n öö ..
3
ööj úú ööj öö ööj úú ö.
b b öö .. öööj úúú öj ö öj ú
b b öö öö öö úú
& n ö . ö
3 ( )
ú ö ö ö ú
================================= ={
ö.
3( )

2
ö ú ö ö ö ú ö. ö ú ö ö ö ú

T
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
..
A 5 5 5 5 5 8 8 8 8 8
B
5 5 5 5 5 8 8 8 8 8

1 3 8 GUITAR PLAYER NOVEMBER 1999 “Those mistakes, that experimentation—that’s how you arrive at things.” —David Lindley, April ’82 GP
this scenario, one scale fits many chords.
But suppose a progression’s chords skip
around, say, in minor thirds. In this case,
one scale isn’t adequate—you have to shift
tonalities to keep up with the harmony.
One way to deal with shifting tonal centers
is to treat each chord as an isolated entity.
Instead of “one scale fits many chords,” the
strategy becomes “each chord gets its own
scale.” Modes are ideally suited for such
situations because each one (Ionian, Do-
rian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Aeolian,
and Locrian) fits a particular chord type
like a glove. In time, you’ll learn to associate
each mode with a corresponding chord fla-
vor and vice versa.
To explore this concept, let’s focus on
the Dorian mode, which works beautifully
over minor 7th chords and their relations.
Look at Ex. 1: Dm7 consists of D, F, A, and
C (1, b3, 5, b7). As you can see, D Dorian
contains these chord tones, separated by
neighbor tones a whole-step or half-step
away. Another way to look at this: A Dm7
arpeggio dwells inside D Dorian. (This
works for any minor 7th arpeggio and any
Dorian mode, provided both share the
same root.)
Ascend and descend through the two
Dorian fingerings in Ex. 2. The roots are cir-
cled, so you can play these forms at any fret.
For example, play the first pattern at the fifth
position to get D Dorian, then strum Dm7
to create a harmonic context. Back and
forth—chord and mode.
As you’re picking D Dorian, listen for the
chord tones (D, F, A, C ), and then identify
them on the fretboard. Chord tones are con-
sonant—they blend into the harmony—and
non-chord tones stand out against the har-
mony. When improvising melodically, bal-
ance the restlessness of non-chord tones (ten-
sion) with the stability of chord tones (release).
An intriguing line needs both elements.
Now play the second Dorian pattern,
this time at the tenth fret. Again, alternate
between Dm7 and D Dorian, identifying the
chord tones and non-chord tones.
There are dozens of Dorian patterns on
the fretboard, yet you can accomplish a lot
with just these two fingerings. It’s always
better to command two patterns than have
a vague idea of many forms.
Maiden voyage. Ready to make some
modal music? Ex. 3 shows a repeating eight-
bar progression with shifting tonal centers.
Notice that all four chords are minors, so
you can hit each one with a Dorian mode
that starts on the same root: D Dorian for
Dm7, Eb Dorian for Ebm9, A Dorian for
Am7, and C Dorian for Cm7.
Record several cycles of this progres-
sion (Gtr. 2). Start your modal maiden voy-
age by playing Gtr. 1 as written. This yields
a two-bar, two-octave ascending modal
pattern that corresponds to each chord. Go
nice and slowly.
Let the fun begin. Simply ascending
through a mode is not improvising—we still
have work to do. The next step is to craft
melodic lines from the raw material shown
in Gtr. 1. Some tips:
• Be selective: Over a given chord, play
only a handful of notes. Let your ear guide
www.guitarplayer.com
your fingers, not the other way around.
• Vary your rhythms by alternately sus-
taining certain notes and quickly playing
others.
• Vary the pitches while repeating the
same rhythmic pattern. This is especially
effective when you switch from one mode
to another.
• Include interval jumps.
• Skip strings.
• Carefully insert quick, chromatic pass-
ing tones. These will fall outside the Dorian
tonality, yet, as long as you don’t sustain
them, their momentary dissonance will pro-
vide tangy, ear-grabbing colors. Chromatic
passing tones generate momentum, and
pull the listener into your scale-tone or
chord-tone resolutions.
• Occasionally try sliding into a scale
tone from a half-step below.
Final observations. Though we’ve only
scratched Dorian’s surface, mastering Ex. 3
will give you a sense of what this mode is
all about. Next time out, we’ll encounter the
Mixolydian mode. In the meantime, see if
you can drop into Dorian the next time you
jam over an extended minor chord. g
All of us—no matter how long we’ve
played or how skilled we are—have gaps in
our knowledge. Back Track is an ongoing
Sessions series designed to fill these holes
and inspire musical breakthroughs. Got a
topic you’d like to see us address? Send your
question to Back Track, c/o Guitar Player,
411 Borel Ave. #100, San Mateo, CA 94402,
or e-mail it to guitplyr@mfi.com.
NOVEMBER 1999 GUITAR PLAYER 1 3 9