He studied at the Dana Musical Institute in Warren, Ohio (now part of Youngstown State University).
The Harry L. Alford Arranging Studios moved into the entire sixth floor of the State-Lake Theater in the early 1920s.
The director of the University of Illinois Band, Albert Austin Harding, commissioned him for some of the first football halftime extravaganza shows.
Another composition for Harding's band was The March of the Illini (1928, originally titled The Battle of Tippecanoe).
Alford conducted the Knight's Templar Band of the Siloam Commandery in Chicago from 1927 until he died.
Alford was described in 1921 as being of medium height and build, quick and nervous and full of pep, and speaking rapidly in a high tenor voice.
Amongst Alford's closest friends were circus bandleader Merle Evans and composer and band leader John Philip Sousa.
When Sousa came to Alford's house for a meal, Lucille insisted he take off his white gloves before he could eat.
It was at that facility that he died after suffering a fatal heart attack on March 4, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois.