We learnt dominant 7 scale and an arpeggio at previous lesson. This time , we are going to learn Major scale and an arpeggio.
To learn scales is very important for soloing . Also arpeggios are very important . when you listen to Django’s solo , you can hear that he mainly used arpeggios.
There will be lessons for major , minor , 7th scales and arpeggios , so take a look at all lessons!
What is scales?
In music theory , a scale is set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch.
For example , C major scale has no # or b.
C , D , E , F , G , A , B
This is called Ionian scale which we are going to learn .
By the way there are more scales to learn.
Ionian scale , Dorian scale , Phrigian scale , Lydian scale and some more・・・. It’s hard to memorize everything in one time so I’ll show you some of them for now.
Ionian scale・・・1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (so called ‘Major scale’)
Dorian scale・・・1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7（so called ‘ Minor scale’）
Aeolian scale・・・1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7（So called ‘ Minor scale’）
Mixolydian scale・・・1 2 3 4 5 6 b7（so called ‘Dominant scale’）
Phrigian scale・・・1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
Lydian scale・・・1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
Locrian scale・・・1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7
Ionian scale
When you look at your fret board , Ionian scale is like this with scale degrees.
As I said , C major scale has no # or b , but of course when it’s other keys , there are # and b.
How to memorize scales
There are 2 ways of memorizing scales. 1 is to memorize all the notes in all keys. 2nd is to memorize fingerings .
Here’s some examples.
Let’s have a look at those fingerings on fretboard.
Arpeggio
As I said , arpeggios are very important for gypsy jazz soloing . Also when you play arpeggios , you should know what note or what scale degree you are playing.
It’s easier to remember the chord position and arpeggio together. I wrote arpeggios for each chord positions.
Practice those arpeggios to be able to play from top to bottom , bottom to top in every keys. (not # or b keys yet)
By the way , if you are not familiar with scale degree , have a look at the chart below.
Tips
when you practice scales and arpeggios , try to play in many keys. If you don’t have time much then try the 1 minutes – 1 key practice for 10 keys every day. It will cost you only 10 mins a day but this gets your soloing super good one day.
Also when you know the scales and arpeggios, it’s useful to play Enclosure which is a jazz and gypsy jazz common technique. Try this lesson too. How to use Enclosure in gypsy jazz solos.
After learning scales and arpeggios, try this one as well ”Daily Arpeggio practice” to be able to play solos like gypsy jazz!!