Harmonic analysis
Read in D minor, the key of the tune. Taken on its own, with nothing around it, this excerpt is just as easy to hear in B♭ major — a few bars are often not enough to fix a tonic, and that ambiguity is a real property of the music rather than a gap in the analysis.
| Chord | Roman numeral | Function | What it is doing | Confidence |
|---|
| 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 |
| D7 | I7 | Tonic | D7 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 |
| G7 | V7/bVII | Dominant | G7 is functioning as V7/bVII: 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 bVII instead. | High |
| C7 | V7/bIII | Dominant | C7 is functioning as V7/bIII: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of F, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at bIII instead. Also readable as bVII7. | High |
| F7 | V7/bVI | Dominant | F7 is functioning as V7/bVI: a secondary dominant. It is the dominant of Bb, not of the home key, so it borrows the pull of a V-I and points it at bVI instead. | High |
| Bbmaj7 | bVI | Predominant | Bbmaj7 is bVI of Dm, a predominant on the sixth degree of natural minor. | High |
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 →
The complete analysis of Yesterdays — every chord of the whole form, with its Roman numeral and its ii–V–Is marked on the chart — is in JamShed with the Practice Pass, ready to print. Open it in JamShed →
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Project 03 · Harmony
Project 07 · Jazz guitar
Project 05 · Harmony
