A lyrical standard with secondary dominants and a chromatic descent. The expressive task is to keep a singing line above the changes rather than make the harmony sound busy.
Form32 printed bars; learn the two different phrase endings
FeelSwing
Meter4/4
MusicErnie Burnett
Guide coverage12 / 12 sections present
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-06T15:51:33Z by admin. Coverage measures presence, not accuracy. Content review does not certify rights or musical perfection.
See what is here and what is missing
✓ Recording evidence
✓ Key & form
✓ Chart
✓ History
✓ Playing notes
✓ Practice plan
✓ Backing track
✓ Django recording
✓ Django solo study aid
✓ Illustration
✓ Sources
✓ Difficulty
Django's Recordings
Django recordings for this tune. Uploader dates and take labels remain source claims; only an evidenced exact association enables a row’s Listen control.
5 historical recording entries · source text preserved
Entry
Year
Recording / session / release evidence
Listen
01
1938
My Melancholy Baby, 31/5/38, CL 6718-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 308, Classics 777"," - Paris - Larry Adler (har), Stephane Grappelly (p), Django Reinhardt (g),Joseph Reinhardt, Eugene Vees (g), Roger Grasset (b)"
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02
1939
My Melancholy Baby, 21/3/39, 4973-HPP ,"Fremeaux FA 308, JSP 343, Classics 793, Jazz Archives 157222, Music Memoria 87949, Gitanes 159 854-2"," - Paris - QHCF - Stephane Grappelly (g), Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt,Pierre Ferret (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b)"
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03
1939
My Melancholy Baby, 17/5/39, 5080-HPP,"Fremeaux FA 309, Classics 813, JSP 343, Music Memoria 87949, Rhapsody RHCD6"," - QHCF - Stephane Grappelly (v), Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt,Pierre Ferret (g),Emmanuel Soudieux (b)"
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04
1940
My Melancholy Baby, 15/2/40, OSW 95-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 309, EMI 780671-2"," - Paris - Arthur Briggs (tpt), Christian Wagner (cl), Alix Combelle (as,ts), Ray Stokes (p), Django Reinhardt (g)"
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05
1949
My Melancholy Baby, Jan-Feb 1949, CW 61,"Fremeaux FA 317, Jazz Time 827447-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (g), Stephane Grappelly (v),Gianni Safred (p), Carlo Pecori (b), Aurelio de Carolis (d)."
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A dash means no video has been associated with this exact historical recording. Tune-level listening resources remain available above.
History & Listening
My Melancholy Baby is credited here to Ernie Burnett. The source date is 1912; publication, composition and later lyric adaptations may have separate dates. The inherited archive lists 5 recording entries, with dated entries spanning 1938–1949. These are archive rows, not a claim that every entry is a distinct released take. The linked recording rows preserve the original discographical wording. Compare their dates, matrices and personnel when choosing a performance to study.
Tune details
Music: Ernie Burnett
Words: George A. Norton
Published / composed / adapted — see history: 1912
Original key: Not established
Study level: Intermediate; advanced where the inherited roadmap needs reconstruction
Melody & head
Let sustained notes continue over passing harmonies; avoid adding a new accent at every chord symbol.
Listening task: Let sustained notes continue over passing harmonies; avoid adding a new accent at every chord symbol. Mark the key, pickup, phrase lengths and ending before comparing another version.
Session evidence
My Melancholy Baby, 31/5/38, CL 6718-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 308, Classics 777"," - Paris - Larry Adler (har), Stephane Grappelly (p), Django Reinhardt (g),Joseph Reinhardt, Eugene Vees (g), Roger Grasset (b)"
Compare the first and last listed entries for tempo, instrumentation and arrangement. Do not infer identical takes from a shared title. Hear every F-minor/F7 change.
Session evidence
My Melancholy Baby, Jan-Feb 1949, CW 61,"Fremeaux FA 317, Jazz Time 827447-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (g), Stephane Grappelly (v),Gianni Safred (p), Carlo Pecori (b), Aurelio de Carolis (d)."
The inherited chart is in E♭ major. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score.
Chart & Form
E♭ gives way to D♭7–C7 and the F-minor area. Later dominant movement and chromatic passing chords lead back toward the home tonic.
Chord symbols and source cell divisions are preserved from Djangopedia. Slashes mark rhythm; 0 is inherited diminished notation whose exact voicing should be checked against the melody. This is a chord reference, not a melody transcription.
Guitare Improvisation · The inherited chart is in E♭ major. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score. · 5:28
Checked 2026-10-01
How this resource was selected
Most-viewed suitable match selected from the captured search results after title/composition review; not a complete YouTube ranking. Source counts were captured on 1 October 2026. Coaching, unrelated songs and non-backing performances are excluded.
Study Django's Solo
Performed studies, transcriptions, TAB, notation and lessons for studying Django’s solo. Resources are described by their creator; inclusion does not certify note-for-note accuracy.
tim robinson · tim robinson · Uploader: Django solo recorded in Rome in 1949 · 1949 · Actual guitar performance visible at solo midpoint; uploader explicitly identifies note-for-note attempt and Rome 1949 source. Accuracy not independently compared. Checked 2026-10-06; private research candidate, not owner approved. Note-for-note accuracy not independently verified.
Stage 4L — Class S. 124-second note-for-note attempt; performed solo. TAB and notation offered via uploader website; not displayed in video. Source claim: Uploader: Django solo recorded in Rome in 1949
James Martak · James Martak · Uploader: Django 1949 Rome recording with Grappelli · 1949 · Actual guitar performance visible including later solo passage; explicit Rome 1949 source claim; uploader acknowledges imperfect playing. Accuracy not independently compared. Checked 2026-10-06; private research candidate, not owner approved. Note-for-note accuracy not independently verified.
Stage 4L — Class S. 158-second video containing simple melody followed by Django solo transcription. No TAB visible. Source claim: Uploader: Django 1949 Rome recording with Grappelli
Similar tunes
Follow a shared key, a harmonic idea or a familiar form. Keys refer to this site’s chart editions; other recordings may use a different key.
Related chord movement
No sufficiently supported harmonic comparison has been added yet.
No match is established in the current chart metadata.
Behind the illustration
An empty simple chair and closed guitar case beside a clean pale wall; a thin curved thread crosses a shadow changing gently from warm to cool. Songlike continuity over changing harmony is the mood, no personification of a baby.
An original editorial interpretation of the tune. This is an illustration, not an archival photograph or a documented reconstruction of a recording session.
Original Djangopedia illustration · AI-assisted, 2026
Start with the chord tones of each written harmony. Resolve E natural on C7 into F on Fm.
Use passing notes only after the destination chord and phrase length are secure; this guide does not assign one scale indiscriminately to the whole tune.
Loop C7–Fm, then F7–B♭7. Use the same rhythmic motif in each loop and change only the notes that define the chord quality.
Comping & voicings
Use a warm, unhurried pulse. Make Fm and F7 different colours while keeping the melody in the foreground.
Voicing note sets
E♭6: E♭–G–C; Fm7: F–A♭–E♭; B♭7: B♭–D–A♭.
Keep the accompaniment clear
Keep a quiet, even swing pulse, adjusting its density to the melody and ensemble.
Practise one chorus with only two chord attacks per bar, then restore four without changing tempo.
Confusing F minor with F dominant in the middle of a phrase.
Crowding the melody with dense extensions or doubling another accompanist’s register.
Practice room
Start around 100–140 bpm; increase only after the form stays secure
Your assignment
Loop C7–Fm, then F7–B♭7. Use the same rhythmic motif in each loop and change only the notes that define the chord quality.
Loop these changes
Resolve E natural on C7 into F on Fm.
Distinguish A natural on F7 from A♭ on Fm.
Metronome
Begin with four quarter-note clicks. Halve the click rate and hear beats 2 and 4 while maintaining the same phrase lengths.
Transposition
Transpose the first complete phrase up a whole step, including its cadence. Name chord functions before finding new fingerings.
Return to E♭ major and play the melodic phrase from memory.
At the session
My Melancholy Baby — E♭ major; 32 printed bars; learn the two different phrase endings. Agree the pickup, tempo and ending before counting in.
Start together
Suggested rehearsal entry: give two clear bars of count-in and start the agreed pickup or first melody note. This is not claimed as a historical Django introduction.
Finish together
Agree a final melody statement and hold its tonic arrival; remove any turnaround intended to restart the chorus. Check the chosen arrangement for tags or a separate coda.
32 printed bars; learn the two different phrase endings. Keep the head and solo chorus lengths explicit at the count-in.
Confusing F minor with F dominant in the middle of a phrase.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Start with melody and bass only. Add the following colour without interrupting the melody: Resolve E natural on C7 into F on Fm.
Trio or larger group
Use a warm, unhurried pulse. Make Fm and F7 different colours while keeping the melody in the foreground. Agree the full roadmap and signal the last head before it starts.
Vocal considerations
Choose a comfortable vocal key and transpose the whole arrangement, including its introduction and ending.
Further study
Map each dominant to its expected destination, then mark where the tune delays that resolution. Compare this map with the actual melody cadence.
Chord symbols and source cell divisions are preserved from Djangopedia. Slashes mark rhythm; 0 is inherited diminished notation whose exact voicing should be checked against the melody. This is a chord reference, not a melody transcription.
Compare the linked archive entries before attributing one arrangement to all Django performances. Keep composition history separate from the dates of Django’s recordings.
This player guide combines inherited recording evidence and editorial study notes. Musical study notes are editorial suggestions; compare them with the recording.
Photo identification and provenance; reuse rights remain unverified
Illustration credit & provenance
Original Djangopedia illustration · AI-assisted, 2026
An original editorial interpretation of the tune. This is an illustration, not an archival photograph or a documented reconstruction of a recording session.
Generated with the native image-generation tool on 2026-10-08; original editorial artwork, not a historical photograph.
Prompt: Use case: illustration-story. One original editorial feature illustration for Djangopedia's guide “My Melancholy Baby”. Landscape 1536 × 1024, opaque background.
Scene: An empty simple chair and closed guitar case beside a clean pale wall; a thin curved thread crosses a shadow changing gently from warm to cool. Songlike continuity over changing harmony is the mood, no personification of a baby.
Musical basis from the guide: A lyrical standard with secondary dominants and a chromatic descent. The expressive task is to keep a singing line above the changes rather than make the harmony sound busy. The supplied chart is E♭ major; form: 32 printed bars; learn the two different phrase endings; feel: Swing. These describe musical inspiration, not visible writing. Historical context: My Melancholy Baby is credited here to Ernie Burnett. The source date is 1912; publication, composition and later lyric adaptations may have separate dates. Do not illustrate disputed historical claims or suggest this imagined scene is an archival session.
Medium: tempera. Dominant palette: dusty violet graphite and cool white. Composition: low empty chair with sustained shadow. Human presence: none. Strong intentional design, clearly drawn/painted, distinctive material marks; keep essential subject safely within the central 70 percent width and middle 80 percent height for card crops. Maintain enough visual substance at thumbnail size.
Broad inspiration observed in old photo, ONLY scale/rhythm and never a reference image: close rehearsal group; layered guitars; microphone vertical. Independently invent every pose, perspective, clothing, setting and lighting.
Avoid: No face, baby, source room, sepia melancholy cliché. No photorealism, archival simulation, generated text, letters, numbers, labels, fake musical notation, logo, signature, watermark, fake dates, yellowed-paper patina, recognizable artwork or copied photograph. No imitation of any named artist. Render the art edge to edge without borders, mockup or typography. Batch A diversity compensation: avoid blue sky, drifting clouds, cypress trees, moon discs, generic Paris landmarks and curving terrace backdrops unless explicitly essential to the stated scene. Keep this composition tied to its precise stated subject; do not add an unrequested landscape or city. For figure scenes keep the specified standing/walking pose; no seated centered guitar portrait. For abstracts keep purely graphic materials and forms.
Research & rights notes
Specialist review of original editorial playing advice
Original key and precise composition date where not independently established
Inherited notation, session details and arrangement variants
Photograph reuse permissions
Photograph provenance and rights are stated separately. Attribution does not establish permission.
'My Melancholy Baby' - Feigeli Prisor Band ft Wattie Rosenberg.Feigeli Prisor Band featuring Wattie Rosenberg · SINTI MUSIC2019 · Cafe Wilhelmina, Eindhoven, 9 December 2019Stage 4M private performance. Cafe Wilhelmina, Eindhoven, 9 December 2019. Live violin and guitar quartet.✓ Featured
My Melancholy Baby - Hot Club International at Festival Django PortugalHot Club International · Festival Django PortugalLive at Festival Django PortugalStage 4M private performance. Live at Festival Django Portugal. Visible ensemble; exact performance year unestablished.Select performance
My Melancholy Baby played by Joost ZoetemanJoost Zoeteman · Sven JungbeckGuitar performance with accompanimentStage 4M private performance. Guitar performance with accompaniment. The description promotes a separate playalong; this item shows the performed guitar interpretation.Select performance
Sebastien Giniaux - My Melancholy Baby - Samoreau 2015Sébastien Giniaux · Harry Diplock2015 · Samoreau 2015Stage 4M private performance. Samoreau 2015. Informal night jam; dark but guitar visible.Select performance
My Melancholy baby - Festival Django Reinhardt 2024Giacomo Smith, Hugo Guezbar, Justin Geisler, Moegli Geisler and Esteban Feliz · RT Jouaville2024 · Django Reinhardt Festival 2024Stage 4M private performance. Django Reinhardt Festival 2024. Informal live jam; some players and guitar hands are outside the frame.Select performance