Which chord is Django playing in that famous photo?

adrian · May 2013

Hey guys,

So, you know that famous photo of Django? The one used on many CD covers and books? This one?

Which chord is he playing there? Is it a 6/9 shape? A 9th?

Adrian

Passacaglia · May 2013

You're the teacher, Adrian. You tell us.

Actually, if someone can tell me how to just look that cool, whatever chord, I'd be very grateful. 8)

Bob Holo · May 2013

Huh....

Good question. I assumed it was a C/E/A with the C on the D string, but that's because I was into trad jazz before gypsy jazz, and trad jazz guitarists scoot up and down the neck on chunky little 2 & 3 note 'chordlets' quite a bit. Take the form I'm describing (rooted on the D) and root on the A string and you have your 7th... and between those two, you can play acoustic archtop rhythm on about half of the American jazz tunes written in the 1930's (lol). So maybe Django was experimenting with some of the American voicings? Or maybe I'm all wet. Double-stopping and 4, 5, even 6 note chords are so much more common in GJ... I never really stopped to think that there could be more going on because I haven't really looked at this picture closely since I was chunking away on acoustic archtops ;-)

But anyway I thought it was like the chord used in this intro... now I'm not so sure.

Jazzaferri · May 2013

Hard to tell but my guess is a 3 note Cm6 with c on s6 mute5 a on S4 and Eb on S3

lacrossehotclub · May 2013

My take is it's a G 6/9 with the root on the 5th string. Holding a straight edge to photo on the monitor (not precision, but an observation nonetheless) it appears the 6th string is not depressed. There's so much to appreciate about this photograph, a time and a place and a spirit that continues to inspire.

Jazzaferri · May 2013

G6/9 with an F in the root??? S5F8=F

Bones · May 2013

Assuming that is a 14 fret guitar, my guess is a G6/9.

Either that or a Bb demolished (JK)

frater · May 2013

Don't ask Django :-)

Jazzaferri · May 2013

Rofl

Jazzaferri · May 2013

Looking at the pic some more and thinking about It could it be an L 5 Gibson. I first assumed 12 fret but on closer inspection the fret marks make more sense on a 14 si I go with he flow.