If I Should Lose You — Chord Changes & Harmonic Analysis
- Composer:
- Ralph Rainger
- Year:
- 1935
- Key:
- Db major
- Form:
- ABAC (32 bars)
- Style:
- Jazz Standard
- Tempo:
- 120–200 BPM
A beautiful ballad with rich harmonic movement, popular among bebop musicians. Features chromatic descending bass lines and ii-V progressions.
About This Standard
Composed by Ralph Rainger with lyrics by Leo Robin for the 1935 film Rose of the Rancho, If I Should Lose You became a jazz standard through its sophisticated chord changes and sweeping melody. It is one of the more harmonically adventurous ballads from the era, making it a favorite with jazz musicians who appreciated its unusual chromatic movements.
Notable recordings:
- Bill Evans — (various recordings)
- Joe Pass — (various recordings)
- Widely recorded — (jazz ballad standard)
Chord Changes
Notation
Harmonic Analysis
If I Should Lose You is a 32-bar AABA ballad in Bb major with notably sophisticated harmony for a 1935 film song. The A section features chromatic ii-V progressions that move through non-diatonic key areas, giving the tune an adventurous, harmonically rich character. The tune's unusual harmonic language — which anticipates some of the chromatic ideas that bebop musicians would later explore — has kept it in the jazz repertoire as a vehicle for sophisticated ballad playing.