Made in France — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Made in France by Biréli Lagrène — key of E (valse), form Intro A B A 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
Made in France is arguably Biréli Lagrène's best-known composition, a valse manouche that has become a standard covered across the gypsy-jazz world. Lagrène, the Alsatian Romani prodigy who emerged in the 1980s as Django's heir apparent, wrote it as a modern showpiece.
The sound — a lyrical E minor moving through Em7 and its dominant B7, then a run of secondary dominants (E7 to Am7, D7 to G) that brightens into major before the G♭m7♭5–C7 turn back.
Practising it — work E harmonic minor over the Em/B7, then the ii–V arpeggios through the major detour. It's a fast waltz — lock the 3/4 pulse at half speed first, then open up.
Made in France chords — the grille
Intro : | Em7 | Em7 | Em7 | Em7 | Em7 | Em7 | Em7 | Em7 |
A : | Em7 | E7 | Am7 | Am7 | B7 | B7 | Em7 | B7 | Em7 | E7 | Am7 | Am7 | B7 | B7 | Em7 | Em7 |
B : | Am7 | D7 | G | C | F#ø | B7 | Em7 | E7 | Am7 | D7 | G | C | C7 | C7 | B7 | B7 |
C : | B7 | B7 | B7 | B7 | B7 | B7 | B7 | B7 |
Chords used
Em7 · E7 · Am7 · B7 · D7 · G · C · F#ø · C7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Made in France: 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.