Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 1: Melody and Chords

from: Advanced Flatpicking Guitar with Scott Nygaard

This lesson is part of the course Advanced Flatpicking Guitar with Scott Nygaard.

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Learn the essential techniques of bluegrass flatpicking guitar through classic and lesser-known songs and tunes, from bluegrass blues to old-time fiddle tunes to country swing sounds.

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Home Sweet Home

In Part 2 of the lesson on crosspicking, you'll learn the first part of Scott's arrangement of "Home Sweet Home," which mostly uses the traditional 3-3-2 roll. Since crosspicking is usually used to play song melodies, it's a good idea to learn the melody of a song before tackling a crosspicking arrangement, so Scott starts by making sure you know the melody to "Home Sweet Home" and then takes the arrangement apart phrase by phrase (or roll by roll).

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Minor Swing

Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 1: Melody and Chords

Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 2: 1937 Solo, First Chorus

Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 3: 1937 Solo, More Choruses

Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 4: Play-Along Track for Melody

Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 5: Play-Along Track for Solos

Django’s “Minor Swing,” Part 1: Melody and Chords

Django Reinhardt’s tune “Minor Swing” has become a popular jam favorite among Gypsy jazz musicians as well as bluegrass and string band players of various instruments. Django recorded it a couple of times with Stephane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France, and bluegrass/jazz mandolinist David Grisman popularized a slightly different version in the bluegrass world. In this lesson, you’ll learn the melody and chords from Django’s recordings as well as a solo from his classic 1937 recording (which you can hear here). Scott starts by showing you the melody, which is different when it’s played at the beginning of the tune than it is at the end. You’ll learn both versions of the melody, as well as the harmony line Django played to Grappelli’s violin on the intro melody. Scott also shows you the chords Django (and his guitarist accompanists) used to play “Minor Swing” in this video.

"Minor Swing" Melody (Available to subscribers)

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