St. Louis Blues Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis | Niels Dalgaard
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St. Louis Blues
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W. C. Handy · 1914 · G major · Multi-strain: 12-bar blues + 16-bar strain

St. Louis Blues — Chord Progression & Harmonic Analysis

The tune that put the twelve-bar blues into printed music, published in 1914 and public domain. Its second strain leaves for the parallel minor, which is why it is also one of the earliest modal interchange lessons in the repertoire.

Roman numeral analysis

Chord progression

Analyzed excerpt

Section: First strain · Form: 12-bar blues · Bars 1–12

G7 | G7 | G7 | G7 | C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 | D7 | D7 | G7 | D7

This is a short excerpt, not the full chart. The composition dates from 1914 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
G major
Tonal center
G
Confidence
High
Chords analysed
12
ChordRoman numeralFunctionWhat it is doingConfidence
G7I7TonicG7 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
G7I7TonicG7 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
G7I7TonicG7 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
G7I7TonicG7 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
C7IV7PredominantC7 is the IV of a blues, built as a dominant seventh. In this context that is its normal quality, not a dominant of anything.High
C7IV7PredominantC7 is the IV of a blues, built as a dominant seventh. In this context that is its normal quality, not a dominant of anything.High
G7I7TonicG7 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
G7I7TonicG7 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
D7V7DominantD7 is the dominant of G. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High
D7V7DominantD7 is the dominant of G. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High
G7I7TonicG7 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
D7V7DominantD7 is the dominant of G. Its third and seventh form a tritone, and that tritone is what makes the tonic feel due.High

What the analyzer found in it

half cadenceD7

The progression stops on the dominant of G — 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

Numbered against G major, the excerpt is I7 – IV7 – V7. There is no substitution and no borrowing in it at all, which is exactly why it is worth playing: it is the sound the substitutions are substituting for. Take the roots away and keep the third and seventh. In G7 that is B and F. Those two notes decide where the progression is going, and hearing them move is worth more than naming the chords. Now’s the Time, Billie’s Bounce and Straight, No Chaser use the same device, which is the argument for learning it once properly rather than three times by accident.

How the rest of St. Louis Blues goes

Not a twelve-bar blues but a multi-section song that contains one. The outer strains are blues choruses; between them sits a passage in the parallel minor set over a habanera rhythm, which was a deliberate borrowing and is the reason the piece sounds unlike anything else from its decade. That minor strain is the part most jazz versions either feature or cut entirely, and knowing which the bandleader intends is the first thing to establish before playing it.

St. Louis Blues on record

W. C. Handy published it in 1914, and it did more than any other single publication to move the blues from an oral tradition into printed commerce. Bessie Smith recorded it in 1925 with Louis Armstrong, a performance that is still the reference. Because it was published in 1914 it is long out of copyright in the United States, which is why the excerpt on this page can run longer than most.

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 →

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