Half Nelson Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: Turnaround · Bars 15–16 · two chords per bar, resolving onto bar 1

Cmaj7 | Ebmaj7 | Abmaj7 | Dbmaj7 | 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
Ebmaj7	bIII	Modal interchange	Ebmaj7 is bIII, borrowed from the parallel minor.	Low
Abmaj7	bVI	Modal interchange	Abmaj7 is bVI, borrowed from the parallel minor. It is the most common modal interchange chord in the repertoire after minor iv.	Medium
Dbmaj7	bII	Chromatic	Dbmaj7 approaches Cmaj7 chromatically from above, keeping the same chord shape. The motion is voice leading, not function.	Low
Cmaj7	I	Tonic	Cmaj7 is the tonic of C. It is where the progression is at rest.	High

What the analyzer found in it

modal interchangeEbmaj7, Abmaj7

Modal interchange: Ebmaj7, Abmaj7 come from the parallel mode of C, 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

Read in C major, these bars come out as I – bIII – bVI – bII. Inside those 5 chords there is a chord borrowed from the parallel mode. There is no dominant to lean on, so the phrase is carried by whichever note refuses to settle. Sustain each chord long enough to hear which one that is before moving on. You will meet the same move again in Blues for Alice, All Blues and So What, transposed and at a different pace.

How the rest of Half Nelson goes

A contrafact on Lady Bird: the same sixteen bars and the same harmony, including the descending major-chord ending, with a new bebop line written over it. Comparing the two is unusually instructive because the source is not a well-worn standard but a recent composition by a contemporary — this is bebop borrowing from itself rather than from Broadway, and it shows how quickly the practice turned inward.

Half Nelson on record

Miles Davis recorded it in 1948 and is the credited composer, though its relationship to Dameron’s tune has never been in doubt and was not hidden — the two men worked together in this period. It is a good early example of Davis as a writer, several years before the material he is better known for, and the line is more angular than most of what he wrote later.

Analyze this progression

The excerpt is loaded and editable. Swap a chord for its tritone substitute, delete the preparation, borrow one from the parallel minor, and watch which numerals change and which do not.

Open in Jazz Harmony Analyzer →

Half Nelson — 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 Half Nelson goes

Half Nelson on record

Analyze this progression

Related

Modal interchange

Tritone substitution

Blues for Alice

All Blues

So What

Jazz chord progressions