Clair de Lune — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Clair de Lune by Joseph Kosma — key of D (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
Composed by Joseph Kosma in the 1940s and recorded by Django Reinhardt in 1947, Clair de Lune became a manouche standard — so beloved that many players (wrongly) credit Django himself as its composer.
The sound — a D minor ballad that never sits still: it slips through Gm, C7 and F, then chromatic passing chords (G♭dim7, A7, B♭7) colour every turn. Listen for the restless, singing melody over shifting harmony.
Practising it — map the D harmonic minor scale first, then chase the changes with Dm, Gm and F arpeggios; use the diminished shapes as pivots. Take it slow and rubato before adding swing.
Clair de Lune chords — the grille
A : | Dm D7 | Gm | C7 | F F#° | Gm A7 | Dm | A7 B♭7 | A7 | Dm D7 | Gm | C7 | F F#° | Gm6 A7 | Dm D° | B♭7 A7 | Dm |
Chords used
Dm · D7 · Gm · C7 · F · F#° · A7 · B♭7 · Gm6 · D°
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Clair de Lune: 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.