Begin the Beguine — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Begin the Beguine by Cole Porter — key of C (manouche), form A A B C D D' Coda. Below is the full chord grid; on Haute Gitanerie you can play along with a scrolling chord ribbon, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and switch on a rhythm backing (la pompe) to practise your solos over the changes.
Begin the Beguine chords — the grille
A : | C | C | C | C | C | C C#° | Dm | G7 | Dm | Dm | Dm | Dm | Dm | G7 | C | Dm G7 |
B : | Cm | F7 | B♭ | B♭ | B♭m | E♭7 | A♭ | A♭ | Am7♭5 | D7 | G | A♭7 | G | Fm | Dm | G7 |
C : | C | G7 | C | G7 | C | Em7♭5 A7 | Dm | G7 | Fm6 | Fm6 | Fm6 | Fm6 | Dm | G7 | C | C |
D : | C | C | C | C | C | Em E♭° | Dm | G7 | F | F | Em | A7 | Dm | G7 | C | G7 |
D' : | C | C | C | C | C | Em E♭° | Dm | G7 | F | F | Em | A7 | Dm | G7 | Dm7♭5 | G7 | Dm | G7 | C | C |
Coda : | Dm | Dm | Dm | G7 | C | B♭7 | A♭ B♭7 | C |
Chords used
C · C#° · Dm · G7 · Cm · F7 · B♭ · B♭m · E♭7 · A♭ · Am7♭5 · D7 · G · A♭7 · Fm · Em7♭5 · A7 · Fm6 · Em · E♭° · F · Dm7♭5 · B♭7
Play along
Open the interactive grille to play Begin the Beguine with the backing track (beta), transpose it, and slow it down — a practice backing to blow over, right in the browser, free.