22.1: Secondary Dominants Introduction
- Page ID
- 325298
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By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Identify an implied secondary dominant in a melodic line
- Describe the function of secondary dominants
- Identify secondary dominants by sight and sound
Secondary Dominants
This section on secondary dominants serves as a very basic overview of the concept. Secondary dominants bring us from the diatonic harmonies that are entirely within the key signature into the adventure of chromatic harmony. In chromatic harmony, we will see more accidentals and start borrowing chords from other keys. It is an exciting change to transition into chromatic harmony, and it opens up many more harmonic possibilities.
Key Terms
- Secondary dominant: a chord that briefly tonicizes a chord other than the tonic
- Tonicize: to treat a chord as if it were the tonic without a key change


