La Foule — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
La Foule by Michel Rivgauche & Ángel Cabral — key of E (musette), form Intro A B. 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
La Foule began life as Que nadie sepa mi sufrir, a 1936 Peruvian waltz by the Argentine Ángel Cabral. Édith Piaf heard it touring South America and, with new French lyrics by Michel Rivgauche, released it in 1957 as one of her signature recordings.
The sound — a whirling E minor waltz in 3/4, its lurching momentum evoking a crowd sweeping you along. Bright and dramatic.
Practising it — lock the 3/4 pulse first. Work the E harmonic minor scale and the surrounding arpeggios (Am, B7, Em), and let the waltz lift on beat one rather than plodding through it.
La Foule chords — the grille
Intro : | Am | Am | Em | Em | B7 | B7 | Em | Em |
A : | Em | C | Am | Am | D7 | D7 | G | G | B7 | B7 | Em | Em | C7 | F#7 | B7 | B7 | Em | C | Am | Am | D7 | D7 | G | G | B7 | B7 | Em | Em | C7 | B7 | Em | Em |
B : | D7 | D7 | G | G | D7 | D7 | G | G | B7 | B7 | Em | Em | C7 | F#7 | B7 | B7 | D7 | D7 | G | G | D7 | D7 | G | G | B7 | B7 | Em | Em | C7 | B7 | Em | Em |
Chords used
Am · Em · B7 · C · D7 · G · C7 · F#7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for La Foule: 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.