As our journey into harmonic fluency continues, this lesson opens the door to a sound that feels instantly familiar and unmistakably American. After learning how to add color, use inversions, and explore diatonic substitutions, we now step into the world of secondary dominants and a powerful companion concept that expands their usefulness even further. These ideas help us create stronger forward motion, add a bluesy edge when the music asks for it, and bring otherwise simple progressions to life. This is where harmony starts to lean, pull, and tell a deeper story.
Key Learning Outcomes and Topics Covered
Understand what a secondary dominant is and how it functions
Learn how secondary dominants differ from the primary dominant of the key
Identify secondary dominants within a written tune
Learn when and how to add secondary dominants to existing progressions
Understand the role of melody when altering chord quality
Learn how dominant chords create forward motion by resolving up a fourth
Explore the bluesy character secondary dominants introduce
Learn how to color secondary dominants using notes from the home key
Understand the concept of companion minor
Learn how every dominant seventh chord pairs with a companion minor seventh
Apply companion minor to standards, blues, and extended dominant sections
Learn multiple ways to soften, replace, or expand dominant sounds
Begin hearing dominant and companion relationships as melodic tools
Introduction
This lesson begins by grounding us in the idea of dominance itself. Every key has a dominant chord, the V chord, whose main job is to pull us back home. From there we expand the idea by introducing secondary dominants, dominant seventh chords that point somewhere other than the tonic. Using the key of G and drawing from classic American songs like It Had to Be You, the lesson shows how composers have long used chains of secondary dominants to create motion, tension, and release. These sounds are not theoretical abstractions, they are part of the musical language many of us already know by ear.
Lesson Summary
The lesson opens by clearly defining a secondary dominant as a dominant seventh chord whose root comes from the key and whose resolution also leads to a chord rooted in the key. Unlike the primary dominant, which always points back to one, secondary dominants temporarily treat another chord as a destination. In the key of G, chords like A7, B7, E7, and F#7 can all function this way, each acting as the five of whatever chord follows.
Using It Had to Be You as a reference point, we see how a song can be built almost entirely from secondary dominants after the opening tonic. Each dominant chord leans forward into the next, creating a sense of wandering before eventually finding its way home. This sound is described as distinctly American, with a bluesy quality that feels expressive without becoming overly complex.
From there, the lesson addresses an important practical question: when can we add a secondary dominant that the composer did not write? The guiding principle is motion and melody. If a diatonic chord is moving up a fourth to the next chord, it can often be changed into a dominant seventh to strengthen that pull. The deciding factor is always the melody. If the melody note works against the new chord quality, adjustments may be needed, such as using altered dominants like a dominant seven sharp nine, or changing the chord halfway through the bar.
The lesson emphasizes that there are no hard rules about how much color a secondary dominant can take. What matters is whether the sound supports the melody and feels good to the ear. One practical approach offered is to color secondary dominants using notes from the home key, allowing the dominant to feel connected rather than foreign.
From here, a new concept is introduced: companion minor. Every dominant seventh chord has a natural partner, a minor seventh chord built from its fifth. For example, A7 pairs with Em7, D7 pairs with Am7, and so on. While this pairing sometimes looks like a ii–V, it is not always functioning that way. Thinking of these as companions rather than labels allows us to use them freely without overthinking function.
Applying this idea back to It Had to Be You, the lesson shows how long dominant sections can be enriched by bouncing between a dominant and its companion minor. This creates movement within a single harmony, opens up bass motion, and suggests familiar melodic shapes for improvisation. The same idea is applied to blues, where companion minors can precede a dominant, alternate with it, or even replace it to soften the sound.
Additional variations are introduced, including suspended dominants and 11th chords, which reduce the hardness of a straight dominant sound and lean toward a more modern or open character. The lesson connects these ideas to players like Wes Montgomery and educators like George Van Epps and Ted Greene, placing the sound firmly within the tradition.
Throughout the lesson, the emphasis remains on listening, experimenting, and choosing sounds intentionally. Secondary dominants and companion minors are presented not as tricks, but as expressive tools that give harmony more shape and direction.
Soundbites
- “A secondary dominant is another kind of dominant seventh chord that sends you to something else besides the one.”
- “You can always change a diatonic chord to a dominant seventh chord if the melody permits.”
- “If the song is sounding too vanilla, maybe some secondary dominance could come into play.”
- “Every dominant seventh chord has a companion minor seventh chord.”
- “The ultimate decider is whether or not you like the sound.”
Closing Thoughts
Secondary dominants and companion minors give us a powerful way to deepen harmony while staying connected to the song. They add pull, character, and a sense of forward motion that feels natural and expressive. Take these ideas slowly, listen closely to how the melody interacts with each change, and try them in familiar tunes where your ears already know the destination. As we continue forward, these sounds will become trusted companions themselves, showing up again and again in more advanced harmonic ideas.
Keywords
- Harmonic fluency
- Reharmonization
- Secondary dominants
- Dominant seventh chords
- Companion minor
- Jazz harmony
- Blues harmony
- Chord function
- Chord movement
- Dominant resolution
- Altered dominants
- Suspended dominants
- ii–V relationships
- Chord streams
- Blues guitar harmony
Downloads
Secondary Dominants & Companion Minor PDF
