Back Home Again in Indiana Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis | Niels Dalgaard
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Back Home Again in Indiana
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James Hanley · 1917 · F major · AABC, 32 bars

Back Home Again in Indiana — Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

The changes underneath Donna Lee. A tonic that becomes V7/IV, a borrowed minor iv, and then a straight run down the cycle: D7, G7, C7, F. Public domain, so the whole first half is printed here.

Secondary dominants

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: A · Bars 1–13

F | F | F7 | F7 | Bb | Bbm | F | D7 | G7 | G7 | C7 | C7 | F

This is a short excerpt, not the full chart. The composition dates from 1917 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

Jazz Harmony

From tradition to the expectation framework · For any instrument Project 05 · Harmony

Harmonic Narrative

A practical method for creating and understanding harmonic progressions through expectation Project 04 · Jazz guitar

Jazz Guitar Comping

Creating direction through harmony, rhythm and the expectation framework

Harmonic analysis

Key
F major
Tonal center
F
Confidence
High
Chords analysed
13
ChordRoman numeralFunctionWhat it is doingConfidence
FITonicF is the tonic of F. It is where the progression is at rest.High
FITonicF is the tonic of F. It is where the progression is at rest.High
F7I7TonicF7 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
F7I7TonicF7 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
BbIVPredominantBb is the IV chord of F: subdominant. It moves away from the tonic without creating the pull of a dominant.High
BbmivPredominantBbm 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
FITonicF is the tonic of F. It is where the progression is at rest.High
D7V7/iiDominantD7 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
G7V7/VDominantG7 is functioning as V7/V: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of C, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at V instead.Low
G7V7/VDominantG7 is functioning as V7/V: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of C, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at V instead.High
C7V7DominantC7 is the dominant of F. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High
C7V7DominantC7 is the dominant of F. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High
FITonicF is the tonic of F. It is where the progression is at rest.High

What the analyzer found in it

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

In F major the excerpt reads I – I7 – IV – iv – V7/ii – V7/V – V7. Inside those 13 chords there is at least one secondary dominant. Play it slowly with only two voices — the third and seventh of each chord. In F7 those are A and Eb, and watching where that pair goes next tells you more about the progression than the root movement does. The same device turns up in Stella by Starlight, How High the Moon and Ornithology, in other keys and at other tempos.

How the rest of Back Home Again in Indiana goes

A straightforward thirty-two-bar form whose A sections move through secondary dominants at a comfortable rate, with a bridge that goes to the subdominant and returns. Nothing about it is difficult, and that is the point — it exists in the repertoire as a fast vehicle, and it is almost always taken up-tempo. Its harmonic regularity at speed is what made it attractive to bebop players looking for a form they would not have to think about.

Back Home Again in Indiana on record

Published in 1917 by James Hanley with a lyric by Ballard MacDonald, and old enough to be well out of copyright in the United States. Its jazz significance is largely as the source for Miles Davis’s “Donna Lee”, which is written over these changes at a considerably higher tempo. The tune is also a fixture of traditional jazz repertoires, so it is one of the few standards that gets called in both trad and bebop settings, usually at very different speeds.

Analyze this progression

Take these bars into the analyzer and interfere with them. The fastest way to learn what a chord was doing is to remove it and read what the analysis says instead.

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Related

Secondary dominants

What this device is, and the other standards in the library that use it.

Read →

Stella by Starlight

Victor Young · 1944 · B♭ major

Chord progression →

How High the Moon

Morgan Lewis · 1940 · G major

Chord progression →

Ornithology

Charlie Parker · 1946 · G major

Chord progression →

Jazz chord progressions

The families every standard is assembled from, with examples from the library.

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