Blue Moon Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: A1 · Bars 1–5

Cmaj7 | Am7 | Dm7 | G7 | Cmaj7

This is a short excerpt quoted for analysis, not the full chart, and this composition is very likely still in copyright. Published versions and recordings disagree with each other about the rest of the tune, and often about these bars too.

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.

Start here Project 03 · Harmony

Harmonic analysis

Key

C major

Tonal center

C

Confidence

High

Chords analysed

5

Chord	Roman numeral	Function	What it is doing	Confidence
Cmaj7	I	Tonic	Cmaj7 is the tonic of C. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
Am7	vi	Tonic	Am7 is the vi chord — the relative minor. It shares three notes with the tonic and often replaces it.	High
Dm7	ii	Predominant	Dm7 is the ii chord of C: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.	High
G7	V7	Dominant	G7 is the dominant of C. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.	High
Cmaj7	I	Tonic	Cmaj7 is the tonic of C. It is where the progression is at rest.	High

What the analyzer found in it

I - vi - ii - VCmaj7 - Am7 - Dm7 - G7

A I-vi-ii-V turnaround: the four-chord loop that sends a section back to its beginning.

ii - V7 - IDm7 - G7 - Cmaj7

A complete ii-V-I in C. Predominant, dominant, tonic: the sentence jazz harmony is built out of.

V - IG7 - Cmaj7

The progression closes with an authentic cadence in C.

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 →

Why this example matters

Numbered against C major, the excerpt is I – vi – ii – V7. Inside those 5 chords there is a complete ii-V-I and a turnaround. Take the roots away and keep the third and seventh. In G7 that is B and F. 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 Blue Moon goes

The A sections are one four-chord turnaround stated over and over, which is why the tune is used as the standard example of that cycle and why it is often the first form a beginner improvises on. There is no harmonic surprise anywhere; the bridge moves briefly to the subdominant and comes straight back. Everything interesting about a performance of it therefore has to be supplied by the players, and the very plainness that makes it easy also makes it unforgiving over more than two choruses.

Blue Moon on record

Rodgers and Hart wrote it in 1934, and it went through three complete rewrites with different lyrics before reaching the version that survived — it is the only Rodgers and Hart standard not written for a stage show or a film scene. Its later life is largely outside jazz: the Marcels’ 1961 doo-wop recording is probably the best-known version of the tune in any genre.

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.

Open in Jazz Harmony Analyzer →

Blue Moon — Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

The books behind this page

Jazz Harmony

Harmonic Narrative

Jazz Guitar Comping

Harmonic analysis

What the analyzer found in it

Why this example matters

How the rest of Blue Moon goes

Blue Moon on record

Analyze this progression

Related

ii-V-I

Autumn Leaves

All The Things You Are

Tune Up

Jazz chord progressions