Just spent my morning with a Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz lesson by the inimitable Mr. Patrick “Romane” Leguidcoq. He has some great ideas, and Figure 5 is a fun little arpeggio piece featuring a very nice use of diminished triads.
Exercise 1
Tablature and chord tonalities for Figure 5 are as shown in Exercise 1.
- Exercise 1: Video Lesson Figure 5
Exercise 2 – Circular Arpeggios
While the chord progression is really interesting to me, I find that the arpeggios are a bit boring. I decided to adapt the progression to circular arpeggios.
Circular arpeggios is the term I use for a technique I learned from a Jason Becker lesson. The standard A minor circular arpeggio is shown in Exercise 2. Note the position changes using the index finger and pinky.
- Exercise 2: Circular Jason Becker Arpeggio
Exercise 3 – Django Circular Arpeggios
Exercise 3 applies the circular arpeggio technique to the original chord progression. I find this a bit more interesting to play, and more challenging. It’s also a good way to learn the arpeggios in a different position, although the diminshed shapes are a bit awkward.
- Exercise 3: Circular Figure 5 Django Arpeggios
Sheet Music & Audio
Here are the PDF and PowerTabs for this lesson:
PDF – LWSMDB – Lesson – Django Circular Arpeggios
PowerTab – LWSMDB – Lesson – Django Circular Arpeggios
As well, I also added a Lessons category, to make finding my lessons easier. Have fun, and happy hunting!
Awesome webpage