Guitar II: Minor Swing

Django Reinhardt was a major force in popularizing the guitar in the 30's and 40's. He was a virtuoso who got around the guitar neck by only using 2 fingers (his hand was injured in a fire).

I would like to introduce you to one of his trademark songs "Minor Swing".

Here is a youtube clip of the original recording...

The main melody of the song uses the primary chords in Aminor. The solo section also uses those primary chords, but in a slightly different progression.

Am / / /  |Am / / / |Dm / / / |Dm / / / |

E7 / / /  |E7 / / / | Am / / / |Am / / / |

Dm / / / |Dm / / / |Am / / / |Am / / / |

E7 / / / |E7 / / / |Am / / / |Am / / / |

A gypsy guitarist named Stefane Wrembel has created some nice backing tracks to a slew (that is the correct term when talking about Gypsy Jazz) of Gypsy Jazz standards.

Here is a direct link to a backing track for Minor Swing.

While listening to the backing track, I would encourage you to try soloing using the A minor scale. This scale expands upon the pentatonic scale, giving you more note choices.

Here is the final chorus of the song Minor Swing. The theme is similar to the opening melody but follows the chord changes of the solo. It also has a great little chromatic lick to end the song.

Enjoy!