Embraceable You — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Embraceable You by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin — key of G (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
Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, written in 1928 and introduced in the 1930 Broadway show Girl Crazy. Billie Holiday's 1944 recording made it an enduring jazz ballad.
The sound — a warm G major ballad that never sits still: it drifts through ii-V motion, chromatic passing diminished chords (B♭dim, A♭dim) and secondary dominants (B7, E7, A7) before easing home.
Practising it — take it slow and lyrical. Learn the ii-Vs and target the guide tones, the 3rd and 7th of each chord, so your line threads the changes rather than chasing them. Let the melody breathe.
Embraceable You chords — the grille
A : | G | B♭° | Am | A♭° | Am | Aø D7 | G | B7 | Em | C#ø F#7 | Bm | E7 | D E♭° | Em A7 | D7 A♭° | Am D7 | G | B♭° | Am | A♭° | Am | Aø D7 | G | Dm G7 | C | F#ø B7 | Em | C#ø Cm | Bm B♭° | Aø D7 | G | G |
Chords used
G · B♭° · Am · A♭° · Aø · D7 · B7 · Em · C#ø · F#7 · Bm · E7 · D · E♭° · A7 · Dm · G7 · C · F#ø · Cm
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Embraceable You: 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.