Alone Together Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: A1 · Bars 1–4

Dm6 | Em7b5 A7b9 | Dm6 | Em7b5 A7b9

The books behind this page

Every one of these tunes is assembled out of the same handful of harmonic resources. Jazz Harmony is those resources, explained in the order in which they build on each other.

See all the books

Start here Project 03 · Harmony

Play Alone Together in JamShed

The whole form, not just these bars: JamShed’s trio — double bass, drums and piano — plays it with you at the tempo and in the key you choose. Loop the bars that trip you up, mute the instrument you play, share the link.

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Harmonic analysis

Key

D minor

Tonal center

D

Confidence

High

Chords analysed

6

Chord	Roman numeral	Function	What it is doing	Confidence
Dm6	i	Tonic	Dm6 is the tonic of Dm. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
Em7b5	iiø	Predominant	Em7b5 is the iiø7 of Dm: the predominant of a minor key.	High
A7b9	V7	Dominant	A7b9 is the dominant of Dm. In a minor key it borrows its major third from harmonic minor — that raised note is the leading tone.	High
Dm6	i	Tonic	Dm6 is the tonic of Dm. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
Em7b5	iiø	Predominant	Em7b5 is the iiø7 of Dm: the predominant of a minor key.	High
A7b9	V7	Dominant	A7b9 is the dominant of Dm. In a minor key it borrows its major third from harmonic minor — that raised note is the leading tone.	High

What the analyzer found in it

iiø - V7 - iEm7b5 - A7b9 - Dm6

A complete minor ii-V-i in Dm, with the half-diminished ii and a dominant that borrows its leading tone from harmonic minor.

iiø - V7Em7b5 - A7b9

A ii-V pointing at D, which never arrives. The preparation is complete, the resolution is not.

half cadenceA7b9

The progression stops on the dominant of Dm — a half cadence. It is unfinished on purpose.

High, medium and low next to each numeral are judgements about musical context, not probabilities. A low rating marks a bar that can honestly be read more than one way. How the ratings are decided →

The complete analysis of Alone Together — every chord of the whole form, with its Roman numeral and its ii–V–Is marked on the chart — is in JamShed with the Practice Pass, ready to print. Open it in JamShed →

Why this example matters

Numbered against D minor, the excerpt is i – iiø – V7. Inside those 6 chords there is a complete ii-V-I. Take the roots away and keep the third and seventh. In A7b9 that is Db and G. Those two notes decide where the progression is going, and hearing them move is worth more than naming the chords. Autumn Leaves, All The Things You Are and Tune Up use the same device, which is the argument for learning it once properly rather than three times by accident.

How the rest of Alone Together goes

Forty-four bars instead of thirty-two, because each A section runs fourteen: the minor ii–V–i loop, a move to the subdominant minor, a chain of ii–Vs, and a close on D major rather than minor. That last major chord is the surprise of every chorus, and the bridge answers it with two minor ii–Vs a fifth apart before the final A returns to the loop. Counting the long A sections is the first real difficulty.

Alone Together on record

Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz wrote it for the 1932 revue Flying Colors. It became a jazz vehicle in the 1950s: Chet Baker recorded it in 1959, and Jim Hall and Ron Carter named their 1972 duo album after it, a version that shows how much room the long form leaves for two instruments alone.

Analyze this progression

Open these chords in the analyzer and change them. Move one chord, substitute a dominant, take the ii away — the reading updates and tells you what you just did.

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Alone Together — Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

The books behind this page

Jazz Harmony

The Jazz Guitar Shortcut

Harmonic Narrative

The Jazz Roadmap Lite

Play Alone Together in JamShed

Harmonic analysis

What the analyzer found in it

Why this example matters

How the rest of Alone Together goes

Alone Together on record

Analyze this progression

Related

ii-V-I

Autumn Leaves

All The Things You Are

Tune Up

Jazz chord progressions