A Night in Tunisia by Dizzy Gillespie

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 25

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Interlude → C Section → D Section → D Section → Interlude → Interlude ×2 → Interlude → C Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Interlude → C Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro 1

• E♭7 – Dm
  bII7 – i

Intro 2

• E♭7 – Dm (×3)
  bII7 – i

A Section 1

• E♭7 – Dm (×3)
  bII7 – i

B Section 1

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm
  iiø7 – V7b9 – i

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fmaj7
  iiø7 – V7b9 – i – vø7 – I7b9 – iv7 – ivø7 – bVII7b9 – bIIImaj7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9
  iiø7 – V7b9

Interlude 1

• Dm
  i

C Section 1

• Em7♭5 – E♭7 – Dm7 – G7 – Gmmaj7 – Gm7 – G♭7
  iiø7 – bII7 – i7 – IV7 – ivmaj7 – iv7 – bIV7

D Section 1

• E♭7 – Dm (×3)
  bII7 – i
• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm
  iiø7 – V7b9 – i

D Section 2

• E♭7 – Dm (×3)
  bII7 – i
• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fmaj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9
  iiø7 – V7b9 – i – vø7 – I7b9 – iv7 – ivø7 – bVII7b9 – bIIImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9
• E♭7 – Dm (×3)
  bII7 – i
• Em7♭5 – A7♭9
  iiø7 – V7b9

Interlude 2

• Dm – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fmaj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9
  i – vø7 – I7b9 – iv7 – ivø7 – bVII7b9 – bIIImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9
• E♭7 – Dm (×3)
  bII7 – i
• Em7♭5 – A7♭9
  iiø7 – V7b9

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 2.

Interlude 4

Same chords as Interlude 2.

Interlude 5

Same chords as Interlude 1.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 5

Same chords as B Section 2.

A Section 6

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 6

Same chords as B Section 3.

Interlude 6

Same chords as Interlude 1.

C Section 3

• Em7♭5 – E♭7 – Dm7 – G7 – Gmmaj7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – F6
  iiø7 – bII7 – i7 – IV7 – ivmaj7 – iv7 – bIV7 – bIII6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, D Section, Interlude
Dm	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, Interlude, D Section
Em7♭5	iiø7	In the key	B Section, C Section, D Section, Interlude
A7♭9	V7b9	In the key	B Section, D Section, Interlude
Am7♭5	vø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, D Section, Interlude
D7♭9	I7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	B Section, D Section, Interlude
Gm7	iv7	In the key	B Section, C Section, D Section, Interlude
Gm7♭5	ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, D Section, Interlude
C7♭9	bVII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/bIII)	B Section, D Section, Interlude
Fmaj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	B Section, D Section, Interlude
Dm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
G7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Gmmaj7	ivmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G♭7	bIV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F6	bIII6	In the key	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• D7♭9 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Gm7.
• C7♭9 acts as V/bIII: it resolves to Fmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Night In Tunisia, A Rev” (credited “Gillespie Dizzy”, style Latin) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Night In Tunisia, A” (credited “Gillespie Dizzy”, style Latin) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 94%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.