Blues Clair — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Blues Clair by Django Reinhardt — key of C (manouche), form A. 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.
About
Blues Clair is a Django Reinhardt original, a relaxed blues in C that he recorded in the 1940s (1943 and again in 1947). It is one of his most-studied solos and a staple of the manouche blues vocabulary.
The sound — a major blues in C built on Cmaj6/9 and C9 over the I, F major on the IV, and a Dm7–G7 turnaround, spiced by a D♭ diminished passing chord. Bright but bluesy.
Practising it — work the C major and C blues scales, and mix major and minor thirds over the C chords for that vocal blues cry. Arpeggiate the Dm7–G7 and let the D♭ dim7 slide chromatically. Keep it laid-back.
Blues Clair chords — the grille
A : | C6/9 | C6/9 | C6/9 | C9 | F6/9 | F6/9 | C6/9 | C6/9 | Dm7 | G7 | C6/9 C#° | Dm7 G7 |
Chords used
C6/9 · C9 · F6/9 · Dm7 · G7 · C#°
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Blues Clair: loop any section, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and play over a rhythm accompaniment — with a real recorded pompe on featured tunes. In the browser, free.