In a Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington Orchestra

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 34 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → A Section → Bridge → A 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

• Dm – Dmmaj7 – Dm7 – Dm6 – D7 – Gm – Gmmaj7 – Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – A7 – Dm – F7/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭m6 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – F6
  i – imaj7 – i7 – i6 – I7 – iv – ivmaj7 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7 – i – bIII⁴₃ – viø7 – bvi6 – v7 – bV7 – iv7 – bIV7 – bIII6

A Section 2

• Dm – Dmmaj7 – Dm7 – Dm6 – D7 – Gm – Gmmaj7 – Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – A7 – Dm – F7/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭m6 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – F6 – E♭m7 – D7
  i – imaj7 – i7 – i6 – I7 – iv – ivmaj7 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7 – i – bIII⁴₃ – viø7 – bvi6 – v7 – bV7 – iv7 – bIV7 – bIII6 – bii7 – I7

Bridge

• D♭maj7 – D♭maj7/C – B♭m7 – B♭m7/F – E♭m7 – E♭m7/G – A♭7 – D7 – D♭6 – D♭6/C – B♭aug7 – B♭aug7/F – E♭m7 – E♭m7/G – A♭7 – D7 – D♭maj7 – D♭maj7/C – B♭m7 – B♭m7/F – E♭m7 – E♭m7/G – A♭7 – D7 – Gm7 – Gm7/D – Gm7/C – Gm7/G – C7
  bImaj7 – bImaj⁴₂ – bvi7 – bvi⁴₃ – bii7 – bii7 (bass G) – bV7 – I7 – bI6 – bI6 (bass C) – bVI+7 – bVI+7 (bass F) – bii7 – bii7 (bass G) – bV7 – I7 – bImaj7 – bImaj⁴₂ – bvi7 – bvi⁴₃ – bii7 – bii7 (bass G) – bV7 – I7 – iv7 – iv⁴₃ – iv7 (bass C) – iv7 – bVII7

A Section 3

• Dm – Dmmaj7 – Dm7 – Dm6 – D7 – Gm – Gmmaj7 – Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – A7 – Dm – F7/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭m6 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – F6 – D♭maj7 – G♭maj7 – Fmaj7
  i – imaj7 – i7 – i6 – I7 – iv – ivmaj7 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7 – i – bIII⁴₃ – viø7 – bvi6 – v7 – bV7 – iv7 – bIV7 – bIII6 – bImaj7 – bIVmaj7 – bIIImaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Dmmaj7	imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Dm6	i6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	A Section, Bridge
Gm	iv	In the key	A Section
Gmmaj7	ivmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm7	iv7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Gm7/F	iv⁴₂	In the key	A Section
Em7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section
A7	V7	In the key	A Section
F7/C	bIII⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m6	bvi6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7	v7	In the key	A Section
A♭7	bV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
G♭7	bIV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F6	bIII6	In the key	A Section
E♭m7	bii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
D♭maj7	bImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge, A Section
D♭maj7/C	bImaj⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭m7	bvi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭m7/F	bvi⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E♭m7/G	bii7 (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D♭6	bI6	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D♭6/C	bI6 (bass C)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭aug7	bVI+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭aug7/F	bVI+7 (bass F)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Gm7/D	iv⁴₃	In the key	Bridge
Gm7/C	iv7 (bass C)	In the key	Bridge
Gm7/G	iv7	In the key	Bridge
C7	bVII7	In the key	Bridge
G♭maj7	bIVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fmaj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• D7 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Gm.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “In A Sentimental Mood-Rev JE” (credited “Ellington Duke”, style Ballad) 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 “In a Sentimental Mood” (credited “Ellington Duke”, style Ballad) 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 60%).
• 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.