 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: wjk
Date: 2006-06-25 19:12
Yes---the Hot Club is calling---Django and Grapelli want to jam...how does the clarinet best solo here with all the minor 6th etc. chords......
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2006-06-26 00:19
Grapelli's successor with Le Quintet was clarinetist Hubert Rostaing; I suspect there are recordings out there that will show how he coped!
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Author: ned
Date: 2006-06-26 01:27
What information specifically - would help?
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2006-06-26 02:47
I have a CD of Rostaing with the Quintet...please enlighten me as to why it's more difficult to solo with these kinds of chords, as opposed to other chords.
Steve Epstein
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Author: wjk
Date: 2006-06-26 03:19
The solos, at least on guitar, are quite chromatic. There is a very distinct gypsy jazz sound. I curious how best to achieve this on clarinet.
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Author: ned
Date: 2006-06-26 06:32
What I would do would be to learn the melodies note perfect and then practice arpeggios and chromatic runs appropriate to the chords being played. I presume you have a chord book or fake book of some description?
This should give you a feel for the style, I suspect - then it's up to you to work up solos according to YOUR interpretation of the piece.
Django Reinhardt was a totally instinctive musician and most times had no real knowledge, or interest in what key he was actually playing. It helped though that he was a genius.
Don't forget too, that Stephane Grapelli was a more than competent soloist in his own right - I'd listen closely to what he does too.
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Author: Markael
Date: 2006-06-26 10:00
Here’s a tidbit about Stephane Grappelli, told to me by a violin player who, presumably, knows what he is talking about.
Good musician though he was, he preferred to play in the sharp keys that allowed for open strings on the violin. He was not particularly good at transposing to more difficult keys.
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Author: John Morton
Date: 2006-06-27 00:19
I have done some playing with hot club combinations. I feel the clarinet is well suited to most of the repertoire, which consists largely of standards, pop tunes of the thirties, and musette. The keys tend to the sharp side, but Dm and Am are common. However there is an obstacle to improvising over the changes of certain Reinhardt/Grapelli tunes: the chromatic bridge sections. A number of the well known tunes (e.g. Swing 42, Djangology) move by half steps through the bridge, which guarantees at least one "bad" key. The solution to this is to practice soloing over the specific tunes, or (better) spend more time playing in E, B etc.
John Morton
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2006-06-27 05:55
Maybe you can use a C-clarinet, or an A clarinet. If you're playing in fiddle keys, why not?
Steve Epstein
Post Edited (2006-06-27 05:57)
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Author: allencole
Date: 2006-06-27 16:06
I use an A clarinet frequently for Western Swing. Who's to say that other clarinetists in other string bands didn't do the same thing?
As for dealing with chromatic bridges, there is no escaping that. You can select your clarinet for the overall key, but it's going to be hard to switch during the course of the song itself. And frankly--I have more than once picked up the wrong instrument and simply had to play in the key that I was stuck with. Spend lots of time in your bad keys, so that you are forced to play simpler licks with good melodic content. You'll need that skill when coping with keys.
It's the same with western stuff, you're often dealing with songs and licks created by musicians (such as the Sons of the Pioneers' Farr brothers) who were under the Django influence. Lots of these folks pop up with names like Bob Wills, Spade Cooley, Light Crust Doughboys, etc. And any number of their tunes can slide around chromatically just like Air Mail Special, Dizzy Atmosphere, etc.
I find it helpful to find a few items for practice in all 12/15 keys. You never know where a song is going harmonically, but you can bet that if it has the characteristics of Sweet Georgia Brown, Up the Lazy River, or I Got Rhythm you're going to cover a pretty large arc on the circle of fifths.
Allen Cole
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