"I'll See you In My Dreams" intro analysis

awelles

Can anyone explain what the Bm7 is doing in Django's intro other than sounding really cool?

As for the rest here's how I hear it:

First he paraphrases the melody on top of a Bb triad then moves to a kind of rootless voicing of the Bbm and then to the Fmaj7 (all in keeping with the chord progression so far). Then the inexplicable Bm7. Bbdim resolves to F, and an F7#5 sets up the Bb6 which begins the chord progression of the song.

Really love this intro. I wonder if Django would just ad lib these things or if they were premeditated at all. In a Sentimental Mood is another of my favorites.

Bones

I'm not positive about the actual transcription but I just play something that states the first part of the melody (chordally) then cycles down from D7 to F and basically involves:

Bb, Bbm6/9, D9, G9, F#9, F6, Faug

I don't think there is any Bm in there but I've never checked it out that closely. If you still think so I'll listen to it again and try to get an accurate transcription going (I probably should do that anyway but I've always just faked it and it sounds about right).

The Bb to Bbm is stating the melody. The top part of the Bbm6 drops down chromatically one fret and becomes D9. D9 leads to G9. Chromatically to F#7 (C7 tritone sub), then to F, F7 and back to the top at Bb.

lacrossehotclub

Tweaking Bones comment a bit the intro chords seem to suggest this progression-

Bb Bbm F G7 Bbm F

with embellishments and sub-

Bb Bbm6/9 Fmaj7 Bm7b5 Bbm6 Faug

The genious chord to my ear is the Bm7b5 sub (implies G9, no root) and sets up the B bass note to resolve perfectly to root of Bbm6, and then finally to F the tonic.

Agreed, it's a beautiful intro and solo - every note is simply perfect. It's probably my desert island Django recording. As to how much of it was improvised I'll leave it to someone else to speculate. It would be telling to compare different versions of the song but to my knowledge there is only the one classic recording.

Jazzaferri

Deleted ...bad eyesight lol...nope my eyes were right

Bm7b5. = B D F A

G9 = G B D F A

I am not sure which version you are listening to....the one I hear is a bit different

jimvence

If you think of that into as if it were played over the chord changes, Django plays Fmaj7 over an F chord, and that Bm7b5 over what would be the E7. A simple sub trick over a dom chord is to play a minor triad a fifth away. a straight Bm7 would yield B D F# A, but since the chord in question comes from and goes back to an F, the constant "F" tone in F to Bm7b5 to F makes sense.

Since you are playing over a dominant 7 chord (E7), pretty much anything that doesn't include the natural 7th (Eb) in this case, could be applied.

Steveareno

Been trying to figure out this intro for quite a while and have a version that sorta works. Seems like everyone does it a little differently. Some just skip the intro and launch straight in. I'll give you're versions a try. Looks pretty "correct" to me. Great tune. To add to the confusion, the fingerpicking arrangement, ala Chet and Merle seems like a different spin altogether, but also very cool. Thanks for posting.
Swang on,

Bones

Hey Lacrosse and Jazza,

I think you guys have solved the mystery G9 = Bm7b5 (if you omit the G).

In that intro I play the G9 with B in the bass on the 5th string. I should have figured that was what he was talking about but I have always thought of it as a G9 in that context.

Now my curiousity is up. I'll load the mp3 into WMP and slow it down to try to get an accurate transcription of what The Master is doing there.

Should really have done that before anyway and that will be a good warm up to get these old fingers working on a cold morning.

Bones

Ok, I think that it is pretty close except that where I had D9 (with the F# in the bass, 4th string) should actually be Fmaj7 (with F in the bass, 4th string) but it isn't a big difference as the notes on the top 3 strings are identical.

I hope that helps.

Blue Drag

Here is a PDF of Django's Version of "I'll See You in My Dreams" (intro included).
I believe it is by Dennis Chang (it says Dennic C.)

Bones

Thanks BD, I think that clears it up!

awelles

Yes thanks for that Blue Drag. The intro on that transcription is very accurate (he does notate Bm7 but call it Bm7b5 though but that just gives more credence to the G9 theory)