Swing Gitan — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Swing Gitan — key of G (traditionnel), 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
Swing Gitan is a staple of the gypsy-jazz jam repertoire, usually credited simply as "traditional." Its exact authorship is disputed - it has also circulated under the title Stéphane Stomp - but it remains a jam-session favourite.
The sound - a compact G minor vamp: the tonic gives way to A7 and D7 (the V of V into V), with a striking A♭ major (♭II) adding a Spanish-tinged colour.
Practising it - lean on G harmonic minor and the D7 arpeggio with its ♭9 resolving to Gm. Treat the A♭ as a bold ♭II accent, and use the tune's simplicity to work your pompe and phrasing at speed.
Swing Gitan chords — the grille
A : | Gm | Gm | A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 | Gm | Gm | A♭ | A♭ | Gm | Gm | A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 | Gm | Gm | A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 | Gm | Gm | A♭ | A♭ | Gm | Gm | A7 | D7 | Gm | D7 |
Chords used
Videos — Swing Gitan
Watch it played
- Swing Gitan | Marta Sierra with Yorgui & Magnio Loeffler — Marta Sierra
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Swing Gitan: 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.