GYPSY JAZZ FOR

BEGINNERS, FROM BASICS

TO A D VA N C E D
 Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: The Gypsy Jazz
Introduction
The gypsy talent
Sons of the wind
Chapter 2: The instrumentation
Pick
Strings
The Gypsy Jazz guitar
Gypsy Jazz partitures
Guitar amplification
Chapter 3: Improvisation tecniques
Posture
The rest stroke technique
Musical scales
Chromatic scale
Major scale
Minor scales
Diminished scale
Half-diminished scale
Blues scale
The Arpeggios
Major Arpeggios
Minor Arpeggios
6th Arpeggios
7th Arpeggios
9th Arpeggios
 Half-diminished Arpeggios
Diminished Arpeggios
Scale harmonization
Intervals
Musical modes
Chapter 4: The accompaniment
The rhythm types
La Pompe
Walzer
Rumba Walzer
Rumba
Bolero
Bossa
Chords
Major chords
Minor chords
7th chords
Major 7th chords (Δ)
Minor 7th chords (-7)
6h chords (6)
Minor 6th chords (-6)
6th/9th chords (6/9)
Diminished chords (°)
Half-diminished chords (Ø)
9th chords (9)
Major 9th chords (M9)
Minor 9th chords ( -9)
11th chords ( 11)
Minor 11th chords ( -11)
13th chords ( 13)
 Minor 13th chords (-13)
Chapter 5: How to improvise the most popular standards jazz
Improvisation excercise
All of Me
Daphne
Minor Swing
Bossa Dorado
Django’s Tiger
Swing 42
Joseph Joseph
For Sephora
Les Yeux Noirs (Ochi Chyornye)
Montagne Saint Genevieve
Minor Blues
Autumn Leaves
Sweet Georgia Brown
Djangology
Nuages
References
“What is Jazz? Dude, if you have to ask, you'll never know.”
Louis Armstrong
 PREFACE

Gypsy Jazz is a world apart, It is less cultured and snobbish than

traditional jazz, with a spirit of sharing that is typical of the Gypsy,and
jazz cultures of those early days, while at the same time, immersed
in the competition and virtuosity of the gypsy people. A gypsy who
plays like a devil in a jam session can feel satisfied at the end,
enjoying his own reputation, he has no need to comment on the
other who maybe hasn't performed so well.
Gypsy Jazz is a world unto itself. The joy of swing and accelerated
rhythm, contrasted with an ancestral passion steeped in melancholy.
With an atmosphere of East European flavor, which has always
accompanied the nomadic people. And I'm not just talking about the
minor chord pieces. I’m talking about sharing and competition, joy
and melancholy heritage... Finally, the mix of sensations and
capabilities are such that it can literally conquer anyone who gets
close enough to savor it.
On those evenings in downtown Milan, we would go out with our
guitars thrown over our shoulders, simply because there was
someone playing in a club for a hundred euros, we savoured
theanticipation for an impromptu jam session.
Fabrizio is the person closest to Gypsy Jazz I have ever met, he has
passion without limits, he could literally play for days. He has spent
many hours both studying and listening, but above all, he has the
pleasure of playing and sharing his joy with others.
The imprinting of this book is Fabrizio’s. Here you will find many
explanations and descriptions, but mainly you will find his gypsy
soul, his passion for this music, able to give unique pleasure to all
those who play. As long as he's good, of course.
Luca D’Errico
CHAPTER 1: THE GYPSY JAZZ
 INTRODUCTION
In France they are called Manouche, in Belgium and Germany they
are called Sinti, and are known as Roma in the countries of Eastern
Europe. It is the gypsy people who wander as homeless and
stateless by definition. They camp wherever possible, moving in
fleets of poorly maintained caravans, horses, food, and trinkets, and
above all, what is never missing is the presence of musical
instruments.
For the Manouche, it is common to spend time in groups around a
fire for dinner, drinking and dancing. With music played almost
always by the same community members. For a gypsy family, having
a musician who can play at least one instrument is a very precious
thing, he is truly considered an important component for the
community,as in addition to fulfilling a role respecting the gypsy
tradition, he is also a source of monetary income.
Although in the collective imagination gypsies are considered lazy,
actually in contrast they are hardworking. Trying to survive with
business such as hat-stoner, street artist, metal workers, and
certainly as musicians. Today we can meet Roma artists on a street
corner, inside the subways or trams, often in groups of two or more
members, with an assortment of instruments, usually consisting of
guitar, violin, accordion, double bass, and in some cases even wind
instruments.
With a melancholy appearance, they reproduce, with more or less
skill, classical music or covers of modern pieces, belonging to the
rock, pop, or even dance genres. But sometimes you have the
opportunity to meet gypsy musicians who are passionate about jazz,
it’s in these cases you have the opportunity to listen to the evolution
of their music in a more complex genre called Gypsy Jazz.
 THE GYPSY TALENT
January 1910, on the border between Belgium and France, the
caravan of Jean Eugene Weiss and Laurence Reinhardt was
traveling towards a new destination. Inside this wandering abode,
Laurence had recently given birth to her son, registered in her
surname instead of the fathers, to avoid French military conscription.
Among gypsy people, it is common to assign nicknames, so that the
son of Laurence from Jean, became Django. In the manouche
language Django means “awake” as if the parents already knew they
had given birth to a special person. And indeed he was special!
Django in the early ages of puberty was already known as a
phenomenal musician, choosing the Banjo as his instrument.

FIGURE 1

Almost all manouche, during that time were illiterate, unable to study
music from books or by reading sheet music. The only way to learn
how to play an instrument was by mimicking the elders. The
teaching happened by showing chords, hand position, where to
place the fingertips for notes, and how to perform a piece by
explaining it exclusively with gestures and voice. It is clear that
learning in this way requires a lot of talent and dedication, it was
only shown and learned naturally, just as a child learns its first
words, or how to stand and walk.
Like other manouche, Django had learned to play from his father. He
played every day, at all hours, stopping only to eat and sleep. He
played so much that the calluses on his fingers had to continuously
reform due to them breaking away. After a few years Django had
become the most popular musician among the gypsy communities:
everyone knew him and wanted to play with him.
As a teenager, he was one of the most requested musicians among
jazz bands, who would compete to hire him. The music played by his
people was manouche music, called "music gitane", or gypsy music.
To give you an idea of the style you could listen to the flamenco
genre.
During this time, roughly six thousand kilometers away , in the
United States capital, Washington, the pianist Edward Kenndey
Ellington known as Duke Ellington, played music with African-
American cultural roots, such as blues and ragtime, yet more
advanced. We are of course talking about Jazz. Unfortunately in
those days there was no you-tube, and it wasn’t easy to listen to
overseas music. Some wealthy families however, were able to import
this music and it was from these vinyls he learned to play skillfully.
Django began to listen to this new style of music as it was
captivating, catchy, mysterious, and often melodically complex.
Django wanted to play this style, he wanted to play Ellington-style
pieces but with the banjo! This mixture of black and gypsy music,
that came out of Django's instrument in the 1920s and 1930s, was
leading to the creation of the new style called Gypsy Jazz.
This new style quickly became a hit and spread like wild fire. Django
was able to earn a lot of money thanks to his music, and true to his
gypsy roots, spent everything he earned on women, cigarettes and
alcohol. One night while Django was sleeping in his trailer, some
dried flowers caught fire, most likely due to some carelessness in his
inebriated state.
The fire spread quickly and the damage was serious. Members of
the gypsy community had rescued Django and quickly took him to
the hospital. He was burned in several places over his bodyand was
in bad shape, the doctors told him they needed to amputate more
than one limb, but he refused, in spite of the risk of dying from
gangrene.,
After a short time, he realized that both ring and the little finger of
his left hand were shrunken due to the accident, and he could no
longer move them normally, the fire had caused permanent damage.
He was no longer able to play the banjo. He stayed in the hospital for
a long time,since he could no longer play the banjo, he asked his
friends to bring him an instrument with a larger fret-board and thus
he began to learn guitar.
For over a year Django was unable to have a regular life because of
the accident, all he could do was practice guitar, restricted to three
fingers instead of five. The way he played now was distinctive: the
attack, timbre, and style were different than when he used five
fingers. When Django improvised solos, he could only use his index
and middle fingers, while for accompaniment, his thumb and the two
shrunken fingers became indispensable for forming multi-voiced
chords. He was forced to invent a new fingering style. It was that
technique that made him one of the world's most accomplished
guitarists.
When he fully recovered, Django moved to Paris where he met top
musicians like Stéphane Grappelli and founded the band "Le hot
club de France". With that quintet group consisting of a double bass
player, three guitarists, and a violinist, Django would play for
approximately 14 years, from 1934 on-wards, performing hundreds
of jazz tunes, some of which were composed by the band itself.
Around the '50s Django had a stroke and decided he no longer
wanted to play, he decided to dedicate himself to his favorite hobby
painting, which brought him to know one of the greatest exponents
Pablo Picasso. He died on May 16th 1953, in Samois-sur-Seine
where, still today between June and July of each year, the Django
Reinhardt Festival happens. An international event where guitarists,
gypsy and non-gypsies alike, attend from all over the world to
perform in the week long festival.

FIGURE 2
 SONS OF THE WIND
The more Django's popularity increased around the world, the more
his genre, Gypsy Jazz, spread. The style inspires music lovers from
all over, to play this genre, but especially other manouche players
who try to replicate the same success.
Among the most famous gypsy guitarists of this genre is the eclectic
Biréli Lagrène, a Frenchman born in '66, who at the age of roughly
15,was already performing full concerts in front of lovers of Gypsy
Jazz music. Biréli is a jazz guitar prodigy and has recorded more
than twenty albums, including many of the Gypsy Jazz style. Among
his most famous albums, we find "Gypsy Project", performed in a trio
with Hono Winterstein on rhythm guitar, and Franck Wolf on
saxophone, where many pieces of Django's repertoire are re-
proposed, but also "Mouvements", characterized by blues pieces
played strictly with electric instruments.
I have always found it difficult to listen to Biréli because he is
extremely technical, but he is certainly one of the most powerful
guitarists in the world. Besides the blazoned Biréli, we can find other
sons of the Django wind, such as the Dutchman Stochelo
Rosenberg. He was born in 1968 in a gypsy camp of Helmond
Holland, he started to play Gypsy Jazz whenhe was a child, inspired
by his idol Django.
 FIGURE 3

Stochelo forms the Rosenberg trio with his relatives: Nous'che

Rosenberg on rhythm guitar and Nonni Rosenberg on double bass.
The band is still active today, with tours around the world and a 15
albums repertoire.
Moving to France we find Angelo Debarre born in Paris in '62,
Debarre is another jazz prodigy. Like Rosenberg, Debarre is among
the musicians who are performers of Gypsy Jazz music, he also
has dozens of published albums. Angelo Debarre has played in
collaboration with dozens of other musicians, among whom I
mention the best known, such as accordionist Ludovic Beier, or
violinist Florin Niculescu. Debarre's son is also a formidable gypsy
guitarist, who in many concerts, performs as an accompanist
guitarist for his father.
Among the french we find another Parisian born in '54,and who
started playing guitar at the early age of six, learning techniques
directly from his mother. We are talking about Tchavolo Schmitt, also
known as the bull, who is certainly a musician with a strong
personality in his musical style. Schmitt has just under a dozen
albums to his name, and often played with another exceptional
guitarist, Samy Daussat.
Among the main manouche musicians, we find another Frenchman,
Dorado Schmitt who, besides playing guitar, is also skilled in
violin.Born in '57, he started playing guitar at the early age of seven,
with his father as his teacher. With slightly less than a dozen albums
released, among Dorado's most famous songs there is one of his
bossa called Bossa Dorado, rearranged then, by many other gypsies
and non-gypsie musicians alike.
Dorado's son, Amati, carries on the family business with skill and
passion. Another phenomenon that has chosen to make gypsy jazz
the reference style in his concerts around Europe. I would also like to
point out the young Joscho Stephan, who with his technique, (which
I would almost define as that of a classical musician for its precision
in execution), is among the most virtuosic that can be found in the
spectrum of musicians of this genre.
In addition to the popular musicians mentioned above, others such
as Fapy Laferttin, Gonzalo Bergara, Stephan Wrembel, Frank
Vignola, Jimmy Rosenberg, Babik and Joseph Reinhardt, Manetti
Romane and his son Richard, Paulus Shäfer, Andreas Obërg, Adrien
Moignard, Wawau Adler, Yaakov Hoter, Robin Nolan, Sébastien
Giniaux, Salvatore Russo, Thomas Dutronc, Dario Napoli are also
noteworthy.
CHAPTER 2: THE INSTRUMENTATION
 PICK

It may seem strange, but the pick really makes a difference in

reproducing the guitar sound, and in applying the technique of rest
stroke, which we will explain in detail. Obviously, you should try different
types of picks to understand which one you prefer, but here we will
provide a description of the characteristics and differences between the
different types. A normal plectrum usually has a thickness ranging from
0.3mm to 0.8mm, which on string contact produces a sound with a
much lower volume than a thicker plectrum, like the one used in Gypsy
Jazz.
 FIGURE 4

In the first one, (top left of Figure 4), we find a classic pick used for
electric or acoustic guitars. A Gypsy Jazz must is the volume,
especially if we are soloists, and the greater the thickness of pick, the
greater the volume. The most suitable picks for this style are those in
the middle called fatone, twin, big city, tf-140, and the button. Usually
these picks are manufactured by the Wegen brand.
Most picks are made of celluloid or nylon and have a balanced sound
that is not very suitable for the gypsy genre, as they tend to wear out
quickly. Other possible materials are wood, metal, ceramic, and even
these are not often used for manouche. Gypsy picks are rigid, usually
handcrafted, with a lot of care and attention to details, such as beveled
corners with grip, and thickness usually greater than 3mm,the most
common materials are bone and shell.
 STRINGS

FIGURE 5

For jazz music, strings are another important aspect that can
drastically change the sound of the guitar. Just like the plectrum, the
strings have very different characteristics which I will describe in this
paragraph. When you buy a set of strings for manouche guitar, you
must remember to check the type of termination on the string, in fact
manouche guitars are usually designed for strings that terminate with a
loop, or with a dot, but in some cases the guitar can mount both types.
The second factor to be analyzed is string thickness, measured in
millimeters(mm),the first string (the high E ) is considered the reference
string. Usually starting from 0.08mm, up to a maximum of 0.12mm. The
greater the thickness, the greater the timbre and the volume of the
sound generated. Those who play gypsy usually prefer a greater
thickness, but this is subjective,as in addition to the strings the musician
can also decide to adjust the guitar action by moving or raising the
whisker (the guitar bridge). All this has a strong impact not only on the
sound but also on the comfort of playing.
The following table provides an example for all measures of Gypsy
Jazz strings:
string name mm
 string name
E mm
0.11
B 0.15
E
G 0.11
0.24
B
D 0.15
0.29
G
A 0.24
0.35
D
E6 0.29
0.45
A 0.35
E6 0.45

There are several different companies producing specific strings for

manouche guitar. Optima, D'Addario, Argentine, Dogal, Galli, and
Philippe Bosset are just some of these. On average each strings set
costs around 10 euros. The Gypsy Jazz guitar string is built by silver or
bronze-colored alloy, that wraps around a metal wire. The outside of the
string can be either serrated or smooth, with the latter you have more
ease in playing the instrument.
The strings have an aging process due to oxidation of the metal
through continuous contact with sweat from the fingers. As strings age
their sound changes, becoming less brilliant and harmonic. Depending
on the brand and the price, strings playing life may be extended by
cleaningfrom top to bottom with a microfiber cloth after playing.

FIGURE 6

Another tip is to use suitable products to help clean the strings. For
example as shown in figure 7, a Dunlop 65 string cleaner, can be an
excellent remedy to be applied before playing the instrument for a more
brilliant sound effect. After applying the product the strings must be
dried with the cloth. While to clean the fretboard, Dunlop 65 lemon oil is
recommended to be applied when there are no strings on the fret-
board, passing it on every fret then drying with a microfiber cloth like
that one in figure 6.
FIGURE 7
 THE GYPSY JAZZ GUITAR

The Manouche or Gypsy Jazz guitar is an acoustic guitar with metal

strings, usually made by luthiers in their Workshops. The blueprint of
the manouche guitar is called Selmer-Maccaferri. Mario Maccaferri born
in Cento Italy, on May 20th 1900, was a formidable luthier apprenticed
to Luigi Mozzani.
Maccaferri established himself around 1923, as a guitarist and creator
of the Jazz D-hole acoustic guitar model. At that time, since there was
no amplification for guitar, it was necessary to find ways to increase the
volume of the instrument. Maccaferri found a viable solution with his D-
hole, and a larger than usual format for the case. Later Maccaferri
started a collaboration with the acoustic guitar manufacturer Selmer.
 FIGURE 8

The model he developed during this collaboration, was a guitar with an

oval sound-hole officially called "Modèle Jazz" but more commonly
known as "Petite Buche". In figure 8 on the left, the petite buche, and
on the right a grand buche (D-Hole). Usually, it is thought that the D-
hole is more suitable for accompaniment as it has a lower tone, while
the oval hole is more suitable for soloists, this is not a rule though, and
they are interchangeable.It depends on many other factors, such as the
type of wood, size of the case, and the workmanship.
What makes the price of these guitars vary is the manual construction
process, rather than mass produced items that coming out of China.
The luthiers of manouche guitars are in their hundreds, but among the
most famous we mention:French ones such as: Dupont, Favino,
Gallato, Florian Jegu, Olivier Bataille; American ones like Dell'Arte,
Lehmann, KillyNonis,Craig Bumgarner; and Italian ones like Freschi,
Appino, Olivieri, Carbone, Carnovale, Bariselli, and La Manna, there
are many others.
In addition to the brand, prices change depending on the materials
used,a lot depends on the wood.An expensive gypsy guitar that has an
acceptable sound is usually built with a solid spruce top, maple or
mahogany sides, and typically an ebony fingerboard. In addition the
price can increase if you want a special finish or customizations. If on
the other hand you are looking for a low-cost instrument to start in this
genre, look for discreet industrially made guitars.
 GYPSY JAZZ PARTITURES

Gypsy Jazz scores are usually formed by grids containing chords. It's rare
however to find players using these, as a part from the theme or the melody
that characterizes the song it’s almost all improvisation. What you need to
hold in mind is the harmonic format of the song.
As an examplein the table below is the song "All of me". This song has a
harmonic ABAC format, meaning it is formed by a sequence of chords that
we call "A", a second one that we call "B", again the same sequence "A" and
finally a different sequence that we call "C". Other forms are AB, ABA, ABC,
AABB and if necessary with other letters.
Before showing how a Gypsy Jazz grid is made, I specify that both notes
and chords in jazz manouche are always indicated in English, so I provide a
brief conversion table.

Italian Note or chord English note or chord

naming naming
DO C
RE D
MI E
FA F
SOL G
LA A
SI B

Let's see how a Gypsy Jazz grid is made taking as an example the song "All
of Me".

All of Me
C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %
A
E7 % Am7 % D9 % Dm9 G7
B
 C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %
A
E7 % Am7 % D9 % C6 Dm9 Dm7,G7 G7
B
C F69 F#° C6 Am6 Dm7 G7

C6 % E7 % A7 % Am7
Dm %
A
F69 F#° C6 Am6 Dm7 G7 C6 Dm7,G7
AC
cell is called a bar and corresponds to a measure of time in the song, that
can be in 4/4, 3/4, 5/4 or other. There can be more than one chord in a
Am7
measure, and the possible representations are either to divide the measure
in two with a diagonal bar, or to use a comma. Some pieces may have as
many as 4 fractions per measure, which means that for each measure a
different chord must be played. When the cell contains the % symbol it
means that the last chord of the previous bar is played.
 GUITAR AMPLIFICATION

We’ve now reached the very mangy subject of the Gypsy Jazz guitar.
Unfortunately, this instrument cannot be easily amplified. Luthiers do not
plan to make a guitar equipped with an internal pickup, but will do so at the
request of the buyer for an additional cost. The ways to amplify the gypsy
guitar can be piezo, transducer, magnetic, condenser microphone, and
normal dynamic microphone. Due to the criticality of this topic, and since I
have personally tried them all, I provide a comparison with the pros and
cons for each type.
Amplification Photo Description Pros Cons
type
Piezo Active pick- Cheap, anti- The sound is
up powered feedback not particularly
by 9v that faithful. It
installs under needs to be
the bridge. combined with
Picks up other
guitar amplification
vibrations systems.
and Permanent
transforms installation
them into
sound
impulses
Magnetic The magnetic Non- Expensive.
is a pick-up permanent Sometimes the
that can be installation. sound may be
active or By adjusting similar to that
passive. It the position of an electric
can have a you can guitar. May be
potentiometer change the incompatible
or not. It is sound. with the sound-
installed Powerful hole on which
under the sound, good it is mounted.
strings by attack and
hooking it to the possibility
the sound- to adjust the
hole. volume in
case of
potentiometer
equipment.
Good
resistance to
feedback
Transducer The Not Week sound.
transducer particularly Not very
works the expensive. resistant to
same way as Warm and feedback.
piezo, but quite faithful Uncomfortable
does not sound. Not to assemble
have to be permanent and
permanently installation. disassemble
installed. It with plasticine
has a very to apply on the
faithful but butto.
not very
powerful
sound.
 Condeser A condenser Excellent Little
microphone sound resistance to
is one of the reproduction. feedback.
best ways to Non- Some brands
reproduce permanent too expensive.
sound installation.
faithfully. It is
installed on
the sound-
hole under
the strings.
Dynamic The dynamic Faithful Strong
microphone microphone reproduction. feedback.
makes it No Not suitable for
possible to permanent studio
obtain an installation. recording
almost because it
identical picks up other
reproduction sounds .
of the sound Uncomfortable,
of the since it must
instrument. In be positioned
concerts, in front of the
professionals guitar and it is
use them not possible to
together with move around
other types of much.
amplification.

In addition to having chosen the pickup, what further affects the achievement
of faithful sound are the equalizers and amplifiers. Among the brands of
amplifiers and equalizers, I recommend the following brands: Schertler,
AER, Fisher, Stimer, Nuance tube, Genzler, Henriksen.
 CHAPTER 3: IMPROVISATION TECNIQUES

This section will describe the main techniques that allow the student
to improvise on a Jazz piece. This chapter will describe a number of
techniques such as rest stroke, scales, arpeggios, phrasing,
intervals, modes and also the proper position to maintain while
playing the instrument.
 POSTURE

Before starting to learn all the main techniques of Gypsy Jazz

accompaniment, it is useful to spend a few words on the position
that, if correctly adopted, allows for better performance.

FIGURE 9

As you can see in Figure 9, the biceps of the right arm should rest on
the upper band, towards the end of the guitar, making the elbow
protrude outward. The musician, with the right hand, can play more
towards the bridge or towards the center of the sound-hole,
depending on whether he wants to play a cooler or warmer sound.
The guitar must be in a position as horizontal as possible, and the
musician must make sure that the instrument is firmly held between
the arms, so that any movement, especially of the left hand is always
made in the same space.
 THE REST STROKE TECHNIQUE

To play this kind of music, to give it the right timbre that characterizes
it, it is essential to learn the technique used called "RestStroke". As if
we were defining the laws of Asimov's robotics, we define with
axioms the "RestStroke" technique:
1. "Whenever a downward pick is performed, the pick must
remain resting on the string below, except for the high E
which has no string below it."

2. “Each time you move to another string, a downward verse

is always performed.”

3. “The wrist should be curved forming a convex angle

between the hand and arm”

In Figure 10, you can see how the curvature angle of the wrist is
accentuated, giving maximum flexibility in the execution of the pick
movement. If it seems a strange or complicated way of playing,
you're right, it is! For those who are not already used to this
technique but come from other styles, where the wrist is usually
curved towards the inside of the instrument, it is very complicated to
adapt.

Changing technique can take a long time, even a few months, but it
is essential that in this genre you acquire this mode of execution to
generate the typical Gypsy Jazz sound. Often, during jam sessions
in clubs, I have heard musicians, even very good ones, play without
this technique, even before seeing them I could tell they were not
using reststroke.
 FIGURE 10

Regarding the grip of the pick, only the thumb and the index finger
must be used. The thumb must completely place its fingertip on the
plectrum, while the index finger must support it with the lateral part.
Figure 11 shows an example of how the plectrum should be held
correctly.

FIGURE 11

Both in the case of accompaniment, and when soloing, the plectrum

should not be inclined, it should be perpendicular to the strings. In
jazz or other musical styles where the rest-stroke technique is not
usually used, the plectrum is inclined to allow an easier passage
between one string and another, but in gypsy jazz the pick must be
as straight as possible in order to generate the typical sound of this
genre.
 MUSICAL SCALES

I remember once in a jam-session, a band member said to me, "Fab, you know, eventually
all the possible music, if you think about it, is made of 12 notes.... It's all about how you
play those 12 notes!"
Scales are a fundamental building blocks to improvision, and it’s therefore necessary to
study and memorize them. Studying scales is useful to understand how chords are
created, what is the interval between one note and another, and what the possible shapes
(or modes) of harmonization are. Memorizing a scale, or even an arpeggio, or phrasing, is
essential for improvising, as it makes possible the real-time application of the right notes at
the right time.
In practice once the scales are memorized, our brain will be able to recognize them
automatically without doing too much thinking or calculations, what the right sequence of
notes is to be played at any given moment of the improvisation. Obviously this requires
many months or years of practice, but it’s essential the scales have been understood from
the beginning, to correctly activate this process. There are families of scales such as
major, minor, bebop, blues, pentatonic, symmetrical, exotic and other variants.
Here in this book I report the main ones used in Gypsy Jazz. For each scale there are
several shapes of execution called "Modes", another important topic we will explore later.
In the following paragraphs, for each scale, I report a partiture containing the notes of the
scale on the fret-board, the colored dots show the shape of the notes and scale. For
example, in the following image, the harmonic minor scale has notes on every fret where a
circle is present. In particular the one possible shape made by dark dots is the minor scale,
played between the first and fourth fret and with open strings.

Harmonic minor C scale shape

FIGURE 12

With this type of representation we can derive other shapes that can be more oblique or
horizontal on the fret-board, in order to have greater ease in memorization and execution.
For example, the harmonic minor scale from before can also be played with this shape:

Harmonic minor C scale shape

FIGURE 13

Basically we are talking about a memorization technique the brain uses to retrieve
information more quickly. In this way the musician will no longer think of all the notes of the
C scale, but rather its full shape.

CHROMATIC SCALE

Playing the chromatic scale means playing in ascending or descending sequence all the
possible notes, including those in sharps or flats. Roughly speaking, just play all the keys
on the guitar.
Chromatic scale

FIGURE 14

FIGURE 15

Chromatic scale shape

 FIGURE 16

This scale is widely used in jazz, gypsy and bebop phrasing. Listening to Django's songs,
you will often hear this type of scale played from the 6th string, to the 1st, and then
continue on the 1st string until you reach the 12th fret and sometimes beyond.

MAJOR SCALE

The major or ionian scale is a sequence of 7 notes. In the sheet music I also represent the
eighth note which corresponds to the upper octave of the root note.
For instance, let's look at the C major scale: C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C

Ionian C scale(major)

FIGURE 17

Ionian C scale shape(major)

 FIGURE 18

MINOR SCALES
There are three types of minor scales: the natural minor, the melodic minor and the
harmonic minor.
Natural Minor Scale.
The natural minor scale or aeolian scale, is a scale made by the third, sixth and
seventh(flat) notes. It is a symmetrical scale with respect to the major scale, it means that
if you play a natural minor scale, starting from the sixth degree of any major scale, you will
find that you are playing the same notes of both major and minor scales.

Aeolian C scale (natural minor)

FIGURE 19

Notes sequence: C, D, Eb, F, G,Ab,Bb,C

Aeolian C scale shape (natural minor)

 FIGURE 20

Melodic Minor Scale

We can master the melodic minor scale thinking that it starts from the major scale. At this
point is enough to change only the 3th note making it flat.
Melodic Minor C scale

FIGURE 21

Notes sequence: C, D, Eb, F, G,A,B,C

Melodic Minor C scale shape

FIGURE 22

Harmonic minor scale.

The harmonic minor scale in the end is like the natural minor but with a major 7th note.

Harmonic minor C scale

 FIGURE 23

Notes sequence: C, D, Eb, F, G,Ab,B,C

Harmonic minor C scale shape

FIGURE 24

DIMINISHED SCALE

The diminished scale is part of the family of symmetrical scales, and it’s very simple to
master. As shown in figure 26, to build a diminished all you need to know ishow to apply
this sequence: whole tone and half tone, whole tone, half tone and so on. Note that the
diminished scale is octophonic, that is it has eight notes instead of seven notes.
 Diminished C scale

FIGURE 25

Notes sequence: C,D,Eb,F,Gb,Ab,A,B,C

Diminished C scale shape

FIGURE 26

HALF-DIMINISHED SCALE

The semi-diminished scale could be derived from the diminished by just moving half a tone
forward in the sequence. The semi diminished scale is also octophonic.

Half-diminished C scale

FIGURE 27
Notes sequence: C,Db,Eb,E,F#,G,A,Bb,C

Half-diminished C scale shape

FIGURE 28

BLUES SCALE

The blues scale is a scale that plays well on seventh, and seventh-ninth chords. It is a
special scale because it skips the second note, has a minor third, uses a passing note
between the fourth and fifth notes and uses the minor seventh.

Blues C scale

FIGURE 29

Notes sequence: C, Eb, F,Gb,G,B,C

Blues C scale shape

FIGURE 30
 THE ARPEGGIOS

Now that you have learned the scales, you can move on to enriching your background of
techniques for improvisation using arpeggios. Just as each scale has its reference chord,
you can also extrapolate the arpeggio. An arpeggio is nothing more than a partial
sequence of notes in the scale. Even if theoretically playing a scale or an arpeggio on the
relative chord is melodically correct, not always playing only these two techniques gives an
interesting improvisation effect.
It's true that the result will be a phrasing in tune with the chord, but in order to convey
something captivating through improvisation, it's not enough to know only scales and
arpeggios, it's also important to know expression, metrics, volume and relevance to the
theme and song. After this preamble, let's see what the main arpeggios used in Gypsy
Jazz are. For the arpeggios I report both the notes on the partiture, with a purely indicative
duration, and the relative tablature to indicate where the same notes should be played on
the fret-board.

MAJOR ARPEGGIOS

This is the C major arpeggio that can be played over the related major chord.The notes are
the 1st, the 3rd, the 5th of the scale and then it continues in the same way in the next
octave.

FIGURE 31

Let's see instead how to perform the same major arpeggio, this time starting from the 6
string in G major.
 G

FIGURE 32

MINOR ARPEGGIOS

Minor arpeggios, like major arpeggios, consist primarily of three notes, the first, the minor
third and the fifth. C minor arpeggio on fifth chord

C-

FIGURE 33

G minor arpeggio on 6th string

G-
 FIGURE 34

6TH ARPEGGIOS

The sixth arpeggio consists of playing the first, third, fifth, and sixth notes of the scale.

C6

FIGURE 35

C-6
 FIGURE 36

7TH ARPEGGIOS

Performing a seventh arpeggio means adding a note to the arpeggios seen before, so it
will consist of first, third, fifth, and the seventh. We note that there is a sharp symbol on the
fourth note because the seventh chord has by definition the 7th flat.

C7

FIGURE 37

Similarly, it is possible to get the 7th arpeggio on a minor chord by simply playing the minor
third note instead of the major note.

C-7
 FIGURE 38

9TH ARPEGGIOS
In the ninth arpeggio, the ninth note counting from the first note, is that you need to use
instead of the seventh note. In total you play four notes: the first, the second (which would
be the ninth), the third and the fifth. Example on G minor chord with 9th starting from the
sixth chord.

G-9

FIGURE 39

Arpeggio C major with 9a on fifth string

C9
 FIGURE 40

HALF-DIMINISHED ARPEGGIOS

This arpeggio, like the diminished ones, due to their symmetrical nature are versatile
chords. In fact you can play these arpeggios on more than one type of chord. Below is an
arpeggio that sounds good over a semi diminished D chord.

Dø

FIGURE 41

As I said, this arpeggio also plays well on other chords such as 7th or 9th. Try playing the
same arpeggio over A#7 or F° chords.

DIMINISHED ARPEGGIOS
Finally I show you the diminished arpeggio that is usually played using 2 notes per string.

C°

FIGURE 42

This arpeggio is very easy to play on both fifth and sixth strings because the movement
pattern is always the same. In addition to playing on a diminished chord, it can also be
played on a seventh or ninth chord. The only thing you need to do is play the notes that
are actually present in the chord. Try to play a diminished C arpeggio on D7 chord.
 SCALE HARMONIZATION

Another important concept to add to your improvisation techniques, is the harmonization of

major and minor scales. Knowing this topic will allow you to have under control, what the
chords are of the main jazz progressions. Among scale degrees we can have a distance of
a semitone, a tone or even a tone and a half. I indicate respectively with these acronyms
H, T and T1/2 the relative distance between the degrees for each type of scale.

Scale I° chord II°

chord III°
chord IV°
chord V°chord VI°chord VII°
chord

Major CMaj7 D-7 E-7 Fmaj7 G7 A-7 BØ

T T H T T T

Natural C-7 DØ EbMaj7 F-7 G-7 AbMaj7 Bb7

Minor
T H T T H T

Melodic CmMaj7 D-7 EbMaj7#5 F7 G7 AØ BØ

Minor
T H T T T T

Harmonic CmMaj7 DØ EbMaj7#5 F-7 G7 AbMaj7 B°

Minor
T H T T H T1/2

For those who have not yet understood why a certain minor chord appears, rather than
maj7 in a certain degree of the scale, I will explain with an example: Let's take the C major
scale. The first, third, fifth and seventh notes are actually those of the chord of CMaj7. If
we start from 1 degree forward, counting from D, considering D as root note, but
continuing to play all notes of the C major scale, we discover that the first is D, the third is
F, the fifth is A and the seventh is C, which are the notes of the chord D-7! So on for all the
other degrees of the scale.
Once I show you how to build harmonization’s of the main major and minor scales, I will
provide a diagram that contains the most common jazz progressions. In jazz, a
progression is a concluding melodic harmonic movement or harmonic resolution toward
the root note. To put it simply, it is a sequence of chords that gives the feeling, return, or
resolution towards the root chord. In the table below I leave the part of the chords unfilled
so that the reader, according to the tonality in which he/she is playing, can indicate with a
pencil which are the relative chords obtained from the previous tables.
Progression Major Natural Harmonic Melodic
Minor Minor Minor
V° – I°
chord chord

IV° – I°
chord chord

IV° – V° chord

– I°
chord chord

II° – V°
chord chord

– I° chord

V° – VI°
chord chord

– I° chord

Having this schematization at hand when studying a piece, comes in very handy for
understanding the scale that can be applied to the chord sequence, shaping the format of
the piece itself. All of the harmonic analyses done on the pieces in the last chapter are
based on this technique and scale harmonization shown above.
 INTERVALS

An interval in music, is the distance between two notes. The distance of the interval is
calculated from the first note including up to and including the target note. For example,
the interval of 2nd is the distance from note C to note D, the interval of 3rd is the distance
between C and E, or between E and G, and so on for the other intervals. Again, intervals
can be classified as major, minor, perfect, diminished, or augmented.
The intervals of 4th, 5th, and 8th are called perfect. The intervals of 3rd, 6th, and 7th are major
if counted according to a major scale, and minor if counted according to a minor scale.
Moreover to define intervals you must know the importance of the notes present in a scale.
For example C→D# is not defined in the same way as C→Eb but the interval C→Eb is a
minor 3rd interval while C→D# is an augmented 2nd interval. A minor or perfect interval can
become diminished, if you shorten the distance of a semitone, while a right or major
interval can become augmented, if you increase the distance of a semitone tone.
So for example the interval C→G is a 5th-fret interval and the interval C→G# is an
augmented 5th interval, or also called surplus. The interval of C→Bb is a minor 7th interval,
while C→Bbb is a diminished interval.

FIGURE 43
 MUSICAL MODES

We finally arrived at one of the most useful techniques for improvisation, in particular for
modal improvisation. All other techniques seen so far, like arpeggios and simple scales are
all valid for improvisation. Understanding and mastering the modes makes it even easier to
improvise. However, before talking about modes it is mandatory to have understood the
"Intervals" described in the previous paragraph.

Mode definition:A mode is one of seven possible sequences of intervals derived from a
corresponding scale by simply varying the initial note.
If we play for example the C major scale starting from the fifth chord, so from the note C1
(where the number after the note represents the octave under consideration), we have a
certain sequence of intervals, T-T-S-T-T-T-S (T=tone, S=semitone).
This sequence brings us to the note of the next octave, that is C2. If instead of starting
from note C1 we would start from note D1 to get to the next octave, we would have to
perform a sequence of intervals shifted to the left of an element T-S-T-T-T-S-T. Continuing
in this way, that is, starting from the note E2, then from F2, then from G2, then from A2 and
finally, from B2, we can achieve the other five remaining sequences of different intervals.
For each of these sequences, the notes we play are always those of the C scale. This
means that there are seven ways or shapes to play a scale, hence the name "modes". If
you are wondering why this is useful for improvisation, here is the answer.
When a song is in the key of E major, for example, it's easy to imagine that playing an E
major scale (also known as the Ionic scale) fits us like a glove, but if you play, the natural
minor scale of C#, you'll notice that it also sounds great!
We can notice the natural minor scale of C#, corresponds to the Aeolian mode of the major
of E chord. This is the reason you can play the E chord with the natural minor C# scale.
The interesting thing is that you can also play all the other modes, because in fact you
always play the same notes but starting from different positions.
I provide below a summary table containing all the modes and their intervals and notes,
but this time starting from the same note, in order to highlight the type of scale that derives.
For example the Eolio mode is a natural minor, the Mixolydian mode is a seventh scale.
Mode name Intervals among notes
notes
Ionian T-T-S-T-T-T-S C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C
Dorian T-S-T-T-T-S-T C,D,Eb,F,G,A,Bb,C
Phrygian S-T-T-T-S-T-T C,Db,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb,C
Lydian T-T-T-S-T-T-S C,D,E,F#,G,A,B,C
Mixolydian T-T-S-T-T-S-T C,D,E,F,G,A,Bb,C
Aeolian T-S-T-T-S-T-T C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb,C
Locrian S-T-T-S-T-T-T C,Db,Eb,F,Gb,Ab,Bb,C
CHAPTER 4: THE ACCOMPANIMENT
 THE RHYTHM TYPES

The accompaniment for jazz or Gypsy Jazz pieces is just as

challenging as the solo part. The accompanist must think of himself
as the rhythmic part of the piece, and therefore, has the duty of
keeping a constant tempo from the beginning to the end. Especially
for those who are new to the guitar, keeping a steady beat is not
easy, and requires a lot of practice and time awareness, one tip is to
download a metronome app for smart phones so you can practice
anywhere. One way to keep a steady timeis to remember, while you
are playing do not focus too much on the soloist, but keep your
attention on the rhythm..
Especially in this musical genre, phrases in countertempo or
complex, may apparently not follow the right rhythm or metrics. In
these cases, the accompanist must concentrate more on not wasting
the rhythm, and must continue undaunted, trying to remain constant.
At the most, it will be the soloist who in case of mistakes, will have to
go back to the right tempo.
In the next paragraphs, we will analyze the main accompaniment
techniques played in Gypsy Jazz such as “la pompe”, the waltz and
rumba waltz, the rumba, the bolero and the bossa. Of course, these
are not all possible techniques, but they are certainly the main ones
and ones from which it is possible to create variations for other
styles.
Another technique of accompaniment in this style of music is the way
gypsy chords are played. Often when you are playing chords, where
the first degree is on the fifth or fourth string, you could try using the
upper string (that is the fifth degree of the relative scale) as the
lowest note of the chord, forming a substitution. This gives a warmer
sound to the chord and tends to simulate the double bass part.
Another technique used a lot is chord substitutions. For each chord,
there is a substitute somewhere else on the fretboard, containing the
same notes, or at least three-chord notes. For example a Gm6 can
be replaced by an EØ or an A7 by an E° and so on. This allows one
to embellish the accompaniment making it more varied.
Another substitution widely used in jazz is the tritone, which is an
interval that presents between one note and another, a distance of 3
tones. For example, in a progression II V I where the first degree is
C, we have the chords Dm, G7, C. If we use the tritone on the V
chord we can play the same progression in this way: Dm, Db7, C,
because we replace the root with the note that is 3 tones away from
it. In the following sections we are going to show how to play ghost
plectrums and regular plectrum.
When you perform a ghost plectrum, you ensure every string avoids
vibrations. On the other side when you play a regular plectrum, you
make sure that all strings are vibrating. In general when you see a
semiquaver most probably you can play it as a ghost plectrum.

LA POMPE

“La pompe” is the accompaniment played in most Gypsy Jazz

pieces, as it represents the swing rhythm. It is perhaps one of the
most complex accompaniments to reproduce because the musician
must have mastered the swing cadence.

FIGURE 44
In the above stave we describe the “La Pompe” technique. In the first
bar we have a semiquaver that must be played with a downward
plectrum, then two quavers follow with downward plectrum, then
upward, and finally we start again with the semiquaver with
downward plectrum.

Plectrum sequence: [Down, Down ,Up, Down, Down ,Up,….]

Once you understand the verse of the plectrums, unfortunately you
haven’t finished learning the pump, what’s needed to perform it as it
is played in Gypsy Jazz, is to produce the swing cadence. This
means emphasizing some picks and slightly changing the duration
between one and the other. Specifically, the second should be a
ghost plectrum, the pause between the second and third regular
plectrum should be slightly longer, and finally the third plectrum
should be played with more force, and if you like, as a ghost
plectrum.

WALZER

The ¾ waltz accompaniment is definitely easier to learn than the

others. In the stave pictured below we have a semiquaver and two
quavers. I've chosen to represent it with a half-tone and quavers with
rests, in order to better convey how the second and third notes are to
be rested relative to the first. They are all to be played with
downward plectrum,what usually changes is the bass note, that often
corresponds to the fifth note of the chord played over the last strings.

FIGURE 45
Plectrum sequence: [Down, Down , Down,….]

RUMBA WALZER

The waltz rumba rhythm is a variation of the waltz accompaniment,

that can be played many times to personalize or embellish the song.
Like the waltz, this is also a fairly simple accompaniment to play, and
it is enough to practice well in order to bring it to higher speeds
where the rhythmic effect is more appreciable. Basically it's a matter
of playing the semiquaver while the other plectrums are practically
silent.

FIGURE 46

Plectrum sequence: [Down, Down , Up, Down , Up,….]

RUMBA

The rhythm of gypsy rumba is characterized by a first plectrum in

ghost down-stroke, and then perform in counter-tempo, a sequence
of five quavers with alternating plectrum, starting with an upstroke.
The rumba rhythm is a classic of Spanish music, and in gypsy is
generally played with a very fast tempo, from 200bpm on-wards. It is
one of my favorites and is very interesting to use as a variant for a
song rearrangement that generally doesn’t involve it. One of the
classic Gypsy pieces where this type of accompaniment is also
present, is the song "Caravan" composed by Duke Ellington.

FIGURE 47

Plectrum sequence: [Down, Up, Down , Up, Down, Up, ….]

BOLERO

To play the bolero well, it is necessary to develop a right hand

technique better known as rolling. Basically in these triplets of
semiquavers there must be a very loose wrist play, allowing you to
reproduce the effect of a drum roll. It is a multi-tempo rhythm
because it can be played in both ¾ and 4/4. The bolero of gypsy jazz
is in 4/4 as depicted in the staff below. I have alternated low and high
notes, showing where the bass and treble of the accompanying
rhythm can generally correspond. The last 4 notes can be in
alternating plectrum or down-stroke if you want a more gypsy sound.

FIGURE 48
Plectrum sequence: [Down, Down , Up, Down , Up, Down, Down
,Down, Down ,Down,….]

BOSSA

Seemingly mundane because of the alternating down and up picks,

the bossa is one of those rhythms like “la pompe”, that must be
internalized to properly perform the right groove. The Gypsy Jazz
bossa is a sequence of two regular plectrums, the third one is a
ghost plectrum and then there are four regular plectrums. It
continues with a ghost one, and a last regular one at the end. Below
on the stave there is the pattern.

FIGURE 49

Plectrum sequence: [Down, Up, Down , Up, Down, Up, Down ,

Up ,….]
 CHORDS

In this section I will show the main chords used in the Gypsy Jazz
genre. In many songs of this musical genre the sixth note is a very
important note, unlike standard jazz and blues, where in addition to
sixth notes there are often seventh, none, eleventh and thirteenth
notes.
Actually, the distinction between gypsy jazz and other styles is not so
clear. Of course you can use all the chords you want in Gypsy, but
the point is that the groove accompaniment is far from Gypsy style.
We are going to show only two maximum, three shapes per chord
type, in order to show how the same chord can be played in several
parts of the fret-board, in the Gypsy Jazz version. I summarize in the
table, all the symbology needed to read Jazz chords.

Notation Other Description

notation
C note
D note
E note
F note
G note
A note
B note
b flat Half step lower
# sharp Half step higher
- m Minor
M9 Major 9th Major with major 7th
Δ Maj7, 7+ Major 7th
 ø m7b5, o min7b5, Half-diminished
-7b5
° dim Diminished
°7 dim7 7th diminished
/X Substitution: X note on
root
sus sus4 Suspended

MAJOR CHORDS

Major chords are made up of at least 3 notes, the note of 1st degree
or root note is the note which gives the name to the chord. The 3rd
degree note is two tones away from the root note. The fifth note is
the right fifth, which is three and a half tones away from the root
note.

Major chord
1st o root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th

C Major.
 FIGURE 50

C/G Major.

FIGURE 51

This is an example of a chord substitution. You play the fifth on the

bass to emphasize the groove of the accompaniment.

C Major

FIGURE 52
 MINOR CHORDS

Minor chords are made up of at least 3 notes, the note of 1st degree,
or root note is the note which gives the name to the chord. The 3rd
degree note is a tone and a half away from the root note. The fifth
note is the right fifth, which is three and a half tones away from the
root note.

Minor chords (-)

1st or root
Minor 3rd
Perfect 5th

C minor

FIGURE 53

In this C minor chord with the first degree on the fifth string, only 4
strings are played.
 C minor

FIGURE 54

Otherwise if you want play all strings

C minor

FIGURE 55

7TH CHORDS

The seventh chord is formed by at least 4 notes. The root, the major
third, the right fifth and the minor seventh i.e. the seventh notes of
the natural minor scale.
Seventh chord (7)
1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
Seventh
Minor 7th chord (7)
1st or root
Major 3rd
C7
Perfect 5th

Minor 7th

FIGURE 56

C7

FIGURE 57

C7/G
 FIGURE 58

MAJOR 7TH CHORDS (Δ)

The major seventh chord consists of at least 4 notes. The root note,
the major third, the right fifth and the major seventh, which are the
seventh notes of the major scale.

Major seventh
chord (Δ)
1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
Major 7th

CΔ

FIGURE 59
 CΔ

FIGURE 60

MINOR 7TH CHORDS (-7)

The minor seventh chord is formed by at least 4 notes. The root

note, the minor third, the right fifth and the minor seventh i.e. the
seventh notes of the natural minor scale.
Minor seventh
chord (-7)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th

C-7

FIGURE 61
 C-7

FIGURE 62

C-7

FIGURE 63

6H CHORDS (6)

The sixth chord is made up of at least 4 notes. The root note, the
major third, the right fifth, and the sixth note of the major scale.
Sixth chord (6)
1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
6th

C6/G

FIGURE 64

E6/B

FIGURE 65

C6
 FIGURE 66

MINOR 6TH CHORDS (-6)

The minor sixth chord is made up of at least 4 notes. The root note,
the minor third, the right fifth, and the sixth note of the major scale.

Minor sixth
chord(-6)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Perfect 5th
6a

C-6

FIGURE 67
 C-6

FIGURE 68

6TH/9TH CHORDS (6/9)

The 6/9 chord is a chord that involves at least 4 notes. The root note,
the major third, the 6th and 9th notes of the major scale.

Sixth/ninth chord
(6/9)
1st or root
major 3rd
6th
9th

C6/9 over the 5th string

 FIGURE 69

F6/9 over the 3th string

FIGURE 70

G6/9 over the sixth

FIGURE 71
 DIMINISHED CHORDS (°)

The diminished chord is a chord that involves at least 3 notes. The

root note, the minor third and the diminished 5th note of the scale.

Diminished chord
(°)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Diminished 5th

C°

FIGURE 72

In gypsy jazz, 7th diminished chords are often used where a fourth
note is added to the first-note configuration, which is the diminished
7th, or 7th flat of the natural minor scale.
Diminished chord
(°7)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Diminished 5th
7th dimished (7bb)

C°7

FIGURE 73

G°7

FIGURE 74

E°
 FIGURE 75

HALF-DIMINISHED CHORDS (Ø)

The half-diminished chord is a chord that has at least 4 notes. The

root note, the minor third, the diminished 5th, and the minor 7th i.e.
the seventh note of the natural minor scale.

Accordo half
diminished(Ø)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Diminished 5th
Minor 7th

BØ

FIGURE 76
 GØ

FIGURE 77

GØ

FIGURE 78

9TH CHORDS (9)

The ninth chord is a chord with at least 5 notes. The fundamental,

the major third, the right 5th,the minor 7th, and the major 9th, i.e. the
second note of the scale taken an octave above.
 Nineth chord (9)
1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th
Major 9th

C9

FIGURE 79

As you can see in figure 79, only four of the five notes are used while
the 5th chord degree is implicit.

E9

FIGURE 80
 G9 sus4

FIGURE 81

MAJOR 9TH CHORDS (M9)

This is a a chord with the major 7th and it involves at least 5 notes.
The root note, the major third, the right 5th the major 7th, and the
major 9th.
Major nineth (M9)
1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
Major 7th
Major 9th
CMaj9

FIGURE 82
As you can see in figure 82 only four of the five notes are used while
the 5th chord degree is implicit.

CMaj9

FIGURE 83

MINOR 9TH CHORDS ( -9)

A minor chord with 5 notes: the root note, the minor third, the perfect
fifth, the minor seventh and the major ninth, the ninth or second note
of the scale.
Minor 9th chord(-9)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th
Major 9th

C-9
 FIGURE 84

As you can see in figure 84, only four of the five notes are used while
the 5th chord degree is implicit.

11TH CHORDS ( 11)

The 11th chord is a chord with at least 6 notes: the root, the major
third, the 5th chord, the minor 7th, the major 9th, and the 11th chord,
which is the 11th (or 4th) note of the scale.

Eleventh chord (11)

1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th
Major 9th
Perfect 11
G11
 FIGURE 85

As can be seen in figure 85 only four of the six notes are used while
the 5th and 9th chord degrees are implicit.
MINOR 11TH CHORDS ( -11)

We mean a minor 11th chord with a minor 3rd and a minor 7th: the
fundamental, the minor 3rd, the right 5th, the minor 7th, the major 9th,
and the right 11th, that is the 11th (or 4th) note of the scale.
Eleventh chord (11)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th
Major 9th
Perfect 11th

G-11

FIGURE 86

As can be seen in Figure 86 only four of the six notes are used while
the 5th V and 9th chord degrees are implicit.
13TH CHORDS ( 13)
The 13thchord involves the addition of a 3rd to the 11th chord for a
total of 7 notes: the fundamental A, the major 3rd, the right 5th, the
minor 7th, the major 9th, and the 11th and 13th or 6th notes of the major
scale.
Thirteenth chord
(13a)
1st or root
Major 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th
major 9th
Perfect 11th
13th

G13

FIGURE 87

G13b

FIGURE 88
As can be seen in figures 87 and 88, only four of the six notes are
used while the 5th and 9th chord degrees are implicit.

MINOR 13TH CHORDS (-13)

It means the minor version of the 13th chord: the root note, the minor
3rd, the right 5th, the minor 7th, the major 9th, and the 11th and 13th or
6th notes of the major scale.

Thirteenth chord
(13)
1st or root
Minor 3rd
Perfect 5th
Minor 7th
Major 9th
Perfect 11th
13th
G-13b

FIGURE 89
 CHAPTER 5: HOW TO IMPROVISE THE MOST POPULAR
STANDARDS JAZZ

In this section I gathered the most popular Jazz and Gypsy Jazz pieces. The knowledge of
at least twenty pieces is essential if you want to start playing in jam sessions with other
musicians. Also, the more pieces you know, the easier it becomes to improvise. As you will
see the harmonic structures or formats are often the same, letting you have the freedom to
change using the phrases, scales and arpeggios that you prefer. Once you’ve got above
mentioned techniques, another valuable learning step to do is the harmonic analysis of the
piece.
The harmonic analysis consists of studying the piece, to determine the degree of each
chord with respect to the starting tonality,if there are tonal shifts, substitutions, dominants,
subdominants, sopratonics, tritones, and so on...
If while reading this book, you are now convinced that knowing scales, arpeggios and
harmonization can make you a good improviser, ehm I'm sorry to say you are only halfway
there.
In fact, if you study a jazz song, you will discover that many notes played to improvise are
not always related to the harmonization of the song, and still those notes sound good. It’s
true, even though a note is not logical related to the song chords, it sounds good. This
happens because it may be a chromatic passage between one note and another of the
scale, or a passage that leads to another key, or simply they are notes that characterize
the piece but are not part of the harmonic format.
There is another fundamental aspect to keep in mind when improvising, do not forget the
theme! If you only learn scales, arpeggios and jazz phrases, then you will surely play the
piece correctly, but eventually the melodic line won't be aligned with the piece. This
approach in the long run makes the piece boring to listen to. To avoid this, one must
always keep in mind that the harmonic format that has been built for the melody of the
piece. Therefore if during the improvisation one tries to recall, or respect the melody, as
well as the harmonic format, maybe inserting that alternative note, the one that seems not
so centered, surely the final result will be a little more interesting. There are many ways to
improvise, what I’m going to show you in this book is how I would improvise the following
songs.
 IMPROVISATION EXCERCISE

Here is a very useful exercise that will allow you to improve your improvisation techniques.
The exercise consists of choosing a harmonic format of any song, that is its chord grid,
and for each chord play the relative scale. When you are about to change the chord, and
therefore the scale, try to start from the joint note, or the closest one between the two
scales. In this way the improvisation solo will seem continuous. For greater clarity I will
give you an example on four chords:

C6 E7 A7 D7

On the above chords we can play the related scales in the following way:

C6 E7

FIGURA 90

A7 D7

FIGURA 91

The same exercise can be replicated with arpeggios and phrases. In the above example
we start with an ascending scale and then change the scale and reverse the direction to
descending, but this is not necessarily the only way to perform it. In fact, another exercise
could be to pass from one scale to another, always starting from the tonic, and then always
ascending or descending. These exercises help you to memorize the shapes of scales,
arpeggios and phrases on the fret-board, and when they are mastered in your mind, the
execution will automatically come out through other songs that have a similar sequence of
chords.
 ALL OF ME

All of Me is one of the most played Jazz standards ever. Trust me, showing up to a jazz
jam session without knowing this tune could result in outlaw or even cause club fights! The
song was written by Gerald Marks, and Seymour Simons in 1931. All of me, gypsy version
is usually in the key of C, and the harmonic form is an ABAC. Django recorded it in 1940
with the quintet "Le hot club de France".

A C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %
B E7 % Am7 % D9 % Dm9 G7
A C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %
C F69 F#° C6 Am6 Dm7 G7 C6, Dm7,G7
Am7

A part:

C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %

Surely in the first 2 bars you play C scale or arpeggio, then from the third bar there is a
shift towards the A minor harmonic and then, obviously, for E7 is fine its seventh arpeggio,
or the A minor harmonic scale. The chords of A7 and Dm could be played as a 5th degree
and 1st degree of the D minor harmonic.

B part:

E7 % Am7 % D9 % Dm9 G7
Here we are once again outside of the starting key, and we have three different zones. In
the first zone, consisting of the first 4 measures, it is sufficient to play in harmonic A minor.
In the next zone of 2 measures starting with D9, either play a scale in D7 or an
arpeggio/scale of G major. Finally, in the last area of two measures (Dm9 and G7) we can
return to the key of C.

C part:

F69 F#° C6 Am6 Dm7 G7 C6, Dm7,G7

Am7
The last part is practically based on C major except for the diminished F# chord which is
actually a substitution of an Fm, that would be the fourth degree of the Cm scale, so the
natural or harmonic C minor scale would be fine, or obviously a diminished F# arpeggio.
So summarizing, try to play the song “All of me” having in mind the melody and the format
that I show below, and instead of playing the arpeggios/scales of the original chords try to
play those of the grid under the down arrows:

A C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %
B E7 % Am7 % D9 % Dm9 G7
A C6 % E7 % A7 % Dm %
C F69 F#° C6 Am6 Dm7 G7 C6, Dm7,G7
Am7

A C major % A harmonic % D harmonic % % %

minor minor

B A harmonic % Anatural % G major % Cmajor %

minor minor

A C major % A harmonic % D natural % % %

minor minor

C C major C natural C major % % % % %

or
harmonic
minor
Enjoy!
 DAPHNE

A piece composed by Django while listening to Stephane G, his band mate, when he was
tuning his violin checking octaves. Django decided to name the track Daphne, in honor of
his friend Daphne de Stafford. The song was composed and recorded in 1937 on the
album "Duo de Violons". The harmonic format of Daphne is an AABA, even here we can
first simplify it because many chords are only in passing, and already present in the scale
of D, for the A part, or Eb for the B part. With this piece, however, I’m trying to explain
modal improvisation.

D69, Em7, D69, Em7, D69, G/B, D69, D69,

A Bm7 A7 Bm7 A7 D7 Gm/Bb A7 A7
D69, Em7, D69, Em7, D69, G/B, D69,
A Bm7 A7 Bm7 A7 D7 Gm/Bb A7
D69
Eb, Fm7, Eb, Fm7, Eb, Fm7,
B Cm7 Bb7 Cm7 Bb7 Cm7 Bb7
Db69 A7
D69, Em7, D69, Em7, D69, G/B, D69, D69,
A Bm7 A7 Bm7 A7 D7 Gm/Bb A7 A7

Let's start by simplifying the song and derive the new grid containing only 3 chords:

A D69 % % % % % % %
A D69 % % % % % % %
B Eb % % % % % % A7
A D69 % % % % % % %

At this point it is very easy to see that for the A part, we can use major scales or arpeggios
in D, and the same goes for part B in the key of Eb. The only caveat is on the A7 chord,
which is actually the fifth degree of the D scale, so it means that we return to playing the
major of D. Given the simplicity of the harmonic format of this piece, we will use it to
practice modal improvisation. In the third chapter in the paragraph "Scale harmonization",
we can see which are the Modes of a major or minor scale.

A D69 % % % % % % %
A D69 % % % % % % %
B Eb % % % % % % A7
A D69 % % % % % % %

A D major % % % % % % %
A % % % % % % % %
B Eb major % % % % % % D major

A % % % % % % % %
 MINOR SWING

Can you guess whose swing in minor piece this is? John Frusciante wrote this piece in '82
for the movie Chocolate starring Johnny Depp. Ok,ok, I’m just kidding, let's not make
Django roll over in his grave, it was obviously written by him and Stephane Grappelli with
their jazz quintet in 1937. As for "All of me", but even more than that, if you are playing in a
Gypsy Jazz jam, and someone says "ok let's do the usual?" and you don't know what
Minor Swing is, then by some quantum phenomenon you are teleported to the wrong place
at the wrong time, you had better get the hell out of there!
It is a piece in A minor, with a simple AB form.

Am6 % Dm6 %
A E7 % Am6 A7
BØ % Am6 %
B E7 % Am6 F7,E7

A common way to improvise on this piece can be for each chord to perform the relative
arpeggio. Already in this way, it is possible to obtain a good improvisation by trying to link
the ending notes of an arpeggio with the beginning of another. Let's see what other
possibilities there are.

A part:

Am6 % Dm6 %
E7 % Am6 A7

On this sequence you can play the harmonic minor of A. Just by simply moving on this
scale you can hear that the notes sound good on all the chords. This happens because in
the harmonization of the harmonic minor scale of A, there is Dm (4th degree) but also E7
(5th degree). The last bar where A7 appears, well this is actually a chord that doesn't fit
since we are in Am, but actually playing Am harmonic is fine anyway, trust me, in a little
while you'll see why.

B part:

BØ % Am6 %
E7 % Am6 F7,E7

So, the second part starts with the nice semi-diminished chord, but since it's just a
replacement for Dm6 we're back in our harmonic minor of A. That's why I was asking you
to trust me on the previous A7, actually the latter was just a resolution to Dm6. Maybe
while still in A7 we try to fall on the note G instead of G#, actually going to play a natural A
minor, instead of a harmonic A minor. Finally the F7 chord, which has nothing to do with
our harmonic minor could cause problems. So there may be other solutions, such as not
playing during the F7, play chromatic passages that contain the notes of F7, or just play
the A minor harmonic, because the F7 is the fifth of Bb7 which is nothing but an E7 with
5b.

Am6 % Dm6 %
A E7 % Am6 A7
BØ % Am6 %
B E7 % Am6 F7,E7

A % % %
A
harmonic minor

% % % %
% % % %
B % % % %

Enjoy!
 BOSSA DORADO

This is a bossa and its name comes from the composer Dorado Schmitt. It is a bossa in
Dm composed in 1986.Dorado Schmitt used all his expressiveness and musical virtuosity
in composing and performing this piece with its Spanish sounds. The format is an AABA
or better an AA'BA because the second A has the same chords except for the final A7.

A Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm A7
A’ Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm %
B A° % Gm6 % B° % EØ A7
A Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm A7

As we have already seen for the previous pieces even here, for each chord, we could try
to perform its own reference arpeggio, but let's try to play something more challenging.
Analyzing the piece, the natural or harmonic minor of D can play very well on Dm, but
when we get to E7 we are not there, in fact we have left the key. E7 could be the fifth
degree of the harmonic minor of A, so it is possible to play this scale. Going forward we
find EØ which is a substitution of Gm6 and the chord of A7, which are the 4th degree and
5th degree of the harmonic minor of D.

Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm A7

If we leave out A' which is practically similar to A we can move on to analyze B part:
 A° % Gm6 % B° % EØ A7

The A° chord can also be substituted with the D7 chord, that is the fifth degree of the
harmonic minor scale of G. So the first four bars are nothing but a harmonic minor scale of
G. It remains to analyze B°,EØ, and A7, that can also be played as E7,EØ and A7. So also
for E7 we can play its arpeggio or a harmonic minor A scale, while for EØ and A7 we will
still play the harmonic minor D scale. Also for this piece I report both the original format
and the one containing the scales/arpeggios to replace.

A Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm A7
A’ Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm %
B A° % Gm6 % B° % EØ A7
A Dm % E7 % EØ A7 Dm A7

A D harmonic
%Aharmonic
%Dharmonic
% % %
minor minor minor

A’ D harmonic
%Aharmonic
%Dharmonic
% % %
minor minor minor

B G harmonic
% % %A harmonic
%D harmonic
%
minor minor minor

A D harmonic
%A %D
harmonic harmonic
% % %
minor minor minor

Enjoy!
 DJANGO’S TIGER

In 1946 Django and Stephane G. were at the EMI records studios in England to record
some tracks as a quintet. The band recorded many cover songs by other artists but the
only original song on that recording was Django's Tiger.

A A6 % % Ab6 A/C# C° Bm7 E7

B E7 % F7 % E7 % A6,Bbm6 Bm7,E7
C A6 Ab6 A6 % A7 % D69 %
D D69 Eb° A7 F#7 B7 E7 A6,Cm6 Bm7,E7

This is a song with an ABCD form and has several passing chords that don't come out of
the starting key, so the first thing we're going to do is create a simplified version of the
format like the following:

A A6 % % % % % % E7
B E7 % F7 % E7 % A6
C A6 A7 % D69 %
D D69 Eb° A7 F#7 B7 E7 A6 %

A part:
 A6 % % % % % % E7
We are in A major. E7 is the 5th degree of the A major scale so we simply play A major
scale or arpeggio.

B part:
E7 % F7 % E7 % A6

In the first four bars we can play in different ways. We can play the scales/arpeggios of E7
and F7 or, to stay on topic, we can play the diminished arpeggios D° and D#° or we could
play the blues scales of B and B#.

The last four bars where we have E7 and A6, are simply the 5th degree and 1st degree of
the A major scale so let's play the latter scale.

C part:
A6 A7 % D69 %

For the first four bars we can always play scales or arpeggios of A major, while A7 is the
5th degree of D and then we can start playing the D major scale.

D part:

D69 Eb° A7 F#7 B7 E7 A6 %

Let's play a D major scale or arpeggio up to B7, because D69 is already the chord of the
scale, Eb° is just a passing chord towards A7, which is the V degree of D, while F# is a
replacement of C#° which is the VII degree of the D major scale and finally B7 is a
replacement of D6b9.

The last two chords, E7 and A6 are the 2nd degree and 1st of the A major scale, so we will
play in A major. To recap I bring back the format grid, and the one with scales for
improvising:

A A6 % % % % % % E7
B E7 % F7 % E7 % A6
C A6 A7 % D69 %
D D69 Eb° A7 F#7 B7 E7 A6 %

A A
major % % % % % % %
B B blues %B#blues % A
major % %
C A
major D major % % %
D % % % % % A major A6 %
Enjoy!
 SWING 42

In 1941 Django was having dinner with the rest of the band and looking out the window of
the restaurant towards the Champs Elysees, he was looking for inspiration for a new song.
All of a sudden it hit him. Django began humming in a strange way, imitating Amstrong's
voice. The sweet melody that Django had in his head became the song Swing42, he would
soon play this with his band in the club where they were to perform that night. It is a very
simple song with an AABA form.

Dm7, Dm7, C, Dm7,

A C,Am7
G7
C, Am7 Dm7, G7 EØ,A7
G7 Am7 G7
Dm7, Dm7,
A C,Am7
G7
C, Am7 Dm7, G7 EØ,A7
G7
C69 B7
E, F#m7, E, E, F#m7,
B C#m7 B7 C#m7
F#m7,B7
C#m7 B7
E69 G7
Dm7, Dm7,
A C,Am7
G7
C,Am7 Dm7, G7 EØ,A7
G7
C69 G7

Also for this piece we proceed with a simplification, eliminating chords that are already of
the reference scale. In fact C, Am7, Dm7 and G7 are simply the 1st , 6th , 2nd and 5th
degrees of the C scale. The same goes for E, C#m7, F#m7. So eliminating chords that are
only passing, or embellishments, but are already in the scale, we get:

A C % % % % % % %
A % % % % % % % B7%
B E % % % % % % G7
A C % % % % % % %

Finally, we can simply play scales or arpeggios of C for the A section, and E major for the
B section.
A C % % % % % % %
A % % % % % % % B7%
B E % % % % % % G7
A C % % % % % % %

A C
major % % % % % % %
A % % % % % % % E
major

B % % % % % % % C major

A % % % % % % % %
 JOSEPH JOSEPH

The American girl trio "The Andrews Sisters" in 1938 recorded at the DECCA Records
studios the song "Joseph! Joseph". The song will be proposed in a Gypsy Jazz version by
Django and many other manouche musicians.

It is a song in A minor with AB harmonic song format.

A Am6 % % % % % E7 %
E7 % % % % % Am6 E7
B Am6 % % % A7 % Dm7 %
Dm7 % Am6 % F7 E7 Am6 E7

We won't analyze it further because the chords are the same already seen in Minor Swing
and consequently you will be able to improvise with the harmonic minor of A scale.
 FOR SEPHORA

This piece was composed by a manouche musician of Dutch origin, named Stochelo
Rosenberg. It is said that among Gypsy musicians, he is the one who’s styleis most similar
to Django. As he himself says, almost always during his concerts, this is a song composed
for his younger sister named Sephora. A bossa, very well known among Gypsy Jazz
aficionados. It is an AB structure in E minor.

A Em % Am6 % F#Ø % Em B7
Em % Am6 % F#Ø % Em E7
B Am6 D7 GMaj7 CMaj7 F#Ø B7 Em E7
Am6 D7 GMaj7 CMaj7 F#Ø B7 Em B7

A part.

Em % Am6 % F#Ø % Em B7
Em % Am6 % F#Ø % Em E7
The chords in this section are definitely in E natural minor, but since B7 is not a minor but
a major, at this point we could move into the harmonic minor of E. Since in the theme the
harmonic minor scale notes are present, then playing E harmonic minor throughout section
A, and then E natural minor in section B might be a good compromise.

B part.

Am6 D7 GMaj7 CMaj7 F#Ø B7 Em E7

Am6 D7 GMaj7 CMaj7 F#Ø B7 Em B7
Here we are undoubtedly in E natural minor, in fact we have the 4th degree (Am7), the 7th
(D7), the 3rd degree (Gmaj7), the 2nd degree (F#Ø). Beware that B7 is not minor, so we are
back to harmonic minor.

A Em % Am6 % F#Ø % Em B7
Em % Am6 % F#Ø % Em E7
B Am6 D7 GMaj7 CMaj7 F#Ø B7 Em E7
Am6 D7 GMaj7 CMaj7 F#Ø B7 Em B7

A E harmonic
minor
% % % % % % %
E natural
% % % % % % %
minor

B % % % % % % % %
% % % % % % % %
Enjoy!
 LES YEUX NOIRS (OCHI CHYORNYE)

This song was composed in the late 1800s in Russia, and is a very popular piece of folk
music. It has been proposed in different styles in many parts of the world. In its most
classical version it is performed starting with adagio tempo, or andante tempo, to reach the
prestissimo tempo. Django will record a cover of this piece with his quintet in 1940.
Piece in harmonic D minor with simple structure in AB.

A A7 % Dm % A7 % Bb %
B Gm6 % Dm % A7 % Dm %

In fact here we have the degrees of the harmonic scale of Dm. So A7 that is the 5th
degree, Dm that is the 1st degree, Bb that is the 6th degree, and Gm6 that is substitution
of Em°, that is the 2nd degree. So trivially playing arpeggio and harmonic minor scale of D
is fine on this piece.

A A7 % Dm % A7 % Bb %
B Gm6 % Dm % A7 % Dm %

A D minore
% % % % % % %
amonico

B % % % % % % % %

Enjoy!
 MONTAGNE SAINT GENEVIEVE

Django composed this piece in 1959, and Matelo Ferret recorded it in 1960. Many people
have since dubbed it Django's Waltz. Django had named the piece this way probably
because he used to play it in the dance halls in rue de la Montagne Sainte Genevieve, in
Paris. The piece is very simple as a harmonic format, but Django's intent was to show to
the public his ability to execute triplets and phrasings at very high speed on the whole fret-
board.
It is a waltz piece composed of a minor and a major section.

Em % % % % % Am6 %
A B7 % % % % % Em B7
Em % % % E7 % Am6 %
Am6 D7 G C F#Ø B7 Em %
B Am6 D7 G G#° Am6 D7 G Eb7
Am6 D7 G G#° Am6 D7 G G,B7

The harmonic song format is AAB

A part:

Em % % % % % Am6 %
B7 % % % % % Em B7
Em % % % E7 % Am6 %
Am6 D7 G C F#Ø B7 Em %
In this section we are in E harmonic minor. So it is possible to play arpeggios of E minor or
even minor 9th, E natural minor scale.
B part.

Am6 D7 G G#° Am6 D7 G Eb7

Am6 D7 G G#° Am6 D7 G G,B7
Here, however, we are definitely in G major, so we can have fun with arpeggios and scales
of G major or even D7.

A Em % % % % % Am6 %
B7 % % % % % Em B7
Em % % % E7 % Am6 %
Am6 D7 G C F#Ø B7 Em %
B Am6 D7 G G#° Am6 D7 G Eb7
Am6 D7 G G#° Am6 D7 G G,B7

A E harmonic
% % % % % % %
minor

% % % % % % % %
% % % % % % % %
% % % % % % % %
B G major % % % % % % %
D7
oppure

% % % % % % % %

Enjoy!
 MINOR BLUES

Minor Blues, often called Blues en Mineur in French, is a real blues composed by Django
Reinhardt in 1947, with the orchestra "Boeuf sur le toit". The piece has a Vivace playing
time of usually 160 bpm. In Django's blues phrasing you can still hear the gypsy style, so
even though this is in fact a blues in minor, it remains a Gypsy Jazz style track for all
intents and purposes.
The harmonic structure is an AB and the song is in G minor.

A Gm6 % % %
Cm6 % Gm6 %
B D#7 D7 Gm6 D#7,D7

Once again we are in G harmonic minor, which can be played on all the chords of both the
A and B sections because Gm6 is the I degree, but with the sixth instead of the seventh,
and here we could limit ourselves to playing the arpeggio of minor sixth. Cm6 is the
substitution of A semi-diminished and therefore the second degree of the G minor
harmonic scale. Then we have D7 and D#7, that we could frame as the 5th and 6th degree
of the harmonic minor G scale, even if the 6th is EbMajor7 and not Eb7, but it sounds good
anyway.

A Gm6 % % %
Cm6 % Gm6 %
B D#7 D7 Gm6 D#7,D7
A G minor6 % % %
G
harmonic
% G
minor6 %
minor

B G
harmonic
% % %
minor
 AUTUMN LEAVES

A very popular tune and jazz standard by definition. Composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945,
the first performances were on piano and later played in every way, and with every kind of
instrument. This jazz standard has AABA harmonic structure and is usually performed in
Gm.

A Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 AØ D7 Gm7 G7

A Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 AØ D7 Gm7 %
B AØ D7 Gm G7 Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
A Gm, Gm7,
AØ D7 Ebmaj7 D7 Gm
Gmmaj7 Gm6

A part:

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 AØ D7 Gm7 G7

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 AØ D7 Gm7 %

In this section we can play BbMaj7 up to AØ, because if we calculate the harmonization of
the BbMaj7 scale, we find that Cm7 is the 2nd degree, F7 is the 5th degree, BbMaj7 is the
1st degree, EbMaj7 is the 5th degree, AØ is the 3rd degree. Actually from AØ on-wards we
can also already think to move to the tonality of Gm, because in fact AØ is the 2nd degree
minor, D7 is the 5th degree and Gm is the 1st degree. That G7 that we see at the end of this
section is nothing but the 5th degree of the 2nd degree of the key of Bb major, so we can
already be in this last key.
B part:

AØ D7 Gm G7 Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

Gm, Gm7,
AØ D7 Ebmaj7 D7 Gm
Gmmaj7 Gm6
Also for part B, if we noticein the first line, we have in sequence a II, V, I of Gm, then a V of
II, II, V, I, IV of BbMaj7. In the second line, the chords are always the same, but GmMaj7
and Gm6 appear in addition, and they are always the same chord of Gm, but with a
progressively lower seventh.

A Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 AØ D7 Gm7 G7

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 AØ D7 Gm7 %
B AØ D7 Gm G7 Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
Gm, Gm7,
AØ D7 Ebmaj7 D7 Gm
Gmmaj7 Gm6

A Bb % major
% % G natural
minor
% % Bb major

% % % % G natural % % %
minor

B % % % Bb major % % % %
% % % %

Enjoy!
 SWEET GEORGIA BROWN

Written by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard in 1925, it’s a jazz tune that became very
popular and has been re-interpreted by several bands including Bing Crosby, Ella
Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Gentle Giant, Oscar Peterson, and even Django Reinhardt. The
track recalls the Dixieland style of music popular in New Orleans. Django recorded this
track with Grappelli and Arthur Briggs on trumpet in 1935. The harmonic structure of this
piece is an ABAC format and is in the key of G major.

A E7 % % % A7 % % %
B D7 % % % G6/9 % % B7
A E7 % % % A7 % % %
C Em7 B7 Em7 B7G7,F#F7,E7 Am7,D7 G6/9,B7

A part:

E7 % % % A7 % % %
Here we are dealing with a 5thdegree and 1stdegree of A, so we can play the arpeggio of A
major. If you want to play the A scale, remember to slide your finger on the note G instead
of G#. Another possibility is to play the diminished arpeggios, that is to play the D°
arpeggio for E7 and the C#° arpeggio for A7, or try playing the melodic Dm where the G
note is nothing but a 9# for E7.

B part:

D7 % % % G6/9 % % B7
Here we are in the key of G, in fact we have a 5th degree (D7), a 1stdegree (G). With B7
we return to A because we have a V of the V of A major. Also here the alternative is to try
diminished on seventh chords and G scale on G6/9, or try to play the melodic Dm.

C part:

Em7 B7 Em7 B7G7,F#F7,E7 Am7,D7 G6/9,B7

Finally we have the last section which is G major, so it is possible to play the
corresponding minor scale that is E minor.

A E7 % % % A7 % % %
B D7 % % % G6/9 % % B7
A E7 % % % A7 % % %
C Em7 B7 Em7 B7G7,F#F7,E7 Am7,D7 G6/9,B7

A D melodic
minor
% % % % % % %
B G major % % % % % % %
A D diminished % % % C# diminished % % %
C E natural
minor
% % % % % % %
 DJANGOLOGY

Django composed and recorded this track in 1935 with "Le hot club de France".
Djangology is a piece with a brilliant melody, and a baroque beginning, played with guitar
and violin in unison on the notes of diminished arpeggios. The piece is an AABA in the
key of G major.

A A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb°
D7G6,AmG/B,Bb°
7
A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb° D7 G6,D7 G6
7
B Ab6,Eb7 Ab6 A6,E7 A6
A A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb° D7 G6,D7 G6
7

Although apparently the chords in this song may seem complex it is actually simpler than it
sounds.

A part:

A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb° D7G6,AmG/B,Bb°
7
Even if we said that we are in the key of G major, the song starts with A major chords, in
particular we have a DbØ which is nothing but an A9 and C°, which is nothing but a D7b9.
So up to C° we can play in A major. From G/B to the end of the section we can play in G
major, then we can play scales, arpeggios and phrasings of G major, because G/B is the
first degree, Bb° is the substitution of A9b.
B part:

Ab6,Eb7 Ab6 A6,E7 A6

Unlike other pieces, this one has a B section with a non-regular duration, in fact it ends in
the middle and then resumes with the A section. Here we move tonality and enter in Ab
major for the first two bars, and in A for the other two. The seventh chords are nothing else
but the 5th degree chords of the corresponding tonality. Basically we can play in Ab major,
then in A major or in Eb7 for two bars, and then in A section for the other two, so that we
are already on the same key of the next section.

A A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb°
D7G6,AmG/B,Bb°
7
A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb° D7 G6,D7 G6
7
B Ab6,Eb7 Ab6 A6,E7 A6
A A-
DbØ C° G/B Bb° D7 G6,D7 G6
7

A A major % G major % % % % %
% % % % % % % %
B Eb7 % A major %
A A major % G major % % % % %

Enjoy!
 NUAGES

Django has covered many of the standards of great jazz and folk musicians. In the same
manner for this song also, as many musicians have proposed it in cover versions,
including Tony Bennett, Paul Desmond, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Pino Daniele, and
many others. This ballad composed by Django is a piece with a complex harmonic
structure and a sublime melody. Created in 1940, Django recorded it in Paris with his
band.
The piece is in G major with an ABA'C structure.

A Eb9 AØ, G6 G/B Eb9 AØ, G6 G/B

D7b9 D7b9
B B7 Em, Em7, D7,
% A,Ab7 A D7
Em∆ Em6 Eb7
A’ Eb9 AØ, G6 G/B Ab7 G7 C6 %
D7b9
C Cm7 F79 G6 G/B Eb9 AØ, G6,C- G6
D7b9

A part:

AØ, AØ,
Eb79 G6 G/B Eb79 G6 G/B
D7b9 D7b9
The Eb9 chord is actually a chord that is not part of the key of G major but of G# major. In
fact the chord is the 5th degree of the G# scale and often in the accompaniment of this
song we can see Bm7 (2nd degree) before this chord. So basically we can play with scales
and arpeggios of G# major (or F minor as the 6th degree of the G# major scale) for a
whole bar. The next three bars are G major, in fact we find a 2nd degree with a flat fifth
(AØ), a 5th degree with a flat ninth (D7b9) and a G with a B flat. The next four bars are the
same as before.

B part:

Em, Em7, D7,

B7 % A,Ab7 A D7
Em∆ Em6 Eb7

The second section is divided into two parts. In the first four bars we are in E minor and we
find the 5thdegree B7 and the 1st degree E that chromatically lowers the tonic. In the
second part we are in A major for the 5th and sixth bars, and in G for the last two bars. The
chords in flat that we see are only accompaniment embellishments and therefore do not
create problems.

A’ part:

AØ,
Eb79 G6 G/B Ab7 G7 C6 %
D7b9

I chose to represent the third section as A' because it is similar to A except for the last 4
bars. As for the first four bars, they are the ones we have already seen before, while in the
fifth bar we have an interesting chord: Ab7. This chord is not part of the tonality of the
piece, but it could be seen as the 5th degree of C#, so in this case we could play a C#
major or a Doric D# etc. The other two chords G7 and C6 are in the key of C major.

C part:

AØ,
Cm7 F79 G6 G/B Eb79 G6,C- G6
D7b9
Finally, we come to the last session that presents chords out of key, but which are the
correct accompaniment for the melody. In fact in the first two bars we find a Cm7 and an
F7 that can be the 2nd and 5th degree of Bb, while in the following bars we are in G major.
An exception is the last C- which can actually be a G with an augmented fifth.

AØ, AØ,
Eb79 G6 G/B Eb79 G6 G/B
D7b9 D7b9
Em, Em7, D7,
B7 % A,Ab7 A D7
Em∆ Em6 Eb7
AØ,
Eb79 G6 G/B Ab7 G7 C6 %
D7b9
AØ,
Cm7 F79 G6 G/B Eb79 G6,C- G6
D7b9

G# G#
oppure
G
major % % oppure
G major % %
F melodic F minore
minor melodico

E melodic
% % % A major % G %
minor major

G#
oppure
G
major % % C# major C major % %
F melodic
minor

G#
Bb major % Gmajor % oppure
G major % %
F minore
melodico
Enjoy!
 REFERENCES
Fabrizio Rastiello, “Gypsy Jazz per principianti, dalle basi
all’improvvisazione”

Michael Dregni, “Django. The Life and Music of a Gypsy

Legend”

Geoff Dyer,”Natura morta con custodia di sax. Storie di Jazz”

Gödel,Escher, Bach: “Un’Eterna Ghirlanda Brillante”

www.jguitar.com, per la rappresentazione degli accordi

Colin Cosimini, “The Gypsy Jazz Chord Book”

www.jazzitalia.net, musical harmonization theory

Alain Antonietto, Francois Billard et al, “Django Reinhardt. Il

gigante del jazz tzigano”

Giandomenico Curi e L. Cerchiari, “Django Reinhardt. Una

leggenda manouche fra cinema e jazz”

Dregni Michael e Martinelli Francesco, “Django Reinhardt.

Dalla chitarra Manouche al grande jazz”

Warren Nunes, “Jazz guitar, rhythm and background chords”