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Courses/Stage 6

Secondary Dominants & Cadences

Theory9 minScale degrees · how triads are built · seventh chords

Want a progression that's “catchier, more eager to push forward”? Secondary dominants create extra tension, and cadences decide how a phrase “lands.”

Video lessons are in production — follow the notes and practice checklist below and you'll learn it just fine.
Stage 6 · Chords & Theory, Deeper8 lessons

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  1. Scale Degrees & Chord Function9 min
  2. How Triads Are Built8 min
  3. Intro to Seventh Chords9 min
  4. Intervals: Number & Quality9 min
  5. Secondary Dominants & Cadences9 min
  6. Putting the Circle of Fifths to Work8 min
  7. Inversions & Slash Chords: Get the Bass Line Moving9 min
  8. The Four Magic Progressions in Practice9 min

The cadence: how a chord ends a phrase

The ending of a phrase is called a cadence. The strongest is the “authentic cadence” V→I (like G→C, a powerful coming-home feeling); the “plagal cadence” IV→I (F→C, the gentle, hymn-like “amen” close); the “half cadence” lands on V (left hanging, the sentence unfinished); and the “deceptive cadence” V→vi (G→Am, where you'd expect to come home but it takes a turn instead — a surprise).

Secondary dominants: borrowing a dominant on the spot

Treat some chord in the key as a temporary “home” and pull toward it with its own dominant seventh — that's a secondary dominant. The most common is the “dominant of the dominant” V/V: in C, use D7 to push to G (D7→G), with far more tension than going straight to Dm.

Another high-frequency move is E7→Am (V/vi): in C, treat E7 as the dominant of Am, and you instantly get a heartfelt sense of turn — countless pop songs and canon variations use it.

  • 💡 Secondary dominants usually carry a “7” and often contain an out-of-key sharp note, and that note that “doesn't belong to the key” is exactly where the tension comes from.

How to use it

Try slipping a secondary dominant into a progression you know: C–Am–Dm–G can become C–E7–Am–… (using E7 to push to Am), or add a D7 right before going back to G. Add one and the progression instantly gets “sophisticated.”

Here's another move you'll get the moment you hear it: between two chords a whole step apart, slot in a diminished seventh chord a half step away to “slide” them across — C→C♯dim→Dm, G→G♯dim→Am. That diminished seventh acts as a mini-dominant for the chord that follows (its leading tone points straight at the target note); that “slide right into it” sophistication you hear in a lot of accompaniment is exactly this.

Chords in this lesson

Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.

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⏱️ Cycle this lesson's chords to a beatPractice switching without stopping (one-minute changes) — first learn each chord by ear and shape, then drill clean changes between them.Expand

Switch back and forth between this lesson's chords to the beat below.

Tap “Start” to play along with the beat
D7E7A7
Speed80 BPM
Time

One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.

Want to count how many changes you can do in 60 seconds? Head to the one-minute changes drill.

Go play these

Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:

See all songs →
Open the circle of fifthsTwo adjacent chords on the circle are in a dominant–tonic relationship — secondary dominants are hiding right in there.→

Practice checklist

  • Play C–E7–Am and feel how E7 “pushes” you toward Am.
  • Add a D7 right before returning to G in C–Am–Dm–G, and listen to how the tension changes.