Isfahan by Duke Ellington

Overview

Key: D♭ major · Chords used: 27 · Sections: 8

Form: A Section → B Section → A Section → C Section → A Section → A Section → C Section → Tag

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

• D♭maj9 – B♭maj9 – B♭aug7 – E♭13 – Amaj9 – B♭m7♭5/A♭ – A♭7♭9 – D♭maj13 – D♭maj7
  Imaj9 – VImaj9 – VI+7 – II13 – #Vmaj9 – viø⁴₂ – V7b9 – Imaj13 – Imaj7

B Section

• Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm6 – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm6 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fmaj9 – Emaj9 – E♭maj9 – Dmaj9
  #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii6 – #vø7 – #I7b9 – #iv6 – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – IIImaj9 – #IImaj9 – IImaj9 – #Imaj9

A Section 2

• D♭maj9 – B♭maj7 – B♭aug7 – E♭13 – Amaj9 – B♭m7♭5/A♭ – A♭7♭9 – D♭7♭9
  Imaj9 – VImaj7 – VI+7 – II13 – #Vmaj9 – viø⁴₂ – V7b9 – I7b9

C Section 1

• G♭6 – C7♭9 – F7♯9 – B♭9 – E♭13 – A♭7♭9 – A♭aug7 – D♭maj13
  IV6 – VII7b9 – III7#9 – VI9 – II13 – V7b9 – V+7 – Imaj13

A Section 3

• D♭maj9 – B♭maj9 – B♭7♭9 – E♭13 – Amaj9 – A7♭9 – A♭7♭9 – D♭maj13
  Imaj9 – VImaj9 – VI7b9 – II13 – #Vmaj9 – #V7b9 – V7b9 – Imaj13

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 2.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

Tag

• E♭13 – A♭7♭9 – A♭aug7 – D♭maj13
  II13 – V7b9 – V+7 – Imaj13

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Amaj9 (#Vmaj9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• A♭7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• Emaj9 (#IImaj9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• A♭aug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Isfahan” (credited “Strayhorn-Ellington”, 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).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• 13 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.