Brise Napolitaine — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Brise Napolitaine by V. Guerino / J. Peyronnin — key of F (musette), form A B C 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
Brise Napolitaine is a valse musette written by Vétése Guérino and Jean Peyronnin, first recorded around 1933. It belongs to the Parisian bal-musette tradition that fed the early gypsy-jazz waltzes.
The sound — a bright waltz in F that travels: A7 pulling to Dm, C7 to F, E7 to Am, a chain of secondary dominants over the 3/4 lilt, with a B diminished colour.
Practising it — this is about the waltz feel and clean voice-leading through the dominants. Drill your A7, C7 and E7 arpeggios and target each chord's third as it resolves. Keep the 3/4 swing light and don't rush the sections.
Brise Napolitaine chords — the grille
A : | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm | A7 | A7 | Dm | Dm |
B : | C7 | C7 | F | F | C7 | C7 | F | F | C7 | C7 | F | F | E7 | E7 | Am | Am |
C : | C7 | C7 | F | F | C7 | C7 | F | F | C7 | A7 | Dm | B° | F | C7 | F | F |
Chords used
A7 · Dm · C7 · F · E7 · Am · B°
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Brise Napolitaine: 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.