Dinah — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Dinah by Harry Akst, Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young — key of G (swing), form A. Below is the full chord grid; on Haute Gitanerie you can play along with a scrolling chord ribbon, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and switch on a rhythm backing (la pompe) to practise your solos over the changes.
About
A 1925 Tin Pan Alley hit by Harry Akst (lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young), Dinah was cut by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli in 1934 — an early Quintette showpiece and a favourite up-tempo swing romp ever since.
The sound — bright G major swing built on a cycle of dominants (E7–A7–D7 back to G), with a passing A♭dim7 and a turn through the relative minor (Em, EmMaj7, Em7). Easy, bouncing, made for trading choruses.
Practising it — nail G major and the arpeggios through the dominant cycle, chaining A7 into D7 into G. Great vehicle for la pompe; push the tempo once the changes are automatic.
Dinah chords — the grille
A : | G | C7 | G | G | Am | D7 | G A♭° | Am D7 | G | C7 | G | G | Am | D7 | G | Gm B7 | Em | EmΔ | Em7 | A7 | Em | A7 | Am | D7 | G | C7 | G | G | Am | D7 | G | G |
Chords used
G · C7 · Am · D7 · A♭° · Gm · B7 · Em · EmΔ · Em7 · A7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Dinah: loop any section, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and play over a rhythm accompaniment — with a real recorded pompe on featured tunes. In the browser, free.