My Three kings

King Blues, King Ballade, King Melody

Three kings who helped me understand how to approach JAZZ in Django style.

Introduction to the Jazz Blues

12 Bar Blues in G

The Minor Pentatonic scale

Every pentatonic scale has only 5 notes. The Minor Pentatonic Scale degrees are:

1 b3 4 5 b7

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The Minor Blues Scale

The Minor Blues Scale is very similar to the pentatonic scale. We just add one more note that we call the
Blue Note. There are two kinds of Blue Notes. The one that we add to the Minor Pentatonic is the flat
fifth degree (marked in blue) of the scale (b5th).

1 b3 4 b5 5 b7

The Major Pentatonic

The major pentatonic scale has the same notes as the minor pentatonic scale a tone and a half below it.
That means that the G major pentatonic has the same notes as the E minor pentatonic.
But the root is different and so the degree of each note is different.

The Major Pentatonic Scale degrees are:

1 2 3 5 6
The Major Blues Scale

The Major Blues Scale is very similar to the Major Pentatonic scale. We just add one more note that we
call the Blue Note. There are two kinds of Blue Notes. The one that we add to the Major Pentatonic is
the flat 3rd degree of the scale (b3rd).

The Major Blues scale has the same notes as the Minor blues scale a tone and a half below it. That
means that the G major Blues scale has the same notes as the E Minor Blues Scale, but the root is
different and so the degree of each note is different.

The Major Blues Scale degrees are:

1 2 b3 3 5 6
You can look at this scale as a Major6 arpeggio with a chromatic approach to the 3 rd degree.

Learn the following positions. For each position, its very important for you to know where the root of
the scale (marked in red) is and where the blue note is (marked in blue). You can change the fingerings
according to what's comfortable for you.

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G minor Blues Scale, open position, root on the 6 th string

G major Blues Scale, open position, root on the 6 th string

G minor Blues Scale, root on the 6th string

G major Blues Scale, root on the 6th string

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G minor Blues Scale, root on the 4th string

G major Blues Scale, root on the 4th string

G minor Blues Scale, root on the 5th string

G major Blues Scale, root on the 5th string

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G minor Blues Scale, root on the 5th string

G major Blues Scale, root on the 5th string

G minor Blues Scale, root on the 6th string

G major Blues Scale, root on the 6th string

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The I-VI-II-V progression and its substitutes
secondary dominant- The first substitute.

The secondary dominant is a dominant chord that leads into any chord in the song other than the 1st
degree. Its not the primary dominant that leads into the root chord, but a dominant chord that leads to
any other degree in the scale. You will always find the secondary dominant on the 5 th degree of the
chord you want to lead to.

The secondary dominants to Dm7 and To G7:

I C I Am7 I Dm7 I G7 I

I C I A7 I Dm7 I G7 I

I C I A7 I D7 I G7 I
We replaced Am7 with A7 because we created a secondary dominant chord (A7) that will lead to the
target Dm7 (A is the 5th degree of D).

we also replaced Dm7 with D7 because we created a secondary dominant chord (D7) that will lead to
the target G7.

Sub V7: The second substitute.

The sub5 is a dominant chord that sits a triton interval from the primary dominant chord. That means
we can replace the V7 chord with another Dom7 chord, a triton (3 tones) above or below it.

Sub V7 to A7:

I C I A7 I Dm7 I G7 I

I C I Eb7 I Dm7 I G7 I
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We replaced A7 with Eb7 because Eb sits 3 tones below and above A. So we created a sub5 dominant
chord (Eb7), instead of the current dom7 chord (A7).

Sub V7 to G7:

I C I Eb7 I D7 I G7 I

I C I Eb7 I Dm7 I Db7 I

We replaced G7 with Db7 because Db sits 3 tones below and above G. So we created a sub5 dominant
chord (Db7), instead of the current dom7 chord (G7).

Sub V7 to D7:

I C I A7 I D7 I G7 I

I C I A7 I Ab7 I G7 I
We replaced D7 with Ab7 because Ab sits 3 tones below and above D. So we created a sub5 dominant
chord (Ab7), instead of the current dom7 chord (D7).

Secondary dominant to A7:

I C I A7 I D7 I G7 I

I E7 I A7 I Ab7 I G7 I
We replaced C with E7 because we created a secondary dominant chord (E7) that will lead to the target
A7 (E is the 5th degree of A).

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Sub V7 to E7:

I E7 I A7 I D7 I G7 I

I Bb7 I A7 I D7 I G7 I
We replaced E7 with Bb7 because Bb sits 3 tones below and above E. So we created a sub5 dominant
chord (Bb7), instead of the current dom7 chord (E7).

Multiple substitutes- Sub V7 to E7 instead of C and Sub V7 to D7:

I C7 I A7 I D7 I G7 I

I E7 I

I Bb7 I A7 I Ab7 I G7 I
We replaced C7 with Bb7 because B7 is a sub5 for E7 (which is a secondary dom7 to A7).

And we replaced D7 with Ab7 because Ab sits 3 tones below and above D. So we created a sub5
dominant chord (Ab7), instead of the current dom7 chord (D7).

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 King Ballads

Suggested chords for Django's Castle

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The 13b9 chord
This song includes a very special chord - A13/Bb. Bb is the b9 of A7 so basically this chord is a
dominant chord - A7, with the tensions b9 and natural 6 (or 13, because b7+6=13).

If you'll take a look on F# Major chord- you'll see that it gives us those two tensions. So, a
beautiful way to improvise over the A13/Bb chord is to play a major chord that sits on the 6 th
degree of the chord A7. That means you can play an F# arpeggio over the A13/Bb and get the
13b9 sound.

F# arpeggio: F# A# C#

F#7 arpeggio: F# A# C# E

F# is the 6th degree of A7. A# (=Bb) is the b9 of A7. C# and E are the 3rd and 5th degrees of A7;
they belong to the A7 chord.

F# or F#7 both sound good over A7.

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E Whole-Tone Scale:

E whole tone Phrase:

E7b5add9/G#:

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 King Melody
Our focus on improvisation in these lessons, will be from the point of the view of the melody. Playing
the melody is an art in itself- the beginning of improvisation was improvisation on the melody. In the
history of jazz, there were musicians whose art was playing their own version of a melody. Thats was
their improvisation!

Django Reinhart, as an improviser, was a genius in playing melodies. It even happens that In the Gypsy
Jazz genre, the versions Django played to the melodies became more famous and better known than the
original melodies themselves

Seeing the melody within chord shapes allows you to improvise on those specific chord shapes
and know what the notes of the melody are every single moment.

Play the melody while pressing each chord shape as pictured above each bar. Eventually, youll
get a simple way of playing chord melody, which is basically harmonization of the melody. But
this lesson is not about chord melody. The aim of this exercise is for you to see the melody
within the chord shapes.

After you play this exercise, try to add notes from the chord shapes to the melody; by doing
that, you will have your first improvisation on this song.

Learning a song

If you want to play a song, the first thing you need to do is to learn it but what does learning a
song involve? Basically:

1) Learning the melody

2) Learning the chords

Learning the melody:

You can play the melody in one position, in one octave. But you can also play it in various
positions, in at least two octaves, so it wont matter where you are on the fingerboard at a
given moment; the melody will always be available to you.

Learning the chords:

You can play the chords in one position, always playing each chord in the same fingering. But
you can also play the chords in various positions, starting from a different root each time,
adding a different tension each time, so that your chord playing itself will be a kind of
improvisation.
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Improvising on the melody
Having the melody and the chords always available allows you to:

1) Improvise within the melody and creating your own way of playing the melody.
2) Create an improvisation in which you can hear the melody.

Mastering the melody

Its very important to master the melody of a song. Mastering the melody will allow you to:

1) Improvise over the melody.

2) Quote the melody anytime in your improvisation.
3) Create your own way of playing the melody.

In order to achieve these three goals, there are two things that you must know in real time,
simultaneously:

1) You must know in what chord you are at any given moment (keep the form).
2) You must know how to play the melody at any given moment.

Playing the melody all over the fingerboard

Find new ways to play the melody. Try new positions, start at a different string. Change the
octave. The highest level in playing the melody is to get to a point that no matter where you are
on the fingerboard at a given moment the melody will always be available to you. I know that
its hard to reach this level. But every moment you practice playing the melody is blessed. It
improves your ear and your familiarity with the fingerboard at the same time.

Mastering the chords

Try to play accompaniment to the song using all the chord shapes you know. Improvise with
the chords. Play each chord in various positions, starting from a different root each time,
adding a different tension each time, according to your skills. Its not important to learn new
positions right now. Use what you already know!

Tip: You can also try and sing or whisper the melody while playing the chords. It makes the
exercise more fun.

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Suggested chords for Avalon:

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Phrase for C7:

Phrase for F:

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