Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
This particular concept of passing chord is quite simple and very powerful when applied accurately.. This concept is widely used in several genres of music but mostly used in gospel music.. So, for better understanding of this concept and also to avoid been lost, let us take a step back or go to the root and empower ourselves with a full understanding of this concept Dominant chords. The term ‘dominant’ is one of the 7 theoretical names given to the notes on a diatonic scale, it is the fifth scale degree on a diatonic scale. So a dominant chord is simply the ‘5’ chord on a diatonic scale. So to get a clearer picture of this let us take a look at the seven notes in a diatonic scale with their musical terms;
Theoretical Names of Musical Notes On a Diatonic Scale
1st (doh)= Tonic
2nd (reh)= Supertonic
3rd (mi)= Mediant
4th (fa)= Subdominant
5th (sol)= Dominant
6th (lah)= Submediant
7th (Ti)= Leading tone
So, that is it for the dominant chord. Now that we have moved that out of the way and empowered ourselves with that piece of knowledge, lets retract back to our original topic secondary dominant.. So the secondary dominant simply involves taking the dominant chord (the 5th) of the destination chord and putting it in between two chords in the progression or simply using it as a bridge to the destination chord. So in a nutshell it is simply playing the fifth scale degree in the key of the destination chord before hitting that destination chord. pretty smooth right?😊
okay now let us take a look at some practical examples;-
okay now let us take a look at some practical examples;-
In the key of C :- /C /D/ E/ F/ G/ A/ B/......... if we have a progression going from our 1 to the 5 and to the 4.. i.e 1 - 5 - 4 progression you can put a secondary dom. passing chord before your 5 and also before your 4 how do we do that? Its pretty simple.. now as show above, in key C
/Cmaj/=>{Dmaj}=>/Gmaj/=>/Fmaj/.(1-5dom-5- 4)
 |
| figure 1.1 |
So we have successfully used a secondary dominant passing chord to the 5(‘sol’) of our progression (we also just used a secondary dominant bridge chord to a dominant chord ‘5 to a 5!’ hope you saw that before now😉)
This concept can also be applied to a minor destination chord for example, a 1- 6 -2 progression in key C, (Cmaj=>Amin=>Dmin) you simply take a look the scale of
Amin(A(1) B(2) C(3) D(4) 5 (E) 6(F) 7(G)..)
So the secondary dominant chord of Amin is simply Emin.. so back to the progression we have ;
/Cmaj/=>{Emin}=>/Amin/=>/Dmin/
This concept can also be applied to a minor destination chord for example, a 1- 6 -2 progression in key C, (Cmaj=>Amin=>Dmin) you simply take a look the scale of
Amin(A(1) B(2) C(3) D(4) 5 (E) 6(F) 7(G)..)
So the secondary dominant chord of Amin is simply Emin.. so back to the progression we have ;
/Cmaj/=>{Emin}=>/Amin/=>/Dmin/
 |
| figure 1.2 |
You are probably “asking yourself how can I always remember the secondary dominant fast enough in the middle of a song?” Well Answer is simple, the mental understanding would naturally comes with practice and a little bit of time. The best routine I would recommend for you to do is to find and play the secondary dominant of chords in all keys making each chord a destination chord (secondary dom.=>as many chord in all keys) with consistent practice in a short while you will be able to find your secondary dominant chord at any time for any chord almost without thinking.
Now for a little exercise, (find the missing passing chord)
/Cmaj/=>{Dmaj}=>/Gmaj/=>{???}=>/Fmaj/
try to add a secondary dominant before the last chord in that progression or try to put in a secondary dominant bridge in that progression and drop your answer in the comments section..
Good luck and happy practicing. 👍
if you have any question on this article feel free to ask in the comment section and also, if you have any suggestion or you would like us to cover a topic also feel free to put up a comment.
Good luck and happy practicing. 👍
Post a Comment