Secondary chord

Secondary chords in Maria Szymanowska's Nocturne

in B-flat Major (1852)[1] Play (help·info)

Secondary chords in Mozart's K. 475[2]

Play (help·info)
A secondary chord is an analytical label
for a specific harmonic device that is
prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western
music beginning in the common practice
period: the use of diatonic functions for
tonicization.

Secondary chords are a type of altered or

borrowed chord, chords which are not part
of the key the piece is in. They are by far
the most common sort of altered chord in
tonal music.[3] Secondary chords are
referred to by the function they have and
the key or chord to which they function.
Conventionally, they are written with the
notation "function/key". Thus, the most
common secondary chord, the dominant
of the dominant, is written "V/V" and read
as "five of five" or "the dominant of the
dominant". The major or minor triad on any
diatonic scale degree may have any
secondary function applied to it;
secondary functions may even be applied
to diminished triads in some special
circumstances.

Secondary chords were not used until the

Baroque period and are found more
frequently and freely in the Classical
period, even more so in the Romantic
period. Although they began to be used
less frequently with the breakdown of
conventional harmony in modern classical
music, secondary dominants are a
"cornerstone" of popular music and jazz in
the 20th century.[4]

Secondary dominant

V of V in C, four-part harmony[5] Play (help·info).

Secondary dominants in Beethoven's op. 14, no. 2, II[6]

Play (help·info)
The term secondary dominant (also
applied dominant, artificial dominant, or
borrowed dominant) refers to a triad or
seventh chord built on the dominant, the
fifth scale degree, set to resolve to a scale
degree other than the tonic, with the
dominant of the dominant (written as V/V
or V of V) being the most frequently
encountered.[7] The chord that the
secondary dominant is the dominant of is
said to be a temporarily tonicized chord.
The secondary dominant is normally,
though not always, followed by the
tonicized chord. Tonicizations that last
longer than a phrase are generally
regarded as modulations to a new key (or
new tonic).

According to music theorists David Beach

and Ryan C. McClelland, "[t]he purpose of
the secondary dominant is to place
emphasis on a chord within the diatonic
progression."[8] The secondary-dominant
terminology is still usually applied even if
the chord resolution is nonfunctional. For
example, the V/ii label is still used even if
the V/ii chord is not followed by ii.[9]

Definition
The major scale contains seven basic
chords, which are named with Roman
numeral analysis in ascending order.
Because tonic triads are either major or
minor, you would not expect to find
diminished chords (either the viio in major
or the iio in minor) tonicized by a
secondary dominant.[3] It would also not
make sense for the tonic of the key itself
to be tonicized.

In the key of C major, the five remaining

chords are:
Of these chords, the V chord (G major) is
said to be the dominant of C major.
However, each of the chords from ii to vi
also has its own dominant. For example, V
(G major) has a D major triad as its
dominant. These extra dominant chords
are not part of the key of C major as such
because they include notes that are not
part of the C major scale. Instead, they are
secondary dominants.

The notation below shows the secondary-

dominant chords for C major. Each chord
is accompanied by its standard number in
harmonic notation. In this notation, a
secondary dominant is usually labeled
with the formula "V of ..." (dominant chord
of); thus "V of ii" stands for the dominant
of the ii chord, "V of iii" for the dominant of
iii, and so on. A shorter notation, used
below, is "V/ii", "V/iii", etc.

Note that of the above, V/IV is the same as

I. However, as explained below, they are
significantly different.

Like most chords, secondary dominants

may be seventh chords or chords with
other upper extensions. Dominant seventh
chords are commonly used as secondary
dominants. The notation below shows the
same secondary dominants as above but
with dominant seventh chords.

Chromatic mediants, for example VI is

also a secondary dominant of ii (V/ii) and
III is V/vi, are distinguished from
secondary dominants with context and
analysis revealing the distinction.[10]

Use
In Classical music

Secondary dominants in Beethoven's Symphony No. 1,

introduction.[11] Play (help·info)

Before the 20th century, in music of Bach,

Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, a
secondary dominant, along with its chord
of resolution, was considered a
modulation. Since this was a rather self-
contradictory description, theorists in the
early 1900s, such as Hugo Riemann (who
used the term
"Zwischendominante"—"intermediary
dominant", still the usual German term for
a secondary dominant), searched for a
better description of the phenomenon.

Walter Piston first used the analysis "V7 of

IV" in a monograph entitled Principles of
Harmonic Analysis.[12] (Notably, Piston's
analytical symbol always used the word
"of"—e.g. "V7 of IV" rather than the virgule
"V7/IV.) In his 1941 book Harmony, Piston
used the term "secondary dominant".[13] At
around the same time (1946–48), Arnold
Schoenberg created the expression
"artificial dominant" to describe the same
phenomenon, in his posthumously
published book Structural Functions of
Harmony.[14]

In the fifth edition of Harmony by Walter

Piston and Mark DeVoto,[15] a passage
from the last movement of Mozart's Piano
Sonata K. 283 in G major serves as one
illustration of secondary dominants.

This passage has three secondary

dominants, each followed by the tonicized
chord of which it is the dominant. The final
four chords form a back-cycle, ending in a
standard dominant-tonic cadence, which
concludes the phrase.

The harmony is distributed more subtly

between the notes, and goes faster, in
Mozart's original:

The secondary dominants here create a

rapidly descending chromatic harmony, an
effective approach to the tonic cadence at
the end of the phrase.
In jazz and popular music

Bop cliché arpeggio upwards from third to ninth: A7♭9 ,

which is the secondary dominant of the chord D minor.
The chord D minor is the ii chord innthe key of C.
(V/ii)[16] Play (help·info).

In jazz harmony, a secondary dominant is

any dominant seventh chord which occurs
on a weak beat and resolves downward by
a perfect fifth. Thus, a chord is a
secondary dominant when it functions as
the dominant of some harmonic element
other than the key's tonic and resolves to
that element. This is slightly different from
the traditional use of the term, where a
secondary dominant does not have to be a
seventh chord, occur on a weak beat, or
resolve downward. If a non-diatonic
dominant chord is used on a strong beat, it
is considered an extended dominant. If it
doesn't resolve downward, it may be a
borrowed chord.

Secondary dominants are used in jazz

harmony in the bebop blues and other
blues progression variations, as are
substitute dominants and turnarounds.[16]
In some jazz tunes, all or almost all of the
chords that are used are dominant chords.
For example, in the standard jazz chord
progression ii–V–I, which would normally
be Dm–G7–C in the key of C major, some
tunes will use D7–G7–C7. Since jazz tunes
are often based on the circle of fifths, this
creates long sequences of secondary
dominants.

Secondary dominants are also use in

popular music. Examples include II7 (V7/V)
in Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All
Right" and III7 (V7/vi) in Betty Everett's "The
Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)".[17]
"Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" features
chains of secondary dominants.[18] "Sweet
Georgia Brown" opens with V/V/V–V/V–
V–I. Play (help·info)
Extended dominant

Diatonic I–vi–ii–
V turnaround in
C[19]
Play (help·info)

Non-diatonic I–
VI–II–V–I (I–
V/V/V–V/V–V–I)
progression
Play (help·info)

An extended dominant chord is a

secondary dominant seventh chord that
resolves down by fifth to another dominant
seventh chord. A series of extended
dominant chords continues to resolve
downwards by perfect fifths until they
reach the tonic chord. The most common
extended dominant chord is the tertiary
dominant, which resolves to a secondary
dominant. For example, V/V/V (in C major,
A(7)) resolves to V/V (D(7)), which resolves
to V (G(7)), which resolves to I. Note that
V/V/V is the same chord as V/ii, but differs
in its resolution to a major dominant rather
than a minor chord.

Quaternary dominants are rarer, but an

example is the bridge section of the
rhythm changes, which starts from
V/V/V/V (in C major, E(7)). Though typically
used in jazz, extended dominants have
been used in other contexts as well.

Extended dominant (in this case a tertiary dominant)

relationship in Schubert's German Dance (1819)[20]
Play (help·info).

Successive secondary dominants (extended

dominants) in Chopin's Polonaises, Op.26 (1835)[1]
(V/ii = V/V/V V/vi = V/V/V/V) Play (help·info)
(V/ii = V/V/V, V/vi = V/V/V/V) Play (help·info)

Secondary leading-tone

Secondary leading-tone chord: viio7/V – V in C major

Play (help·info). This may also be considered an
altered IV7 (FACE becomes F♯ACE♭)[21]
♯ivo7=vio7=io7=♭iiio7

Example from "Easy Living".[22] Play (help·info)

In music theory, a secondary leading-tone
chord or secondary diminished seventh
(as in seventh scale degree[23] or leading-
tone, not necessarily seventh chord) is a
secondary chord that is the leading-tone
seventh chord of the tonicized chord,
rather than its dominant. In contrast to
secondary dominant chords, these chords
resolve up by half step.[24] Fully diminished
seventh chords are more common than
half-diminished seventh chords[24] and one
may also find diminished triads (without
sevenths).[23]
viio6/V in Purcell's Z.669 (1696)[2] Play (help·info)

Secondary leading-tone chords may

resolve to either a major or minor diatonic
triad:[24][24]

In major keys: ii, iii, IV, V, vi

In minor keys: III, iv, V, VI

Secondary leading-tone half-diminished chord in

Brahms's Intermezzo, op. 119, no. 3 (1893)[1]
Play (help·info)
For example, viiø7/V or viio7/iv. The chord
progression viio7/V—V—I is quite common
in ragtime music.[24] Especially in four-part
writing, the seventh should resolve
downwards by step and if possible the
lower tritone should resolve appropriately,
inwards if a diminished fifth and outwards
if an augmented fourth.[25] When viiø7
resolves conventionally the chord it
resolves to is tonicized:[24] "A secondary
dominant is like a miniature modulation;
for just an instant, the harmony moves out
of the diatonic chords of the key."[25]
Secondary leading-tone diminished
seventh chords are also useful for
modulation, all four notes may be
considered the root of any diminished
seventh chord.

Leading-tone and secondary leading-tone triads[26]

Play (help·info)

In harmonic analysis secondary sevenths

are expressed in the format viio7x / y,
where x is the correct inversion symbol
(figured bass) and y is the root of the
chord of resolution as a Roman
numeral.[23] Thus, for example, the leading-
tone (viio) of the dominant (V), in its third
4 o4
inversion (2), is vii /V.
2 Secondary leading
tone chords were not used until the
baroque period and are found more
frequently and less conventionally in the
classical period, they are found even more
frequently and freely in the romantic
period, they began to be used less
frequently with the breakdown of
conventional harmony, but secondary
chords are a, "cornerstone," of popular
music and jazz.[4]

Secondary supertonic
Secondary supertonic chord: ii7/V – V/V [– V] in C
major (a7 – D7 [– G]) Play (help·info).

In music theory, the secondary supertonic

chord or secondary second, is a
secondary chord, but rather than being on
the dominant it is on the supertonic scale
degree and rather than tonicizing a degree
other than the tonic, as does a secondary
dominant, it creates a temporary
dominant.[23] Thus the progression ii/V –
V/V – V.
Examples include ii7/III (F♯min.7, in C
major).[27]

Secondary subdominant
The secondary subdominant is IV/x. For
example, in C major, the IV chord is F
major and the IV of IV chord is B-flat major.

Others
The other secondary functions are the
secondary mediant, the secondary
submediant, and the secondary subtonic.

See also
Barbershop seventh chord
 Backdoor progression
Circle progression
Common-tone diminished seventh chord
ii-V-I turnaround
Secondary development
Subtonic

Further reading
Nettles, Barrie & Graf, Richard (1997).
The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz
Harmony. Advance Music, ISBN 3-
89221-056-X
Thompson, David M. (1980). A History of
Harmonic Theory in the United States.
 Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University
Press.

References
1. Benward & Saker (2003), p.276.
2. Benward & Saker (2003), p.275.
3. Kostka, Stefan; Payne, Dorothy (2004).
Tonal Harmony (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-
Hill. p. 246. ISBN 0072852607.
OCLC 51613969 .
4. Benward & Saker (2003), p.273-7.
5. Bruce Benward and Marilyn Nadine Saker
(2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol.
I, seventh edition (): p.269. ISBN 978-0-07-
294262-0.
6. Benward & Saker (2003), p.274.
7. Kostka, Stefan and Dorothy Payne
(2003). Tonal Harmony, p.250. McGraw-Hill.
ISBN 0-07-285260-7.
8. Beach, David and McClelland, Ryan C.
(2012). Analysis of 18th- and 19th-century
Musical Works in the Classical Tradition,
p.32. Routledge. ISBN 9780415806657.
9. Rawlins, Robert and Nor Eddine Bahha
(2005). Jazzology: The Encyclopedia of
Jazz Theory for All Musicians, p.59. ISBN 0-
634-08678-2.
10. Benward & Saker (2003), p.201-204.
11. White, John D. (1976). The Analysis of
Music, p.5. ISBN 0-13-033233-X.
12. Walter Piston, Principles of Harmonic
Analysis (Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1933).
13. Walter Piston, Harmony (New York: W.
W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1941), p. 151:
"These temporary dominant chords have
been referred to by theorists as attendant
chords, parenthesis chords, borrowed
chords, etc. We shall call them secondary
dominants, in the belief that the term is
slightly more descriptive of their function."
14. Arnold Schoenberg, Structural
Functions of Harmony, edited by Humphrey
Searle (New York: W. W. Norton & Company,
Inc., 1954): 15–29, 197. The term "artificial",
however, appears to refer to the alteration
by which a chord is changed into another:
"By substituting for [altering] the third in
minor triads, they produce 'artificial' major
triads and 'artificial' dominant seventh
chords. Substituting for [altering] the fifth
changes minor triads to 'artificial'
diminished triads, commonly used with an
added seventh, and changes major triads to
augmented. Artificial dominants, artificial
dominant seventh chords. and artificial
diminished seventh chords are normally
used in progressions according to the
models V-I, V—VI and V—IV. (p. 16.)
15. Walter Piston; Mark DeVoto (1987).
Harmony (5th ed.). New York: Norton.
ISBN 0-393-95480-3.
16. Spitzer, Peter (2001). Jazz Theory
Handbook, p.62. ISBN 0-7866-5328-0.
17. Everett, Walter (2009). The Foundations
of Rock, p.198. ISBN 978-0-19-531023-8.
Everett notates major-minor sevenths Xm7.
18. Shepherd, John (2003). Continuum
Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the
World: Volume II: Performance and
Production, Volume 11, p.10. A&C Black.
ISBN 9780826463227.
19. Boyd, Bill (1997). Jazz Chord
Progressions, p.43. ISBN 0-7935-7038-7.
20. William G Andrews and Molly Sclater
(2000). Materials of Western Music Part 1,
p.226. ISBN 1-55122-034-2.
21. Benward & Saker (2003). Music: In
Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p.270.
ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
22. Richard Lawn, Jeffrey L. Hellmer
(1996). Jazz: Theory and Practice, p.97-98.
ISBN 978-0-88284-722-1.
23. Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting Music
Theory: A Guide to the Practice, p.132-3.
ISBN 0-415-97440-2.
24. Benward & Saker (2003), p.271
25. Benward & Saker (2003), p.272
26. Forte, Allen (1979). Tonal Harmony,
p.122. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinhart, and
Winston. ISBN 0-03-020756-8.
27. Russo, William (1961/2015).
Composing for the Jazz Orchestra, p.80.
University of Chicago. ISBN 978-0-226-
73209-1.

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