Secondary dominant chord progression

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.

1. How do you add a secondary dominant?
2. What are the most common secondary dominant chords?

How do you add a secondary dominant?

The topic of secondary dominants can take up considerable study in music courses, but here's a simple way for songwriters to understand and use them:

1. Take any chord that is usually minor in your chosen key.
2. Change it to major.
3. Follow it with a chord whose root is 4 notes higher or 5 notes lower.

What are the most common secondary dominant chords?

G – Am – A7 – D7

A7 is the V of D7 (“five of five”). This is one of the most common secondary dominant chords you will find. This progression also contains chromatic movement between the chord tones. ... So, we can temporarily use the V of wherever we are headed to create more tension and lead us to that chord.