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Hey all,
I've been playing a bunch more gypsy tunes lately and really focusing on the chord voicings. Here's a breakdown for Swing 42 I wrote up with a bunch of fun variations for the chord voicings as well as a couple melody variation
You can see the full post here - https://mattcbruno.com/2022/07/14/so...down-swing-42/
Happy picking and enjoy ;)
Matt
Nice work.
I see your chords are all only 3 fingers.:)
Glad you like it Bill :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill McCall
Ha - well, I do love my 4 note chords, and I still stand 100% behind learning 4 note chords instead of 3 note chords (mainly because you get more chord for your time), but I didn't use them here for the most part because
1. The chords are moving around frequently, so efficient chord changes are best IMO - meaning 3 moving parts instead of 4
2. Using 3 note chords here keeps the rhythm separated better from the melody IMO.
3. Using 3 note chords allows you to potentially use a chord melody by playing the melody on the highest string
And of course
4. That's just how I play jazz tunes :)
But, point taken - I'll keep (or try to keep) my soapbox in storage next time someone brings up 3 vs 4 note chords haha.
I certainly agree that fast changes require very efficient chording and that’s why I brought it up.
But chord melody requires all fingers.
Matt: This tune is one of the gateway drugs for gypsy Djazz! Nice breakdown & glad that you use Emin7b5 in the 5th measure of the A parts. Many charts have vanilla Emin7 or C9, which tripped me up when I was learning this tune. Of course 3-finger C9 chord voicings without the root hit the right notes, as do Emin voicings without the 5th (E-G-Bb-D), but the tune doesn't sound "right" if you throw a C or a B into that chord.
Thanks John - glad you're liking it :)
It's certainly a fun tune! Though I think the real gateway song is Lady Be Good ;)
The next gypsy tune I'm going to review is probably Swing Gitan another really fun tune - maybe a step beyond the gateway ;)
"Lady Be Good" is the swing tune most often heard at a bluegrass jam.
very cool , I spent a few sessions with Frank Solivan on this tune, for the chord fingerings we went with
535 to 435 for the Dm7 to G7, Grisman does this quite often in other tunes
One of those tune where it seems like the I've never heard any two players do the second melody line the same...
I’ve really enjoyed your work lately. Thank you.
Matt,
a little late to the party, sorry, but I dig your Swing 42 post! i noticed a couple things and wonder what your take is on:
When referring to a tune form as Rhythm Changes, should it include both the A section(I-vi-ii-V) AND the B section (cyclical dominants starting from the III7)?
Regarding substitutions, is swapping say D9 for D7 a sub? We can add color tones(9, 13) or tensions/alterations(#5,b5,#9,b9), but the function is still the same, V7. Contrast that with the tritone substitution(dominant chord a b5 away from the original, in this case D7 original, b5 of D is Ab, so Ab7)we insert a chord that is not within the parent tonality. D7 is the V7 of the harmonized Gmajor scale, built from tones of the G major scale. Ab7 is built from tones of Eb major. I'm wondering if shifting tonalities (however briefly) is what constitutes a substitution...?
All them Django numbers are rich progressions that lend themselves to interpretation via adding color tones, tensions, connecting(passing) chords, substitutions and even simplification. His tunewriting paralleled jazz history...as jazz developed early on, he borrowed progressions from the standard lexicon, (sometimes an A section from one tune combined with B section from another)..When bebop came along he embraced that new outlook on harmony and wrote heads appropriate to it. he even foreshadowed "modal" things, witness Douce Ambiance..BTW Swing 42 resembles another form from early days where the A is like Rhythm Changes A, and the B goes to key of III and proceeds in Rhythm Changes A section style. Check out Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Beyond the Sea, I Would Do Most Anything For You..
Once again Bravo on your post! Ain't chords fun?
Hey Don,
Never too late ;) You might be more of an expert than I, but:
1. Yeah, I would say the A and B parts are Rhythm Changes as I noted in the post about the B part. So in this case, the whole tune is Rhythm Changes with a key center change on the B Part.
2. Yup, a different extension is not technically a substitution. I believe you are referring to the "Chord Substitutions" part of the post (I know, I'm like a detective haha). If so, I did try to clarify that (albeit not super clear and only in the caption of the graphic) that it's an alteration, not a substitution. That said, personally, I would consider any chord that alters the "standard" tone of a song to be a substitution. In the case of the tritone sub you referenced, I would consider that a substitution as the Ab7 will produce a significantly different sound than the D7.
I'll check out some of the other tunes as well. I'm currently hung up on listening / playing Swing Gitan, All of Me, and It's Only a Paper Moon way too frequently haha - it'll be nice to have some changes to that (especially with a direction). Django is definitely one songwriter where I've played a lot of his tunes, but didn't take enough time to really understand what was going on or why. It's been fun getting really close to these tunes and figuring out new chord progression patterns I can use.
Thanks for the feedback Don. Much appreciated. I hope to see ya playing around WA sometime soon!
Love this tune. Definitly a gateway Django/swing tune. My Django band does several numbered Django tunes together. Swing 39, Swing 42, Swing 48. Need to get 41 worked up.