Our Music Blog : 2015 Term 3, Week 7: Guitarist Django Reinhardt

This is Django Reinhardt performing live with Stephane Grapelli and the Quintette du Hot Club.

Django Reinhardt is considered to be one of the world’s all-time greatest guitarists.

He was born in 1910 in Belgium His parents were French gypsies and he grew up in gypsy camps near Paris, in France. His father was a musician and entertainer, and his mother was a dancer. His real name was Jean but he was called Django which means “I awake” in the Romani language of his parents.

When he was young, he learnt to play the violin and an instrument which was a cross between a banjo and a guitar. He mostly taught himself to play by copying other musicians, and he never learnt to read or write music. By the time he was 13 years old, he was able to make a living playing music. He had very little school education and only learnt the basics of reading and writing when he was an adult.

A young Django Reinhardt - before his fingers were damaged.

He played popular French music and then became interested in American jazz music and he was becoming a very promising musician in the Paris club scene in the mid 1920s.

In 1928 he suffered serious burns in a fire in his caravan and he severely damaged the fourth and fifth fingers on his left hand and could no longer use them to press on the guitar strings. He continued to play the guitar using on his index finger, middle finger and thumb for guitar solos. (Watch the video to see how he did it.)

Famous French singer Edith Piaf looks at Django's damaged hand.

Can you see how his fingers and hand were damaged in the fire?

He developed a new style of jazz guitar technique - sometimes called ‘hot’ jazz or gypsy swing. Django formed a band with another French musician called Stéphane Grappelli who played the violin. They were called the Quintette du Hot Club de France and were considered to be one of the most original jazz bands of all time.

Reinhardt died in France in 1953 from a massive stroke. He was aged 43.

Here's another video of the Quintette du Hot Club playing J'attendrai. What do you notice about the guitars?

This is a short video about the death of Django and his funeral. It has some interesting information about gypsy customs and culture.

Follow this link to learn about notation - the names of the notes we use in music.