Secondary Dominant Chords

One of the ways to have a song be identified with a style is to be about a theme associated with the style. Another is to use familiar chords and progressions. There is a continuum in harmonic complexity, with country songs being the simplest and jazz the most complex.

I, IV, and V chords

Many blues, country, rock and roll, and folk songs use only I, IV, and V chords. The next richest scenario is to mix in the rest of the chords in the diatonic collection: ii, iii, and vi. The diminished vii° chord is not very commonly used.

Example: Red River Valley - traditional

Example: Twist and Shoult - John Lennon and Paul McCartney (The Beatles)

Add in the Rest of the Diatonic Chords

The next degree of harmonic complexity is to use add the rest of the diatonic chords. To the basic I, IV, and V chords you can add i, ii, iii, and vi.

Secondary Dominants

The next degree of harmonic complexity is to add one or more secondary dominants. Secondary dominants are V or V7 dominant chords of other diatonic chords in key besides the I chord.

In C major C is the I chord. a G chord is the dominant V of C.

In C major Dm is the ii chord. The V7 chord in the key of D is A. The progression A7 to Dm in the context of C major could be analyzed as V/ii going to ii. The "/" slash is read as "of", and in this case you would say "Five of Two".

Secondary dominants in C major.

Minor keys can have two dominant chords: i ii° III iv V VI VII i

When the VII chord is followed by the III it sounds like V/III to III.

Here's the chorus from "Oops! I Did it Again". The contrast of the chorus with the bridge and a lot of the power comes from the high percentage of dominant chords and their resolutions to I and III (the relative major of C#m). [ score ]

Oops! I Did It Again - Max Martin and Rami Yacoub (Britney Spears)

Check your understanding:

1. Analyze this progression in the key of G:

G C D7 G B7 Em D7 G

Check your work

2. Analyze this progression in the key of A:

A F#7 Bm D A

Check your work

The next layer of harmonic complexity is to add borrowed chords, which we will study in the context of rock music.

Adding 9 chords and other extensions can create a jazzier feel, as in David Foster's "Through the Fire" sung by Chaka Khan.

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In G major:

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In A major:

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