Oleo Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis | Niels Dalgaard
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Oleo
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Sonny Rollins · 1954 · B♭ major · AABA, 32 bars

Oleo — Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

Rhythm changes with the melody stripped down to almost nothing, which puts the harmony in the foreground. The A section is I-VI-ii-V twice, and the VI is a secondary dominant aimed at ii.

ii-V-I Secondary dominants

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: A1 · Bars 1–4

Bb G7 | Cm7 F7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 F7

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

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
Bb major
Tonal center
Bb
Confidence
Medium
Chords analysed
8
ChordRoman numeralFunctionWhat it is doingConfidence
BbITonicBb is the tonic of Bb. It is where the progression is at rest.High
G7V7/iiDominantG7 is functioning as V7/ii: 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 ii instead.High
Cm7iiPredominantCm7 is the ii chord of Bb: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.High
F7V7DominantF7 is the dominant of Bb. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High
Dm7ii/iiPredominantDm7 is the ii of a secondary ii-V. Together with G7 it prepares C, so the pair tonicizes ii without leaving the key. Also readable as iii.High
G7V7/iiDominantG7 is functioning as V7/ii: 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 ii instead.High
Cm7iiPredominantCm7 is the ii chord of Bb: the classic predominant. It prepares the dominant and almost always moves to it.High
F7V7DominantF7 is the dominant of Bb. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High

What the analyzer found in it

ii - V7Cm7 - F7

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

ii/ii - V7/ii - iiDm7 - 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.

ii - V7Cm7 - F7

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

half cadenceF7

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

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 Bb major, these bars come out as I – V7/ii – ii – V7 – ii/ii. Inside those 8 chords there is a complete ii-V-I and at least one secondary dominant. The shortest way in is a two-voice reduction: third and seventh only, slowly. G7 contributes B and F, and where that pair resolves is the whole story of the passage. The excerpt above is note for note the same as the one quoted on Anthropology, Rhythm-a-ning and Moose the Mooche, so the reading below is identical on those pages too. That is not a shortcut: these tunes really are built on the same harmony, and what separates them is the melody written over it. You will meet the same move again in Stella by Starlight, How High the Moon and Ornithology, transposed and at a different pace.

How the rest of Oleo goes

A rhythm changes contrafact whose distinguishing feature is what it leaves out. The melody occupies only part of each A section and then stops, leaving bars where the horn is silent and the rhythm section is exposed — in the classic performances the bass carries those bars alone. The bridge is the standard cycle of dominants, untouched. Learning this tune is therefore mostly learning where not to play, which is an unusual demand for a bebop head and the reason it sounds sparse next to Anthropology on the same changes.

Oleo on record

Sonny Rollins wrote it and it was first recorded in 1954 by the Miles Davis Quintet on the sessions released as Bags’ Groove, with Rollins present. Miles kept it in his book for years and it became a signature vehicle for the group, played fast and with the melody stated sparingly. It is now one of the standard tests for a rhythm section, because the gaps in the head give a bassist nowhere to hide.

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 →

Related

ii-V-I

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

Read →

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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