A tune of repeated harmonic blocks and contrasting dominant tension. The inherited chart is unusually expanded, making this a useful case for separating the composition’s form from the way an arrangement is written out.
If you study one thing
Settle the roadmap and final tonic before adding substitutions.
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-05T23:51:55Z 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.
3 historical recording entries · source text preserved
Entry
Year
Recording / session / release evidence
Listen
01
1939
Swing '39, 21/3/39, 4969-1/2HPP,"Fremeaux FA 308, VJSP 343, Classics 793, Conifer HD 206, Jazz Archives 157222, Music Memoria 87949, Gitanes 159 854-2"," - Paris - QHCF - Stephane Grappelly (v), Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt,Pierre Ferret (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b)"
—
02
1947
Swing '39, 29/8/47, "Fremeaux FA 314, Vogue 228E 6006, Vogue 668003-2, Vogue 670205"," - Paris - Souvenirs de Django - Django Reinhardt (elg), Maurice Meunier (cl), Eugene Vees (g),Emmanuel Soudieux (b), Andre Jourdan (d)"
—
03
1949
Swing '39, Jan-Feb 1949, CW 27,"Fremeaux FA 316, Jazz Time 827447-2"," - Rome - Django Reinhardt (g), Stephane Grappelly (v),Gianni Safred (p), Carlo Pecori (b), Aurelio de Carolis (d)"
—
A dash means no video has been associated with this exact historical recording. Tune-level listening resources remain available above.
History & Listening
The composition is credited to Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. The inherited discography begins with Paris on 21 March 1939 and includes 1947 and 1949 versions. The title’s date agrees with that earliest listed session, but the old chart still needs a separate musical check.
Tune details
Music: Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli
Documented in archive: 1939
Original key: Not established
Study level: Intermediate harmony; advanced edition comparison
Melody & head
Sing the head with a verified recording before counting the expanded printed repeats.
Keep repeated figures related while allowing the contrasting passage to change intensity.
Count its form and check its key before joining in. The inherited opening alternates B♭ with C7, then moves toward D7 and E♭7. Several phrases close on a bare G symbol. The source writes 56 cells with repeated blocks; it must not be assumed to be a clean universal chorus or silently relabelled as G minor.
Chart & Form
The inherited opening alternates B♭ with C7, then moves toward D7 and E♭7. Several phrases close on a bare G symbol. The source writes 56 cells with repeated blocks; it must not be assumed to be a clean universal chorus or silently relabelled as G minor.
The source writes 56 cells with repeated blocks and bare G symbols. Neither the chorus length nor the final major/minor quality is established by this grid alone. Cell numbers are source positions.
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.
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.
Same chart key
No match is established in the current chart metadata.
Same form
No match is established in the current chart metadata.
Behind the illustration
Owner-selected illustration. A prewar acoustic guitar-and-violin duo lean forward in an energetic diagonal, their shadows becoming a pair of racing swallows. Crisp quick swing and joyful invention; no printed year or false session reconstruction.
Original AI-assisted editorial artwork inspired by the tune; not a documented historical scene.
Original AI-assisted illustration created for Djangopedia
D is common to B♭ and D7, while F changes to F♯ when moving between those chords.
G→F♯ outlines the thirds of E♭7→D7.
If the chosen edition resolves D7 to G minor, resolve F♯→G and retain B♭; for G major, the tonic third is B natural.
Pitch choices
B♭ chord tones and C7 arpeggios for the source’s opening blocks.
Use D7 and E♭7 chord tones near the close; settle the final tonic quality from the chosen edition first.
Mark the repeated source blocks with letters, then compare them with one backing-track chorus. Practise E♭7→D7 at a slow tempo with two moving voices.
Comping & voicings
Repeat a reliable rhythm through long blocks. Change only the notes that identify the next dominant rather than shifting the whole hand unnecessarily.
Voicing note sets
B♭: B♭–D–F; C7: C–E–B♭.
E♭7: E♭–G–D♭; D7: D–F♯–C.
Keep the accompaniment clear
Start with a quiet, even pulse. Leave an entire phrase unfilled and listen to how the melody breathes.
Treating 56 printed cells or the bare G symbols as a fully verified universal edition.
Adding dense extensions that obscure the melody or duplicate the pianist’s register.
Practice room
Start at 90–110; explore 140–180 bpm
Your assignment
Mark the repeated source blocks with letters, then compare them with one backing-track chorus. Practise E♭7→D7 at a slow tempo with two moving voices.
Loop these changes
B♭ → C7
E♭7 → D7
Final dominant passage → agreed tonic
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 B♭ → C7 up one whole step by naming each chord’s function before finding a guitar shape.
Return to B♭-centred opening; source closes phrases on G and play the original melody without the chart.
At the session
Swing '39 — B♭-centred opening; source closes phrases on G; Extended source layout: 56 printed cells; roadmap requires comparison. Agree the tempo, pickup, solo order and ending before the count.
Start together
Use a direct count into the agreed first section while learning the arrangement.
Finish together
Agree on the exact final tonic and the number of repeated closing phrases.
Use one shared chart and explicitly agree repeated blocks, tonic quality and ending.
Treating 56 printed cells or the bare G symbols as a fully verified universal edition.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Keep bass landmarks and melody clear; defer dense reharmonisation until the roadmap is settled.
Trio or larger group
Use one shared chart and explicitly agree repeated blocks, tonic quality and ending.
Vocal considerations
This guide studies an instrumental arrangement. Any later lyric adaptation requires its own credit and chosen key.
Further study
Compare the earliest listed recording with a later version and document which repeats belong to the head arrangement versus the solo chorus.
The source writes 56 cells with repeated blocks and bare G symbols. Neither the chorus length nor the final major/minor quality is established by this grid alone. Cell numbers are source positions.
Compare the session evidence below before attributing one arrangement to every Django performance. The composition is credited to Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. The inherited discography begins with Paris on 21 March 1939 and includes 1947 and 1949 versions. The title’s date agrees with that earliest listed session, but the old chart still needs a separate musical check.
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 Swing '39.
Tune context for interpretation only: The composition is credited to Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. The inherited discography begins with Paris on 21 March 1939 and includes 1947 and 1949 versions. The title’s date agrees with that earliest listed session, but the old chart still needs a separate musical check.
Scene: A prewar acoustic guitar-and-violin duo lean forward in an energetic diagonal, their shadows becoming a pair of racing swallows. Crisp quick swing and joyful invention; no printed year or false session reconstruction.
Art direction: Dramatic 1930s–1940s theatrical serigraph: angular light and shadow, mature expressive caricature with dignity, strong diagonal movement and clean colour separations. Palette: ink blue, leaf green, vermilion and ivory. 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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