Django Reinhardt’s Melodic Formulas (“Licks”) Here are forty-one melodic formulas that comprise part of Django Reinhardt’s musical vocabulary. This isn’t an exhaustive list—there are more. It’s just some of the common ones. A lot more information about these formulas, including several complete solo transcriptions illustrating their use, can be found in the third chapter of my book, The Music of Django Reinhardt (University of Michigan Press, 2010). The book doesn’t include tablature notation. For quite a few of the listed formulas, I’ve shown more than one variant (for example, the first one shows four variants: F1a, F1b, F1c, and F1d). The variants are grouped together because they share melodic features—they’re not necessarily fingered similarly. The tablature beneath the standard staff notation shows plausible ways of fingering each formula. Naturally, there are lots of alternatives, and I haven’t necessarily tried to guess how Reinhardt himself might have fingered them. What’s more, since I’m a very bad guitarist, I probably haven’t even always indicated the most logical fingering; sorry—I tried. I’ve transcribed a representative instance of each formula as played by Reinhardt on a specific recording. Beneath the staff notation, I’ve indicated the track title, date, and measure number where each selected example occurs. (The measures are numbered by chorus and by bar number within each given chorus. For instance, “2.3” means the third bar of the second chorus.) Above the staff notation, I’ve shown the harmonies over which Reinhardt played each transcribed formula. I’ve used both lead-sheet symbols and Roman numerals—so, if the harmonic indication says “D7 (V7),” the chord is a D7, functioning as a dominant-seventh (V7) in the key of G major (or G minor). Of course, Reinhardt would transpose most of these formulas up and down the fretboard. He also used some of them in a variety of harmonic contexts—in one or two cases I’ve shown two melodically identical versions of a given formula, with contrasting harmonic settings. If you think you’ve learnt something worthwhile from Django Reinhardt, please consider making a donation to the European Roma Rights Centre: http://www.errc.org If you can’t make a donation, you might still find the ERRC website quite informative. For instance, here are some press releases about the current situation facing Roma in France: http://tinyurl.com/n4rkccg The best way to become a creative improviser is to make up your own licks. The best way to learn somebody else’s licks is by ear. But if you’re interested in understanding Django Reinhardt’s music, the following pages provide some useful information. The most important thing is to have fun! —Ben Givan, June 2014 Transcribed by Ben Givan (I) a) Bb Emin (II) b) C7 (V) F (I) œ œ œ œ F1 b œ œ n## œ nn œ œ œ œ ˙ V b œ Œ n œ œ œ b b 6 8 8 5 T 6 5 8 5 6 7 4 5 5 A 8 5 2 B “Charleston” “A Little Love, “Chicago” “Runnin’ Wild” (4/21/37), 2.7 A Little Kiss” (4/26/37), 2.4 (4/26/37), 4.27 (4/26/37), 1.4 c) A7 (II7) Emin7 (II7) F (I) œ # œ œ ˙ # œ œ œ œ n œ V # nb œ œ œ 7 8 5 5 8 9 7 7 10 10 7 7 “H.C.Q. Strut” “Love’s Melody” “I’m Coming (8/25/39), 2.9 (2/1/46), 2.9 Virginia” (3/7/38), 3.9 d) G (I) D (I) œ # œ # œ œ V œ œ ˙ # œ 3 10 3 10 7 4 7 5 “Dinah” “I’se a Muggin’” (12/34), 1.15 (5/4/36), 2.25 Transcribed by Ben Givan (V7) (IV7/IV) a) A7 Dmin (II) b) Bb7 œ bœ œ # œ œ œ n œ œ œ b bœ œ F2 V # n œ b J œ 9 7 7 5 9 8 8 6 9 6 9 7 7 “A Little Love, “Three Little “Bugle Call Rag” A Little Kiss” Words” (6/14/38), (7/7/37), 9.2 (4/26/37), 1.5 2.29 (V7) c) D7 Cmin (IV) d) Eb (IV) œ # œ œbœ œ œbœ n b œ œ œ V œ œ œ j œ œ œ j b bb bœ œ œ bœ œ œ 5 3 5 3 8 4 1 4 1 11 8 2 0 2 0 8 1 1 3 0 3 0 “The Sunshine of Your “Sweet Chorus” “Charleston” Smile” (4/35), 2.21 (10/15/36), 1.15 (4/21/37), 2.19 F (I) e) G7 (II7) œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ œ œ V b b J œ 10 8 10 9 12 10 10 13 10 10 10 0 “Honeysuckle “Babik” (Take 1) Rose” (1/31/38), 1.6 (5/21/47), 3.21 Transcribed by Ben Givan (I) a) C b) G (I) Bb7 (V7/bVI) œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ # bœ œ nœ F3 V œ œ œ œ bœ 10 8 5 3 8 6 10 8 5 3 8 6 4 0 7 8 “Miss Annabelle “Confessin’” “How High the Lee” (4/26/37), 3.7 (3/35), 2.15 Moon” (3/26/47), 3.7 a) E7 (V7) b) Amin (II) œ nœ œ nœ #œ œ F4 # # j nœ œ œ n# nœ #œ œ V # œ œ œ n J 10 13 10 13 11 12 9 12 9 12 7 10 10 6 9 “Anniversary Song” “Brazil” (7/18/47), 2.25 (7/6/47), 2.13 c) D7 (III7) E 7 (V7) A (I) d) b 3 b bœ œ œ œ œ bœ œ #œ œ œ œ œ bb bb b œ œ œ œ nœ J V b nœ bœ œ 3 3 3 8 11 101110 9 12 11 7 10 8 11 6 8 9 8 7 6 5 8 “Chez Moi a Six “Distraction” (4/16/42), 2.24 Heures” (5/8/42), 3.17 Transcribed by Ben Givan e) Fmin (V) f) D7 (V7) G (I) œ œ bœ nœ œ b œ œ bœ œ n# bœ #œ œ V b œ œ œ œ n œ œ 11 14 12 13 10 13 7 8 8 10 11 5 8 10 8 7 10 7 “All the Things You Are” “Nagasaki” (1-2/49), 2.3 (10/15/36), 1.15 g) C7 (bVII) œ # œ œ bœ V # œ bœ œ 10 8 11 7 9 5 8 “Love’s Melody” (2/1/46), 2.23 (I) (VII) a) D (I) b) Bb (I) c) D C#m7(b5) œ # œ œ n œ # œ œ œ œ F5 # œ œ œ œ œ nbb œ œ œ nn # œ œ V 3 10 7 10 14 12 7 9 7 6 7 7 10 11 14 7 8 11 12 “Moonglow” “I Got Rhythm” “Them There Eyes” (10/21/35), 1.15 (1-2/49), 3.9 (6/14/38), 2.2 Transcribed by Ben Givan B7 (V7/II) œ œ œ œ œ F6 ## j œ œ V œ 3 5 9 7 9 7 7 6 7 “My Sweet” (1/31/38), 3.11 (I) Bb œ œ œ F7 b R œ œ œ œ V b 3 œ 3 10 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 “Hangin’ Around Boudon” (7/7/37), 2.7 G (I) œ # œ œ œ œ F8 V œ œ œ œ 8 7 10 8 9 7 10 9 10 “How High the Moon” (3/26/47), 2.17 Transcribed by Ben Givan F (I) C7 (V7) œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ F9 V b J 12 11 10 10 13 11 10 12 “Honeysuckle Rose” (1/31/38), 1.8 (IV) a) C (I) b) Bb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ F10 #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ V J b 12 15 12 12 15 10 13 10 10 13 10 13 13 13 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 14 14 “Dynamisme” (5/8/42), 4.9 “Japanese Sandman” (5/17/39), 2.19 c) D (I) Bmin (VI) œ œ # œ œ œ V # œ œ œ 10 14 12 11 11 12 9 12 “Daphne” (9/29/37), 3.11 Transcribed by Ben Givan a) A7 (V) nœ #œ œ F11 # bœ nœ #œ nœ nœ bœ nœ œ V # œ #œ œ œ nœ #œ 9 10 11 9 12 13 10 10 12 9 12 8 9 12 13 10 11 “A Little Love, A Little Kiss” (4/26/37), 3.5 B (I) Faug (V) b) b œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ nœ bœ œ œ b œ œ nœ bœ œ œ V b J 10 13 12 9 8 11 10 11 11 10 11 10 9 8 10 12 12 “Hot Lips” (4/22/37), 2.7 c) Bb (I) œ œ j œ œ bœ nœ bb œ #œ nœ œ bœ nœ œ J V 3 13 12 15 14 12 13 11 14 12 12 12 13 14 “Blue Light Blues” (3/7/38), 7.6 Transcribed by Ben Givan D (I) A7 (V) d) 3 # #œ #œ œ nœ nœ #œ œ V # #œ nœ nœ œ #œ #œ 9 10 11 12 10 10 12 8 10 7 9 10 11 “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (4/22/37), 3.29 a) C (I) b) D7 (V7/II) c) A7 (V7) œ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ œ # œ œ œ bœ F12 V œ œ bœ œ b J n # œ 10 10 7 13 10 8 9 11 10 9 9 8 7 10 9 8 7 “Three Little “Avalon” “Coquette” Words” (6/14/38), (7/35), 3.27 (1/31/46), 2.4 2.26 Dmin (II) G7 (V7/IV) (bVI7) d) e) f) Eb7 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ # œ œ œ œ nœ # bœbœ œbœ j V 3 3 œ bœ œ bœ 12 10 10 12 10 12 10 12 10 12 11 10 12 11 10 6 8 6 8 5 6 5 4 “Tornerai” “Nagasaki” “Stompin’ at Decca” (2/1/38), 4.12 (10/15/36), 1.5 (1/31/38), 2.4 Transcribed by Ben Givan a) D7 (V7) b) C7 (V7) c) Fmin (II) œ # n œ œ œ ˙ F13 œ œ b œ bœ œ J bbb nœ bœ œ V œ #œ nœ J 10 8 6 11 8 5 4 3 4 9 8 12 5 4 3 “Stompin’ at Decca” “Honeysuckle “Songe d’Automne” (1/31/38), 2.24 Rose” (1/31/38), (5/21/47), 3.2 1.9 E7 (V7) D7 (V7/IV) 3 d) œ ˙ # œ œ œ V œ œ œ #œ # œ œ nœ 10 10 12 9 11 7 9 7 6 12 11 10 “Minor Swing” “Daphne” (9/29/37), 3.13 (1–2/49), 2.14 a) F7 (IV7) b)Bmin (III) Bbdim (bIII) c) F#min (II) œ œ œ œ œ œ.