Learn gypsy jazz arpeggios, chords & standards
Haute Gitanerie is a free, interactive tool for gypsy jazz (jazz manouche) guitar. Explore arpeggios in any key across the whole neck — as compact position boxes or long diagonal forms — alongside real gypsy chord voicings and the grilles of standard tunes. It's a living project, growing with the community: some diagonal fingerings are still being refined, so you'll see a construction marker wherever a shape isn't a verified idiomatic form yet.
Where the name comes from
Before I'd heard a single note of gypsy jazz, I already dressed the part without knowing it — pleated linen trousers, made-to-measure shirts, proper leather shoes. And I travelled light: one guitar bag, the instrument on one side, three days of linen on the other. Rinse a shirt at night, dry by morning, stay a little classy on the road.
Strapped to that bag: a small amp and a fishing rod — so I could stop anywhere and just be in the moment. My first time ever playing in public was exactly that: Rodrigo y Gabriela, on a street in Korea. And wherever I landed, I loved to cook for whoever was around.
Then gypsy jazz found me. I spent a week at Frédéric Leau's, and one evening, telling this story, someone laughed: « Mais t'es en train de faire de la vraie haute gitanerie ! » — high gypsy craft. It stuck.
I drew the logo the same week, firing up a barbecue for the musicians — the dandy with a guitar on his back, rod in hand, off to the next moment. That's him, right here.
The app is that same spirit: something you carry light, open anywhere, and pass around freely. Which is exactly why it's free — knowledge, like a good meal by the fire, is better shared.
- Which arpeggios and chords are included?
- Every root in all twelve keys, across the common gypsy qualities — minor, major, dominant 7, minor 6, half-diminished (m7♭5), diminished and 6/9 — shown both as single-note arpeggios and as chord voicings.
- What's the difference between a box and a diagonal form?
- A box keeps the arpeggio inside about five frets across the strings — compact and easy to memorise. A diagonal form travels up the neck across two octaves, the way most manouche players sweep an arpeggio (it's the idiomatic one).
- Why do some arpeggios show a construction marker?
- Those diagonal fingerings aren't verified idiomatic forms yet — the notes are correct, but we're still refining the exact manouche shape. Minor and major are confirmed; the rest are being added as we learn them.
- Is this the CAGED system?
- The position boxes rest on the same idea as CAGED — movable shapes that map a chord across the neck. Gypsy players think in diagonal forms rather than CAGED names, so we show both.
- Can I see note names in solfège?
- Yes — toggle between English (C, D, E) and solfège (Do, Ré, Mi), and hover any note on the neck to see its name.
- Is it free?
- Completely. It's made as a gift for the gypsy jazz community.
Why it's free
Django couldn't read music. Two fingers after a fire, he hacked an entire genre into being — by ear, by feel, by refusing the rules. To me that's what a gitan is: a hacker.
Haute Gitanerie is built in that spirit. No signup, no ads, no paywall — the whole tool, free, forever. Knowledge should be open, the way Django cracked jazz wide open for everyone who came after.
I'm a builder who plays. I make this on nights and weekends because I love it. If it helped you, you can buy me a string — that's it. No pressure, ever.