Swing 42 — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Swing 42 by Django Reinhardt — key of C (manouche), form A A2 B A3. 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
A Django Reinhardt original first recorded in November 1941, Swing 42 is one of his most-played themes and a rite of passage in the gypsy-jazz songbook.
The sound — bright C major built on rolling ii–V turns, with a Gm6 and Fm6 tucking minor colour into the changes and a bridge that lifts up to E major.
Practising it — nail the recurring ii–V–I (Dm–G7–C) at speed, and work the m6 arpeggios (Gm6, Fm6) as the tune's signature colour. Learn the bridge modulation separately, then splice it in. A real up-tempo workout.
Swing 42 chords — the grille
A : | C Am | Dm G7 | C Am | Dm G7 | Gm6 A7 | Dm G7 | C Am | Dm G7 |
A2 : | C Am | Dm G7 | C Am | Dm G7 | Gm6 A7 | Dm G7 | C Fm6 | C B7 |
B : | E C#m | F#m B7 | E C#m | F#m B7 | E C#m | F#m B7 | E A7 | Dm G7 |
A3 : | C Am | Dm G7 | C Am | Dm G7 | Gm6 A7 | Dm G7 | C Fm6 | C |
Chords used
C · Am · Dm · G7 · Gm6 · A7 · Fm6 · B7 · E · C#m · F#m
The theory in this tune
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Swing 42: 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.