A cheerful melody hides an abrupt change of key. Repeated ii–V motion becomes a useful landmark: listen for where the same pattern starts pointing to a different tonic.
If you study one thing
Recognise the new tonic before changing scale patterns.
Chart keyF major; A-major contrast in the inherited chart
Form32 printed bars with contrasting tonal areas
FeelSwing
Meter4/4
MusicVincent Youmans
Guide coverage12 / 12 sections present
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-05T23:51:57Z 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
1937
Tea For Two,OLA 2216-1 ,"Fremeaux 307, Classics 762, EMI 780671-2, Jazz Time 798975-2","Michel Warlop (v), Django Reinhardt (g)"
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02
1937
Tea For Two,OLA 2221-1,"Fremeaux 307, Affinity AFS 1003, Classics 762, RCA 4321 237692, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).", Django Reinhardt (g)
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03
1939
Tea For Two, 21/3/39, 4972-HPP ,"Fremeaux FA 308, JSP 343, Gitanes 159 854-2"," - Paris - QHCF - Stephane Grappelly (g), Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt,Pierre Ferret (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b)"
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04
1939
Tea For Two, 21/3/39, 4972-1/2HPP ,"Fremeaux FA 308, JSP 343, Classics 793, Jazz Archives 157222, Music Memoria 87949 (Wrong Matrix - 4972-HPP), Gitanes 159 854-2"," - Paris - QHCF - Stephane Grappelly (g), Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt,Pierre Ferret (g), Emmanuel Soudieux (b)"
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05
1939
Tea For Two, 17/5/39, 5082-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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A dash means no video has been associated with this exact historical recording. Tune-level listening resources remain available above.
History & Listening
Tea For Two is credited here to Vincent Youmans. The source date is 1924; publication, composition and later lyric adaptations may have separate dates. The inherited archive lists 5 recording entries, with dated entries spanning 1939–1939. 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: Vincent Youmans
Words: Irving Caesar
Published / composed / adapted — see history: 1924
Original key: Not established
Study level: Intermediate; advanced where the inherited roadmap needs reconstruction
Melody & head
Phrase across the ii–V pairs; the repeating accompaniment should not make every two bars sound identical.
Listening task: Phrase across the ii–V pairs; the repeating accompaniment should not make every two bars sound identical. Mark the key, pickup, phrase lengths and ending before comparing another version.
Session evidence
Tea For Two,OLA 2216-1 ,"Fremeaux 307, Classics 762, EMI 780671-2, Jazz Time 798975-2","Michel Warlop (v), Django Reinhardt (g)"
Compare the first and last listed entries for tempo, instrumentation and arrangement. Do not infer identical takes from a shared title. Recognise the new tonic before changing scale patterns.
Session evidence
Tea For Two, 17/5/39, 5082-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)"
The inherited chart is in F major; A-major contrast in the inherited chart. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score.
Chart & Form
Gm7–C7 points to F; Bm7–E7 points to A. The tune’s return must be learned as a phrase, not guessed from a familiar guitar grip.
The source includes compressed within-cell symbols such as F(/A) and Cb0. Compare their intended bass movement with a chosen edition before treating them as chord-quality instructions.
TEA FOR TWO chord progression - Jazz Standard Backing Track - Play Along
Backingtracks JAZZ
The inherited chart is in F major; A-major contrast in the inherited chart. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score. · 5:10
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.
No match is established in the current chart metadata.
Behind the illustration
Owner-selected illustration. Two teacups on a tiny café table become two amused adult dancers through their curved handles and steam; a guitar pick sits like a third small guest. Spare polished still-life joke with period print texture.
Original AI-assisted editorial artwork inspired by the tune; not a documented historical scene.
Original AI-assisted illustration created for Djangopedia
Start with the chord tones of each written harmony. Hear B♭–A over the F-major ii–V–I.
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.
Transpose a two-bar Gm7–C7 phrase up a major third to Bm7–E7. Return to the original key without pausing and keep the melody’s phrase length.
Comping & voicings
Use the same rhythmic pattern in both key areas so the harmonic change remains clear. Avoid chasing every printed diminished passing chord before the main progression is secure.
Voicing note sets
Gm7: G–B♭–F; C7: C–E–B♭; Bm7: B–D–A; E7: E–G♯–D.
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.
Remaining in F major after the A-major section begins.
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
Transpose a two-bar Gm7–C7 phrase up a major third to Bm7–E7. Return to the original key without pausing and keep the melody’s phrase length.
Loop these changes
Hear B♭–A over the F-major ii–V–I.
Hear D–C♯ over the A-major ii–V–I.
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 F major; A-major contrast in the inherited chart and play the melodic phrase from memory.
At the session
Tea For Two — F major; A-major contrast in the inherited chart; 32 printed bars with contrasting tonal areas. 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 with contrasting tonal areas. The source includes compressed within-cell symbols such as F(/A) and Cb0. Compare their intended bass movement with a chosen edition before treating them as chord-quality instructions.
Remaining in F major after the A-major section begins.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Start with melody and bass only. Add the following colour without interrupting the melody: Hear B♭–A over the F-major ii–V–I.
Trio or larger group
Use the same rhythmic pattern in both key areas so the harmonic change remains clear. Avoid chasing every printed diminished passing chord before the main progression is secure. 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
Compare common tones between F and A major with the altered notes that establish the new key. Use one common tone as a pivot in an improvised phrase.
The source includes compressed within-cell symbols such as F(/A) and Cb0. Compare their intended bass movement with a chosen edition before treating them as chord-quality instructions.
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 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 Tea For Two.
Tune context for interpretation only: Tea For Two is credited here to Vincent Youmans. The source date is 1924; publication, composition and later lyric adaptations may have separate dates. The inherited archive lists 5 recording entries, with dated entries spanning 1939–1939. 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.
Scene: Two teacups on a tiny café table become two amused adult dancers through their curved handles and steam; a guitar pick sits like a third small guest. Spare polished still-life joke with period print texture.
Art direction: Minimal mid-century musical still-life print: crisp hand-cut shapes, ingenious symbolic composition, uneven hand-pulled ink edges, very few carefully chosen details. Palette: charcoal, golden yellow, restrained rose 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
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.
Tea for Two | Peter Beets & Django Reinhardt All StarsPeter Beets & Django Reinhardt All Stars · Peter BeetsNewport Jazz Festival · Source-described independent performance; available player checked 2026-10-06. Musical suitability awaits owner review.Peter Beets, Samson Schmitt, Ludovic Beier, Pierre Blanchard, DouDou Cuillerier and Brian Torff.✓ Featured
Adrien Moignard & Mathieu Chatelain-Tea for TwoAdrien Moignard; Mathieu Chatelain · manouchetones2018 · Samoreau 2018 · Source-described independent performance; available player checked 2026-10-06. Musical suitability awaits owner review.Informal festival guitar duo performance.Select video
Touche de Manouche - Tea for twoTouche de Manouche · Lu GolovinaArcus Records session · Source-described independent performance; available player checked 2026-10-06. Musical suitability awaits owner review.Lu Golovina, Ilya Delizonas, Alexander Fomichëv and Denis Shushkov.Select video
Hot Club of Baltimore - Tea For TwoHot Club of Baltimore · Gypsy Jazz FestAn Die Musik; Festival Jazz Manouche, 5 September · Source-described independent performance; available player checked 2026-10-06. Musical suitability awaits owner review.Expanded ensemble with piano, clarinet and trumpet. Source warns of random camera placement; no performance year inferred.Select video
Tea For Two w/ Adrien Tarraga (Gypsy jazz) + Free TABAdrien Tarraga; Guitare Improvisation · Guitare ImprovisationFilmed Gypsy Jazz guitar duo · Source-described independent performance; available player checked 2026-10-06. Musical suitability awaits owner review.Creator describes their own interpretation. Separate tablature transcribes this performance; not a performed study of Django’s solo or notation-only upload.Select video
