A major blues with room for rhythmic wit, chordal punctuation and bright guitar tone. Its apparent simplicity makes phrase placement, space and a clear return to bar one especially exposed.
If you study one thing
Make the blues form clear even when half the phrase is silence.
Studio Harcourt / Wikimedia Commons France · 1944 · Photo credits
Chart keyC major
Form12-bar blues; inherited text has an extra cell
FeelSwing
Meter4/4
MusicDjango Reinhardt
Guide coverage12 / 12 sections present
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-04T17:06:17Z 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
✓ Photograph
✓ 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.
2 historical recording entries · source text preserved
Entry
Year
Recording / session / release evidence
Listen
01
1943
Blues Clair,OSW 328-1 ,"Fremeaux FA 312, Classics 905, Jazz Time 799991-2, GLO 139, Blue Note CDP 7243837138-2, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set)."
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02
1947
Blues Clair, 25/8/47, "Fremeaux FA 314, Vogue 228E 6006, Vogue 668003-2, Legacy 411(""Gypsy With A Song"")"," - Paris - Souvenirs de Django - Django Reinhardt (g), Maurice Meunier (cl), Eddie Bernard (p), Eugene Vees (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b), Jacques Martinon (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
The inherited introduction says the first recording was in August 1947, but its own discography also lists OSW 328-1, an earlier matrix associated with 1943. The conflicting evidence is retained; the 1947 claim is not repeated as established fact.
Tune details
Music: Django Reinhardt
Documented in archive: 1943
Original key: Not established
Study level: Accessible form; intermediate articulation
Melody & head
Imitate the length and placement of a short blues answer, not just its pitches.
Count the rests and keep the twelve-bar cycle moving underneath them.
Compare the tempo, key, introduction and final cadence with the first entry. Make the blues form clear even when half the phrase is silence.
Session evidence
Blues Clair, 25/8/47, "Fremeaux FA 314, Vogue 228E 6006, Vogue 668003-2, Legacy 411(""Gypsy With A Song"")"," - Paris - Souvenirs de Django - Django Reinhardt (g), Maurice Meunier (cl), Eddie Bernard (p), Eugene Vees (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b), Jacques Martinon (d)"
Count its form and check its key before joining in. Use a 12-bar C blues as the learning framework: tonic, F7 in the middle, and a ii–V return. The imported text contains 13 cells, so it is preserved as an edition problem rather than silently presented as a reliable bar count.
Chart & Form
Use a 12-bar C blues as the learning framework: tonic, F7 in the middle, and a ii–V return. The imported text contains 13 cells, so it is preserved as an edition problem rather than silently presented as a reliable bar count.
The inherited text contains 13 cells. The 12-bar grid below is an editorial practice reduction, not a transcription of a Django take.
12-bar practice reduction · final dominant restarts the chorus
Highest displayed view count among matching backing-track videos returned by relevance and view-count YouTube searches. Not a complete platform-wide ranking.
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.
DjangoKOR · 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.
Checked 2026-10-02
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.
Chosen as a view of Django from 1944, to place the study beside his changing performing life. The closest dated recording entry here is 1947. This is an editorial pairing; the photograph is not claimed to depict a performance or session of this tune.
A formal Studio Harcourt portrait. The credited studio and year come from the linked file record. The portrait is not a recording-session photograph.
Connect E→E♭ and B♭→A across C7→F7: both guide tones move by a semitone.
F7’s third A distinguishes the subdominant from a generic C-blues scale.
B→C on G7→C marks the top of the next chorus.
Pitch choices
Mix C-major pentatonic and C-blues inflections by ear.
Use F7 and G7 arpeggios at structural arrivals.
Use a two-bar question and leave two bars for its answer. Repeat over three choruses, changing only the final phrase to reveal the ii–V return.
Comping & voicings
Start with simple C6/C7, F7 and G7 shells. A light, crisp attack is more useful than a complicated substitution on every bar.
Voicing note sets
C7: C–E–B♭; F7: F–A–E♭; G7: G–B–F.
Dm7: D–F–C into G7 supplies the closing ii–V.
Keep the accompaniment clear
Start with a quiet, even pulse. Leave an entire phrase unfilled and listen to how the melody breathes.
Trusting a malformed 13-cell chart instead of hearing twelve-bar phrases.
Adding dense extensions that obscure the melody or duplicate the pianist’s register.
Practice room
Start at 100–120; build toward 160–200 bpm
Your assignment
Use a two-bar question and leave two bars for its answer. Repeat over three choruses, changing only the final phrase to reveal the ii–V return.
Loop these changes
C7 → F7
C/E → E♭ diminished → Dm7
Dm7 → G7 → C
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 C7 → F7 up one whole step by naming each chord’s function before finding a guitar shape.
Return to C major and play the original melody without the chart.
At the session
Blues Clair — C major; 12-bar blues; inherited text has an extra cell. Agree the tempo, pickup, solo order and ending before the count.
Start together
A two- or four-bar blues turnaround is enough; agree where the head enters.
Finish together
Use a short C-blues tag only when cued; otherwise stop on the final C6.
When trading fours, count three four-bar turns per chorus and cue the head visibly.
Trusting a malformed 13-cell chart instead of hearing twelve-bar phrases.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Alternate melody fragments and compact chord responses; keep the bass pulse during rests.
Trio or larger group
When trading fours, count three four-bar turns per chorus and cue the head visibly.
Vocal considerations
This guide studies an instrumental arrangement. Any later lyric adaptation requires its own credit and chosen key.
Further study
Compare tonic sixths with dominant sevenths and major versus minor thirds as expressive blues choices. These colours need phrasing, not a new scale label every beat.
The inherited text contains 13 cells. The 12-bar grid below is an editorial practice reduction, not a transcription of a Django take.
Compare the session evidence below before attributing one arrangement to every Django performance. The inherited introduction says the first recording was in August 1947, but its own discography also lists OSW 328-1, an earlier matrix associated with 1943. The conflicting evidence is retained; the 1947 claim is not repeated as established fact.
This player guide combines inherited recording evidence and editorial study notes. Musical study notes are editorial suggestions; compare them with the recording.
Blues Clair ⎮Bireli Lagrene & Joscho StephanBiréli Lagrène and Joscho Stephan · Joscho StephanGypsy jazz studio collaborationPerformance with separate Joscho and Biréli solos and exchanges; lesson and transcription links are separate resources.✓ Featured
Blues clairBiréli Lagrène Gipsy Project · Biréli Lagrène2001 · Gipsy Project — artist releaseEnsemble recording issued on Gipsy Project; year denotes the album release.Select performance
Biréli Lagrène - Blues Clair (Live Jazz à Vienne 2002)Biréli Lagrène · Filip Čerňanský2002 · Jazz à Vienne — liveLive festival performance identified as Jazz à Vienne 2002 by the uploader.Select performance