APPLIED/SECONDARY CHORDS

Let’s quickly review the terms diatonic and chromatic:

DIATONIC: Notes and chords that belong in the pre-established home key or key signature - referring to 7-note major and minor scales (also called heptatonic scales - “hepta” meaning “seven”).

In C Major, you would expect only natural pitches for all diatonic notes and chords. In A Harmonic Minor, you would expect to see all naturals with the exception of G# for diatonic notes and chords.

CHROMATIC: Notes and chords that are outside a home key, which appear in the form of accidentals. Accidentals can be sharps, flats, or naturals - any note that exists out of the pre-established scale.

In C Major, the note Bb and the note F# would both be considered chromatic notes as would the chord Eb Major or A⁷. In A Harmonic Minor, a C# would be a chromatic pitch as would a G minor triad.

Up until now, when accidentals have come up in basic excerpts and examples, we have treated them as singular chromatic non-chord tones. Now, we will begin to look at more complex music that include entire chromatic chords. CHROMATIC CHORDS are chords that exist as actual, definable triads or seventh chords but they don’t occur naturally in the pre-established key. The first type of chromatic chord we will learn about are Applied/Secondary chords.

WHAT ARE APPLIED OR SECONDARY CHORDS?

APPLIED CHORDS (also called SECONDARY CHORDS) are the most common chromatic chords. Usually they only have one accidental in them compared to the home key. These chords are most often major triads, diminished triads, dominant seventh chords, diminished seventh chords, or half-diminished seventh chords outside of the home key. While the chord may appear to be unrelated to the tonic (first scale degree), it is directly related to another degree in the scale. If we were to refer to all the diatonic chords occurring naturally in the scale as primary chords, then these chords that are one step removed from the key are considered secondary chords. Another way of thinking about these chords is that they refer or apply to diatonic chords in the scale other than I.

Reading Applied chords …

Here’s how they work:

V/V

Above, we have maybe the most-used applied chord. We call this chord the “five of five.” You read the first Roman numeral, call the slash “of” and then the second Roman numeral. This is a major triad on the fifth scale degree of the key of the fifth scale degree of the home key. Let’s break it down in the key of A …

A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A

The 5th scale degree of A is E - and the V chord is a E Major chord (E - G# - B). The key of E has the notes E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E. Notice that the key of E has a D# while the home key of A has a D-natural. The 5th scale degree of E is B and the V chord in E is a B Major chord (B - D# - F#). Therefore … the V/V in the key of A would be a B Major chord: B - D# - F#. So if you’re cruising along in A and stumble onto a B chord, your first instinct might be to label it a diatonic ii. But ii would represent the notes B - D - F#. This B Major chord has an accidental (D#) and is not fitting into the home key of A. It’s definitely a chromatic chord and via the process below, you can determine how to label it as an applied/secondary chord following the steps at the bottom of this page.

The most common applied/secondary chords are:

V/V

viiᵒ/V

V/viiᵒ

viiᵒ/viiᵒ

V/IV

… and their inversions, seventh chord variants, and seventh chord variants in inversion

APPLIED/SECONDARY DOMINANT CHORD: Refers to the “V” of … any other scale degree than tonic/1.

APPLIED/SECONDARY LEADING-TONE CHORD: Refers to the “viiᵒ” of … any other scale degree than tonic/1.

Are there other applied chords?

Yes! You can find and use any applied/secondary chord of any scale degree. The most common are the V and the viiᵒ because they are dominant area chords that immediately precede their tonics (which would be the diatonic chord in the home key). When you come across other non-V or viiᵒ secondary chords, they are usually chords in the predominant area that then move to the dominant area that then resolve to the diatonic chord. For instance, if ii - V - I is a typical PD - D - T motion, then ii/V - V/V - V would be its secondary chord equivalent. Note that in this example, there are just two secondary chords in a row. While we often see only one secondary chord at a time, sometimes we encounter short strings of them (working through PD and D areas like this example). If a passage of secondary chords lasts for a phrase or longer, we would no longer refer to them as “secondary chords” but rather, treat the area as TONICIZATION (a temporary modulation to a new key center) which is a concept we will learn about next week.

WHY USE APPLIED CHORDS?

Applied/secondary chords are found all over Western Classical, popular, and folk music from many eras over hundreds of years. The purpose of an applied chord is to add more weight, emphasis, and energy to the diatonic chord being applied. The use of these chords can also expand the tonal areas of a phrase just like passing chords, neighbor chords, chords in inversion, etc.

Applied chords also add variety to cadences. When a phrase ends with the diatonic V, we feel a traditional half cadence with a somewhat lifted, inquisitive ending. When that V is preceded by a secondary chord (V/V or viiᵒ/V), the resulting motion of Dominant - Tonic areas in V give a more resolute ending to the phrase called a TONICIZED HALF CADENCE or T.H.C.

Applied chords are common in sequences. In our previous sequence unit, we spent time looking at sequence of all diatonic chords. With the availability of secondary chords, we can insert them between chords in diatonic sequences to extend the length of the sequence and also help with voice leading.

Secondary chords can also foreshadow modulations and key changes. For instance, if a piece of music was heading for a key change to the subdominant, then secondary chords like V/IV and viiᵒ/IV in the phrases leading up to the key change would prepare the listener for a smoother transition. If you want a more shocking transition, avoiding the use of secondary chords will prevent hinting at the modulation and allow it to be a surprise.

How do I figure out the spelling of a secondary chord?

• When you are given a secondary chord to define, state the final product then move through the chord symbol backwards to find the notes.

  • Figure out the root and key of the diatonic chord Roman numeral.

  • Count up to the scale degree for the secondary chord Roman numeral.

    • When spelling this chord, consider the key of the diatonic chord, the type and quality of the secondary chord, and if it is in inversion.

Ex. In the measure below, we are asked to find the V⁶⁵/V in Ab Major. Out loud, we would call this chord the “Five-six-five of Five in Ab Major.”

We now know that the secondary chord will be a Bb chord of some type. Looking at the Roman numeral of V⁶⁵, we know that the Bb chord will be a Bb dominant 7th chord in first inversion. This chord is D - F - Ab - Bb. When we put it back into the original measure, we get the chord below. Notice that the D-natural has to be an accidental (since there is a Db in the Ab Major key signature). This accidental (a “raised 4” in Ab Major) is a good indication that the chord is a secondary dominant chord (the D-natural being the leading tone of Eb which is the V of Ab).

How do I figure out what kind of secondary chord I’m looking at? is it even a secondary chord?

• Does the chord have an accidental?

  • If the answer is yes, it could definitely be a secondary chord (it could be another type of chromatic chord, but let’s assume it is a secondary chord for now).

  • If no, it is a diatonic chord because it fits in the original key.

• Figure out what the “pop chord symbol” would be for the notes regardless of what key its in.

  • If it’s a major triad or dominant 7th chord, decide what it’s the V of …

  • If it’s a diminished triad or diminished (maybe half-diminished) 7th chord, decide what it’s the viiᵒ of …

• Once you determine V/X, V⁷/X, viiᵒ/X, or viiᵒ⁷/X … determine if X is a scale degree in the key.

  • If the “temporary tonic” (X) of the secondary chord symbol is in the tonality, make sure the chord is expressed in the correct quality for the home key.

  • Ex. The notes E-G#-B show up in the key of C Major. Major III isn’t a thing in major (since iii is minor). Since it’s a major triad, we’ll call it the V of “X”. Counting backwards, we see that E is the V of A. A is in C Major on scale degree 6 and creates a minor chord in its vi position. So E-G#-B is V/vi in the key of C.

In this example, we have a lot of information presented to us but don’t know exactly what to do with it right away …

The key signature implies either D Major or B Minor. There are no D Major chords in this excerpt (that doesn’t mean it’s definitely not D Major) and there is a B Minor chord but it’s midway through the phrase and the phrase is cadencing on an A Major triad. Contextually, it makes the most sense to treat the final chord like the V of D and label this excerpt as D Major.

The two circled accidentals aren’t in the key of D Major. The A# is the raised 5 and the G# is the raised 4.

When analyzing in D Major, we determine that:

• Chord 1 = V (A - C# - E)

• Chord 2 = F# dominant seventh chord in first inversion (A# - C# - E - F#)

• Chord 3 = vi (B - D - F#)

• Chord 4 = ii⁶

• Chord 5 = E dominant seventh chord in first inversion (G# - B - D - E)

• Chord 6 = V (A - C# - E)

To determine the Roman numerals for Chords 2 and 5, let’s decide the likelihood that they are secondary chords. Being that they are both dominant seventh chords (which is one of the most common secondary chord) and each of them only have one accidental (so they are closely related to the key of D), the odds are pretty high. When handling dominant seventh chords, we assume they are the V⁷ of something since V is where a dominant seventh chord naturally exists. So to determine V⁷ of what, just count backward five from the root of the chord like it’s a 5 of something (you could also count up 4).

Chord 2: F# ↓ E ↓ D# ↓ C# ↓ B

F# is the 5 of B. B is the vi of D.

Chord 2 is the V⁶⁵/vi

Chord 5: E ↓ D ↓ C# ↓ B ↓ A

E is the 5 of A. A is the V of D.

Chord 5 is the V⁶⁵/V

• Another trick when stumbling upon a chord with an accidental in it is to “skip” it, analyze the next chord in the key, then - knowing what the next chord is - look backward to the chromatic chord and see if it works as a secondary chord of the diatonic chord it precedes.

  • Ex. The notes A#-C#-E don’t make sense in the context of C Major. You skip those notes and analyze the next chord. The next chord is B-D-F which is the viiᵒ of C (this chord makes sense). Looking back on A#-C#-E, we see it is a diminished triad starting on A# which is the 7th scale degree of B - so now we know that this chord is the viiᵒ of B or viiᵒ/viiᵒ of C.

• If the steps above don’t work, the chord could be …

  • In a new key if you have modulated (changed tonality/key/key signatures)

  • In a temporary new key (called tonicization which we will learn more about next week)

  • A borrowed/modal mixture chord or some other chromatic chord (we’ll learn about in Theory IV)

  • Potentially not a chord at all? Maybe you’re over-analyzing a chromatic non-chord tone