A lyrical study in patience, tone and chromatic colour. Nuages supports a long melodic line even while the harmony makes unexpected turns; leaving space is part of the composition’s character.
If you study one thing
Keep the long phrase intact through the chromatic harmony.
Chart keyG major (this chart); F major also used by Django
Form32-bar song form; follow the four eight-bar phrases
FeelBallad / gentle swing
Meter4/4
MusicDjango Reinhardt
Guide coverage12 / 12 sections present
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-04T23:09:42Z 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.
20 historical recording entries · source text preserved
Entry
Year
Recording / session / release evidence
Listen
01
1940
Nuages, 1/10/40, OSW 127-1,"Fremeaux FA 310, Classics 831, Jazz Time 790560-2 (CDs MM 31005 and EMI 780671-2 claim to have OSW 127-1 but in both cases have OSW 146-1), Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).","1/10/40 - QHCF - Paris - Hubert Rostaing (cl), Django & Joseph (b)Pierre Fouad (d), Josette Dayde (vo)*, Reinhardt(g),Francis Luca,"
—
02
1940
Nuages, 13/12/40, OSW 146-1,"Fremeaux FA 310, Classics 852, Affinity AFS 1003, Jazz Time 252707-2, Music Memoria 31005(Twice!), EMI 780671-2, Jazz Archives 157222, EMI 746 5012, RDC 40032, Suisa JZCD 376, Blue Note CDP 7243837138-2, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set)."," - Paris - QHCF+ - Hubert Rostaing (cl), Alix Combelle (cl,ts) Django & Joseph Reinhardt (g), Tony Rovira (b), Pierre Fouad (d)"
—
03
1942
Nuages,16219, 8/5/42, "Fremeaux FA 311, Classics 877, Verve 513 947-2, HEP 1041", - Brussels - Stan Brenders et Son Grand Orchestre featuring Django Reinhardt
—
04
1946
Nuages, 1/2/46, DR 10028-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 313, Classics 945, Verve 516 931-2", - London - As above
—
05
1947
Nuages, 25/8/47, "Fremeaux FA 314, Classics 1046, Vogue 228E 6006, Kardum GLO 139"," - Paris - Souvenirs de Django - Django Reinhardt (g), Maurice Meunier (cl), Eddie Bernard (p), Eugene Vees (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b), Jacques Martinon (d)"
—
06
1948
Nuages, 29/02/48, Fremeaux FA 316," - Festival de Jazz de Nice - Stephane Grappelly (v), Django & Joseph Reinhardt, Challun Ferret (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b)"
—
07
1948
Nuages, Dec 1948, "Fremeaux FA 316, Vogue 228E 6009, RCA 74321 237692"," - Concert in Brussels - Hubert Rostaing (cl), Django Reinhardt (g), Henri ""Louson"" Baumgartner (g), Louis Vola (b), Arthur Motta (d)"
—
08
1949
Nuages, Jan-Feb 1949, BL 111,"Fremeaux FA 317, BGO CD 198, Jazz Time 827447-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (g), Stephane Grappelly (v),Gianni Safred (p), Carlo Pecori (b), Aurelio de Carolis (d)."
—
09
1949
Nuages, 25/10/49, "Fremeaux FA 318, Vogue 228E 6010, Vogue 600121, Vogue 668003, Vogue 670205"," - Radio Geneve - Django Reinhardt (elg), Andre Ekyan (as,cl), Francois Vermeille (p), Jean Bouchety (b), Gaston Leonard (d)"
—
10
1950
Nuages, 1950, CW9,"Fremeaux FA 318, RCA ND 70929-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (elg), Andre Ekyan (as,cl), Ralph Schecroun (p) Alf Masselier (b), Roger Paraboschi (d)"
—
11
1950
Nuages, 1950, Iris Music CD 3001 845,Django Reinhardt (g) with Strings (Wal Berg or Paul Baron. Broadcast Paris
—
12
1951
Nuages, 10/2/51, "Vogue 228E 6010, Vogue LP (NEC Plus Ultra 502008)"," - Paris - Django Reinhardt (g), Bernard Hullin (tpt), Hubert Fol (as), Raymond Fol (p), Pierre Michelot (b), Pierre Lemarchand (d)"
—
13
1951
Nuages, 1951 , 7 TLA 1587 ,"Jazz Time 789952-2, RCA 74321 237692",- Paris - Film Soundtrack - Django Reinhardt (g solo)
—
14
1953
Nuages, 10/3/53, Verve 835418-2," - Paris - Django Reinhardt (elg), Maurice Vander (p), Pierre Michelot(b), Jean-Louis Viale (d)"
—
15
1946
Nuages (no intro),1/2/46,DR 10028-2 ,Decca 820 591-2, - London - As above
A dash means no video has been associated with this exact historical recording. Tune-level listening resources remain available above.
History & Listening
The tune dates from 1940. Early Django recordings are in F major, while later versions also use G major. The legacy archive contains multiple sessions and arrangements, so a single key or recording count cannot describe every version.
Tune details
Music: Django Reinhardt
Published / composed: 1940
Original key: F major
Study level: Moderate harmony; advanced interpretation
Melody & head
Sing each long phrase with a real breath at the end.
Delay a note only if the accompaniment continues to mark the form; rubato is an ensemble decision.
Listening task: Sing each long phrase with a real breath at the end. Count the head before comparing solo choruses.
Session evidence
Nuages, 1/10/40, OSW 127-1,"Fremeaux FA 310, Classics 831, Jazz Time 790560-2 (CDs MM 31005 and EMI 780671-2 claim to have OSW 127-1 but in both cases have OSW 146-1), Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).","1/10/40 - QHCF - Paris - Hubert Rostaing (cl), Django & Joseph (b)Pierre Fouad (d), Josette Dayde (vo)*, Reinhardt(g),Francis Luca,"
Count its form and check its key before joining in. In the G-major chart, the opening approaches home through chromatic minor harmony. The middle moves through E minor and a dominant preparation; later, C major becomes C minor before the return to G.
Chart & Form
In the G-major chart, the opening approaches home through chromatic minor harmony. The middle moves through E minor and a dominant preparation; later, C major becomes C minor before the return to G.
The original text uses 0 without defining whether diminished or half-diminished is intended. This display preserves the symbol; choose voicings from the recording and melody.
Django Reinhardt - Nuages (Django's solo and Grappelli's Melody - note for note)
Alex Farran Guitar
source-described; accuracy not independently verified
Creator presents a study of Django’s recorded solo. Use it alongside the original recording; exact transcription accuracy has not been independently reviewed.
Owner-selected illustration. Enormous airy ivory cloud shapes drift across a pale blue field, their open gaps subtly outlining Django's guitar and a tiny clarinet. Almost weightless, spacious, a few confident soft-edged ink shapes; the most breathable image in the set. No dense city or sentimental sunset.
Original AI-assisted editorial artwork inspired by the tune; not a documented historical scene.
Original AI-assisted illustration created for Djangopedia
Yoshi's Jazz Club · Source title/description and available watch page checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.
Guitar and violin concert interpretation; no performance year asserted.
Hear E→E♭ when C major becomes C minor, then let E♭→D settle into G.
Place a clear G-major chord tone at the end of the opening approach.
Connect the guide tones of B7→Em instead of treating it as a new unrelated tune.
Pitch choices
Melodic paraphrase and major chord tones on stable arrivals.
Minor arpeggios for the opening colours and harmonic-minor vocabulary on B7→Em.
Play the head once without ornament. On the next chorus, change only the rhythm of three phrases. On the third, retain the phrase endpoints but invent the route between them.
Comping & voicings
Use a soft pulse or widely spaced chord attacks under sustained melody. A slow ballad exposes every release, so keep bass and chord duration deliberate.
Voicing note sets
G6: G–B–E; C6: C–E–A; Cm6: C–E♭–A.
Keep the top voice still while an inner note changes E→E♭.
Keep the accompaniment clear
Start with a quiet, even pulse. Leave an entire phrase unfilled and listen to how the melody breathes.
Filling the melody’s breathing spaces with automatic double-time lines.
Adding dense extensions that obscure the melody or duplicate the pianist’s register.
Practice room
Start at 60–75; explore 90–120 bpm
Your assignment
Play the head once without ornament. On the next chorus, change only the rhythm of three phrases. On the third, retain the phrase endpoints but invent the route between them.
Loop these changes
C → Cm → G
B7 → Em
Opening four bars in both G and F
Metronome
Start below the suggested tempo. First hear four quarter-note clicks, then halve the click rate and place clicks on beats 2 and 4. Keep the same phrase length.
Transposition
Move C → Cm → G up one whole step by naming each chord’s function before finding a guitar shape.
Return to G major (this chart); F major also used by Django and play the original melody without the chart.
At the session
Nuages — G major (this chart); F major also used by Django; 32-bar song form; follow the four eight-bar phrases. Agree the tempo, pickup, solo order and ending before the count.
Start together
Use a quiet final-phrase turnaround or begin the head unaccompanied after agreeing where the pulse enters.
Finish together
Hold the final tonic; if slowing down, give a visual cue before the last phrase.
With clarinet or violin, leave the upper register available. Agree on F or G before the count; transposition is not just a capo decision for the whole band.
Filling the melody’s breathing spaces with automatic double-time lines.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Keep the melody on top of three-note shells, letting bass notes ring only when they do not blur chromatic movement.
Trio or larger group
With clarinet or violin, leave the upper register available. Agree on F or G before the count; transposition is not just a capo decision for the whole band.
Vocal considerations
This guide studies an instrumental arrangement. Any later lyric adaptation requires its own credit and chosen key.
Further study
Compare a 1940 clarinet-led version with a late electric-guitar interpretation. Note the key, pickup, phrase length and accompaniment density before comparing solos.
The original text uses 0 without defining whether diminished or half-diminished is intended. This display preserves the symbol; choose voicings from the recording and melody.
Compare the session evidence below before attributing one arrangement to every Django performance. The tune dates from 1940. Early Django recordings are in F major, while later versions also use G major. The legacy archive contains multiple sessions and arrangements, so a single key or recording count cannot describe every version.
This player guide combines inherited recording evidence and editorial study notes. Musical study notes are editorial suggestions; compare them with the recording.
Original AI-assisted illustration created for Djangopedia
Original AI-assisted editorial artwork inspired by the tune; not a documented historical scene.
Generated with the native image-generation tool on 2026-10-26; original editorial artwork, not a historical photograph.
Prompt: Use case: stylized-concept. Create one finished original landscape 1536x1024 (3:2) raster illustration for Djangopedia, tune Nuages.
Tune context for interpretation only: The tune dates from 1940. Early Django recordings are in F major, while later versions also use G major. The legacy archive contains multiple sessions and arrangements, so a single key or recording count cannot describe every version.
Scene: Enormous airy ivory cloud shapes drift across a pale blue field, their open gaps subtly outlining Django's guitar and a tiny clarinet. Almost weightless, spacious, a few confident soft-edged ink shapes; the most breathable image in the set. No dense city or sentimental sunset.
Art direction: Dramatic 1930s–1940s theatrical serigraph: angular light and shadow, mature expressive caricature with dignity, strong diagonal movement and clean colour separations. Palette: deep indigo, dusty turquoise, burnt orange and warm paper. Subtle dry ink and paper texture, controlled print misregistration. Make it an artwork with a memorable singular idea, readable as a thumbnail and rewarding at full size; vary viewpoint and composition.
Constraints: entirely original composition, not a copy of an artist's print. No title, words, notation, logos or watermark. No photorealism, glossy 3D, gradients, airbrushed romantic haze, generic sunset or decorative hearts. If Django appears, swept-back dark hair, pencil moustache and a distinct mature individual face; period clothes, no ethnic stereotypes. Respect plausible instruments and hands, keep key subjects within frame. Use strong flat ink shapes rather than photorealistic rendering.
Research & rights notes
Exact original composition date and registered credits where not independently sourced
Legacy date/matrix extraction and personnel spelling
Chart variants and specialist review of editorial music analysis
Photograph rights are documented separately in its credit. They do not establish the rights status of the composition or recording.
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