An energetic standard whose late chain of dominants rewards a strong sense of the long phrase. The inherited chart needs a recording-based roadmap before it can safely lead an ensemble.
If you study one thing
Repair the roadmap from a recording before using the grid at a session.
FormSong chorus; inherited grid is incomplete at 29 cells
FeelSwing
Meter4/4
MusicTed Snyder
Guide coverage12 / 12 sections present
Owner content reviewed — 2026-10-05T18:26:48Z 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.
6 historical recording entries · source text preserved
Entry
Year
Recording / session / release evidence
Listen
01
1935
The Sheik of Araby, May/June 1935, Fremeaux FA 303, - Paris - Alix Combelle and Orchestre featuring Django Reinhardt (g)
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02
1935
The Sheik of Araby, Sept.1935 , P 77523 ,"Fremeaux FA 303, Classics 714, JSP 341","- Paris - Alix Combelle (ts,cl), Stephane Grappelly (p), Django & JosephReinhardt (g), Louis Vola (b)"
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03
1937
The Sheik Of Araby, 27/4/37 , OLA 1737-1,"Fremeaux FA 305, Affinity AFS 1003, Classics 748, Jazz Archives ZET 752, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).",- Paris - QHCF - As above
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04
1939
The Sheik of Araby, 24/5/39 , OSW 72 ,"Fremeaux FA 309, Classics 813, Jazz Time 251280-2","- Paris - Andre Ekyan (as), Frank ""Big Boy"" Goudie (tpt,ts), Joe Turner (p) Django Reinhardt (g), Lucien Simoens (b), Tommy Benford (d)"
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05
1937
The Sheik Of Araby,OLA 1737-1,"Fremeaux FA 305, Affinity AFS 1003, Classics 748, Jazz Archives ZET 752, Mosaic MD6-190(6 CD Set).",27/4/37 - Paris - QHCF - As above
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06
1940
Le Sheik,OSW 139-1,"Fremeaux FA 310, Classics 831",22/10/40 - Paris - Noel Chiboust et Son Orchestre featuring Django Reinhardt (g)
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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 Sheik of Araby is credited here to Ted Snyder. The source date is 1921; publication, composition and later lyric adaptations may have separate dates. The inherited archive lists 4 recording entries, with dated entries spanning 1935–1939. 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: Ted Snyder
Words: Harry B. Smith, Francis Wheeler
Published / composed / adapted — see history: 1921
Original key: Not established
Study level: Intermediate; advanced where the inherited roadmap needs reconstruction
Melody & head
Learn the pickup and the final melodic answer together; they define where the chorus begins again.
Listening task: Learn the pickup and the final melodic answer together; they define where the chorus begins again. Mark the key, pickup, phrase lengths and ending before comparing another version.
Session evidence
The Sheik of Araby, May/June 1935, Fremeaux FA 303, - Paris - Alix Combelle and Orchestre featuring Django Reinhardt (g)
Compare the first and last listed entries for tempo, instrumentation and arrangement. Do not infer identical takes from a shared title. Repair the roadmap from a recording before using the grid at a session.
Session evidence
The Sheik of Araby, 24/5/39 , OSW 72 ,"Fremeaux FA 309, Classics 813, Jazz Time 251280-2","- Paris - Andre Ekyan (as), Frank ""Big Boy"" Goudie (tpt,ts), Joe Turner (p) Django Reinhardt (g), Lucien Simoens (b), Tommy Benford (d)"
The inherited chart is in B♭ major. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score.
Chart & Form
B♭ and Cm7–F7 establish the opening. The later D7–G7–C7 sequence increases the pull toward the final Cm7–F7–B♭ cadence.
Only 29 cells are printed. Missing or compressed durations have not been invented; compare the selected backing track and an authoritative score.
The Sheik of Araby (190 bpm) - Gypsy jazz Backing track / Jazz manouche
Guitare Improvisation
The inherited chart is in B♭ major. Confirm the backing track’s sounding key, pickup and complete form before playing; an instrument label may describe a transposed score. · 5:39
The Sheik of Araby (solo by D.Reinhardt) - Giammarco Polini
Giammarco Polini
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
Only an acoustic guitar's strings, bridge and two anatomically simple hands, cropped horizontally at generous scale; angular wedges cascade toward a final rounded landing. Energetic dominant-chain phrasing is the subject, without exotic title-costume imagery.
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
2019 · March Manouche, Menai Bridge; 24 March 2019 · Watch title, source description and available positive-duration player checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.
Festival guitar/violin quartet; date and personnel explicitly supplied.
Start with the chord tones of each written harmony. Trace F♯–F–E–E♭ through D7–G7–C7–Cm7.
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.
Count a complete chosen recording’s head and mark each cadence. Practise the final dominant chain separately, then rejoin it to the opening without dropping a beat.
Comping & voicings
Keep a buoyant, even pulse and leave room for the melodic pickup. Agree the missing durations before adding turnaround substitutions.
Voicing note sets
B♭6: B♭–D–G; Cm7: C–E♭–B♭; F7: F–A–E♭.
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.
Treating the 29 printed cells as a complete 32-bar performance chart.
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
Count a complete chosen recording’s head and mark each cadence. Practise the final dominant chain separately, then rejoin it to the opening without dropping a beat.
Loop these changes
Trace F♯–F–E–E♭ through D7–G7–C7–Cm7.
Resolve A over F7 into B♭ at the final tonic.
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 B♭ major and play the melodic phrase from memory.
At the session
The Sheik of Araby — B♭ major; Song chorus; inherited grid is incomplete at 29 cells. 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.
Song chorus; inherited grid is incomplete at 29 cells. Only 29 cells are printed. Missing or compressed durations have not been invented; compare the selected backing track and an authoritative score.
Treating the 29 printed cells as a complete 32-bar performance chart.
Arranging the tune
Solo guitar
Start with melody and bass only. Add the following colour without interrupting the melody: Trace F♯–F–E–E♭ through D7–G7–C7–Cm7.
Trio or larger group
Keep a buoyant, even pulse and leave room for the melodic pickup. Agree the missing durations before adding turnaround substitutions. 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
Use a two-note guide-tone line through the dominant chain, then add one chromatic approach per resolution. Keep the original phrase duration intact.
Only 29 cells are printed. Missing or compressed durations have not been invented; compare the selected backing track and an authoritative score.
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 “The Sheik of Araby”. Landscape 1536 × 1024, opaque background.
Scene: Only an acoustic guitar's strings, bridge and two anatomically simple hands, cropped horizontally at generous scale; angular wedges cascade toward a final rounded landing. Energetic dominant-chain phrasing is the subject, without exotic title-costume imagery.
Musical basis from the guide: An energetic standard whose late chain of dominants rewards a strong sense of the long phrase. The inherited chart needs a recording-based roadmap before it can safely lead an ensemble. The supplied chart is B♭ major; form: Song chorus; inherited grid is incomplete at 29 cells; feel: Swing. These describe musical inspiration, not visible writing. Historical context: The Sheik of Araby is credited here to Ted Snyder. The source date is 1921; 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: woodcut. Dominant palette: black white and bright ochre. Composition: guitar strings leading through cascading wedges. Human presence: partial hands. 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: dense band group; surrounding standing figures; central guitar. Independently invent every pose, perspective, clothing, setting and lighting.
Avoid: No cultural costume, desert caricature, group photo reenactment, text. 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 B diversity compensation: make light and midtone areas substantial; avoid near-black dominant backdrops, violet monochrome, empty chair/stool/bench compositions, repeated sunset terraces and generic cloud panoramas. Preserve the stated tune-specific scene. Human figures remain standing or peripheral except an explicitly named ensemble; no centered seated Django portrait. For graphic images use clearly plain colour shapes, no ruled parallel staffs, circles with stems, note-like marks or typography.
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.
The Sheik of Araby - Tcha Limberger, Christiaan van Hemert, Rocky GressetTcha Limberger, Christiaan van Hemert, Rocky Gresset, Kumiko Imakyurei · Kumiko Imakyurei2019 · March Manouche, Menai Bridge; 24 March 2019 · Watch title, source description and available positive-duration player checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.Festival guitar/violin quartet; date and personnel explicitly supplied.✓ Featured
Rooftop Gypsy Jazz Session: The Sheik of Araby (Brooklyn, NYC)Olli Soikkeli, Michou, Adrien Chevalier, Philip Ambuel · Philip.AmbuelBrooklyn rooftop session · Watch title, source description and available positive-duration player checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.Guitars, violin and bass; personnel stated but performance date not supplied.Select video
Sheik Of Araby | Jonny Hepbir Quartet | UK & International Gypsy Jazz Band HireJonny Hepbir Quartet · Jonny Hepbir Trio2014 · Pangdean Barn; November 2014 · Watch title, source description and available positive-duration player checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.Clarinet quartet reading; session date stated by group.Select video
Sheik Of Araby - Gypsy Guitar at Samois Sur Seine - Django ReinhardtGismo Graf · Peter Rappolt2010 · Samois-sur-Seine informal festival performance · Watch title, source description and available positive-duration player checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.Uploader identifies Gismo Graf and European tour year.Select video
The Sheik of Araby - Gypsy Jazz Trio - Tokyo | JapanRodrigo Santiago, Timothée Aouillé, Kumiko Imakyurei · Rodrigo Santiago2023 · Bar CCO, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo · Watch title, source description and available positive-duration player checked 2026-10-05; independent performance; owner accuracy not independently verified.Two guitars and double bass; date/context stated in description.Select video
