Harmonic analysis
| Chord | Roman numeral | Function | What it is doing | Confidence |
|---|
| Ab | I | Tonic | Ab is the tonic of Ab. It is where the progression is at rest. | High |
| Ab | I | Tonic | Ab is the tonic of Ab. It is where the progression is at rest. | High |
| Ab7 | I7 | Tonic | Ab7 is the tonic, but built as a dominant seventh — the sound that defines the blues. The tonic keeps a b7 and stays at home anyway. | High |
| Ab7 | I7 | Tonic | Ab7 is the tonic, but built as a dominant seventh — the sound that defines the blues. The tonic keeps a b7 and stays at home anyway. Also readable as V7/IV. | Medium |
| Db | IV | Predominant | Db is the IV chord of Ab: subdominant. It moves away from the tonic without creating the pull of a dominant. | High |
| Dbm | iv | Predominant | Dbm 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. | Medium |
| Ab | I | Tonic | Ab is the tonic of Ab. It is where the progression is at rest. | High |
| F7 | V7/ii | Dominant | F7 is functioning as V7/ii: 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 ii instead. | Medium |
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 Donna Lee — 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 →
Project 03 · Harmony
Project 07 · Jazz guitar
Project 10 · Jazz guitar
