Blues for Alice Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Form: 12-bar Bird blues · Bars 1–12

Fmaj7 | Em7b5 A7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 F7 | Bb7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Am7 D7 | Abm7 Db7 | Gm7 | C7 | Fmaj7 D7 | Gm7 C7

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

F major

Tonal center

F

Confidence

Medium

Chords analysed

20

Chord	Roman numeral	Function	What it is doing	Confidence
Fmaj7	bIII	Tonic	Fmaj7 is bIII — the relative major of Dm. It is a tonic-side chord, and it is the usual door between the two keys.	High
Em7b5	iiø	Predominant	Em7b5 is the iiø7 of Dm: the predominant of a minor key.	High
A7	V7	Dominant	A7 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
Dm7	ii	Predominant	Dm7 is a minor ii in a minor key, which means the sixth degree is natural: Dorian rather than natural minor.	Medium
G7	V7	Dominant	G7 is the dominant of Cm. In a minor key it borrows its major third from harmonic minor — that raised note is the leading tone.	High
Cm7	i	Tonic	Cm7 is the tonic of Cm. It is where the progression is at rest. Also readable as ii/bVII.	Medium
F7	V7/bVII	Dominant	F7 is functioning as V7/bVII: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of Bb, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at bVII instead.	High
Bb7	bVII7	Other	Bb7 is bVII7: the subtonic as a dominant seventh. It usually moves to bIII or steps down to the tonic. Also readable as V7/bIII.	Medium
Bbm7	iv	Predominant	Bbm7 is a minor iv in a major key, borrowed from the parallel minor. Its b6 pulls down into the third of the tonic — one of the most recognisable sounds in the repertoire. Also readable as ii/bIII.	Medium
Eb7	bVII7	Modal interchange	Eb7 is bVII7 — the backdoor dominant. It comes from the parallel minor and resolves up a whole tone to the tonic instead of down a fifth. Also readable as V7/bIII.	Medium
Am7	iii	Tonic	Am7 is the iii chord. It shares three notes with the tonic, so it often works as a softer stand-in for it. Also readable as ii/ii.	Low
D7	V7/ii	Dominant	D7 is functioning as V7/ii: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of G, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at ii instead.	Low
Abm7	biii	Other	Abm7 does not take a functional role in F. It sits on bIII and is best heard as colour, or as a sign that the tonal center has moved.	Low
Db7	subV7/V	Dominant	Db7 is a tritone substitute — subV7/V. It carries the same tritone as G7, the real dominant of C, but resolves down a semitone instead of down a fifth.	Low
Gm7	ii	Predominant	Gm7 is the ii chord of F: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.	High
C7	V7	Dominant	C7 is the dominant of F. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.	High
Fmaj7	I	Tonic	Fmaj7 is the tonic of F. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
D7	V7/ii	Dominant	D7 is functioning as V7/ii: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of G, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at ii instead.	High
Gm7	ii	Predominant	Gm7 is the ii chord of F: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.	High
C7	V7	Dominant	C7 is the dominant of F. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.	High

What the analyzer found in it

Relative keyD minor

Bars 1-3 are in D minor, the relative key. The notes are the same; the center is not.

ModulationC minor

Bars 3-5 are heard in C minor: the harmony cadences there and stays long enough to become a key.

iiø - V7 - iiEm7b5 - A7 - Dm7

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

ii - V7 - iDm7 - G7 - Cm7

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

i - V7/bVII - bVII7Cm7 - F7 - Bb7

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

iv - bVII7Bbm7 - Eb7

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

iii - V7/iiAm7 - D7

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

ii - V7 - IGm7 - C7 - Fmaj7

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

ii - V7Gm7 - C7

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

half cadenceC7

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

modal interchangeEb7

Modal interchange: Eb7 come from the parallel mode of F, not from the key itself.

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 F major, the excerpt is bIII – iiø – V7 – ii – i – V7/bVII – bVII7 – iv – iii – V7/ii – biii – subV7/V – I. Inside those 20 chords there is a complete ii-V-I, at least one secondary dominant, a tritone substitute and a chord borrowed from the parallel mode. Take the roots away and keep the third and seventh. In A7 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 Blues for Alice goes

A blues in name and length only. Instead of holding the tonic for four bars, the tune starts descending immediately through a chain of ii-V pairs that steps down by whole tone, so the twelve bars contain more cadences than most thirty-two-bar standards. Players call this the “Bird blues” and use it as shorthand for the whole family. If you can hear the ordinary blues underneath it — and the arrival points are still in the same places — you have understood what substitution actually is: the same skeleton with more joints.

Blues for Alice on record

Charlie Parker recorded it in 1951. The reharmonisation was not invented for this tune — Parker had been playing versions of it for years — but this is where it was written down in its clearest form, and the changes have carried his name ever since. Any session where someone calls “Bird blues in F” is asking for this, and being able to play it is the usual dividing line between a beginner’s and an intermediate player’s blues vocabulary.

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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Blues for Alice — 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 Blues for Alice goes

Blues for Alice on record

Analyze this progression

Related

Modal interchange

ii-V-I

Secondary dominants

Tritone substitution

Autumn Leaves

All The Things You Are

Tune Up

Jazz chord progressions