Georgia on My Mind Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: A1

F | A7 | Dm7 | F7 | Bb | Bbm | F | D7 | Gm7 C7 | F

This is a short excerpt, not the full chart. The composition dates from 1930 and is old enough that it is very likely in the public domain in the United States, which is why the excerpt runs longer here — but copyright status varies by territory and by edition, so treat that as context, not as legal advice.

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

High

Chords analysed

11

Chord	Roman numeral	Function	What it is doing	Confidence
F	bIII	Tonic	F is bIII — the relative major of Dm. It is a tonic-side chord, and it is the usual door between the two keys.	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	i	Tonic	Dm7 is the tonic of Dm. It is where the progression is at rest.	High
F7	I7	Tonic	F7 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
Bb	IV	Predominant	Bb is the IV chord of F: subdominant. It moves away from the tonic without creating the pull of a dominant.	High
Bbm	iv	Predominant	Bbm 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
F	I	Tonic	F 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
F	I	Tonic	F is the tonic of F. It is where the progression is at rest.	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.

ii - V7 - IGm7 - C7 - F

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

V - IC7 - F

The progression closes with an authentic cadence in F.

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 – V7 – i – I7 – IV – iv – I – V7/ii – ii. Inside those 11 chords there is a complete ii-V-I and at least one secondary dominant. 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. Stella by Starlight, How High the Moon and Ornithology use the same device, which is the argument for learning it once properly rather than three times by accident.

How the rest of Georgia on My Mind goes

A thirty-two-bar song that leans heavily on secondary dominants — chords that behave as the dominant of something other than the tonic — to keep the harmony moving under a melody that is mostly long notes. That is what gives the piece its slow-rolling quality: the melody appears static while the ground under it keeps shifting toward new temporary destinations. The bridge is short on incident by design, which lets the A sections carry the character.

Georgia on My Mind on record

Hoagy Carmichael wrote it in 1930 with Stuart Gorrell. Ray Charles recorded it in 1960 in an arrangement with strings that became the definitive version by a wide margin and made it the state song of Georgia. For jazz players the Charles recording is both an asset and an obstacle: it is so completely realised that most instrumental versions end up quoting it whether they intend to or not.

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 →

Georgia on My Mind — 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 Georgia on My Mind goes

Georgia on My Mind on record

Analyze this progression

Related

ii-V-I

Secondary dominants

Stella by Starlight

How High the Moon

Ornithology

Jazz chord progressions