Airegin by Sonny Rollins

Overview

Key: F minor · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → B Section → A Section → 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

A Section 1

• Fm – C7♯9 – Fm – F7♭9 – B♭m – F7♯9 – B♭m – B♭7
  i – V7#9 – i – I7b9 – iv – I7#9 – iv – IV7

B Section

• D♭maj7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bmaj7 – Cm7 – F7 – B♭maj7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9
  bVImaj7 – vi7 – II7 – Vmaj7 – #v7 – #I7 – #IVmaj7 – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section

• D♭maj7 – Dm7♭5 – G7 – Cm7♭5 – F7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭ – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9
  bVImaj7 – viø7 – II7 – vø7 – I7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIII – iiø7 – V7b9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C7♯9	V7#9	In the key	A Section
F7♭9	I7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	A Section
B♭m	iv	In the key	A Section
F7♯9	I7#9	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	A Section
B♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D♭maj7	bVImaj7	In the key	B Section, C Section
Dm7	vi7	Borrowed from F major	B Section
G7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
Cmaj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
C♯m7	#v7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F♯7	#I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bmaj7	#IVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm7	v7	In the key	B Section
F7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	C Section
B♭maj7	IVmaj7	Borrowed from F major	B Section
B♭m7	iv7	In the key	B Section, C Section
E♭7	bVII7	In the key	B Section, C Section
A♭maj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	B Section
Gm7♭5	iiø7	In the key	B Section, C Section
C7♭9	V7b9	In the key	B Section, C Section
Dm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Cm7♭5	vø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭	bIII	In the key	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Dm7 (vi7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F major.
• B♭maj7 (IVmaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F major.
• F7♭9 acts as V/iv: it resolves to B♭m.
• F7♯9 acts as V/iv: it resolves to B♭m.
• F7 acts as V/iv: it resolves to B♭m7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Airegin” (credited “Rollins Sonny”, style Up Tempo Swing) 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 “Airegin” (credited “Rollins Sonny”, style Up Tempo Swing) 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 86%).
• 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.