Jul 29 (edited) • Current Challenges w Guitar 🎸
🎸 Day 28 – Circle of Fifths + Secondary Dominants = Pro-Level Progressions
🔥 Unleash Your Inner Guitar Hero Challenge – Week 4, Day 1
By now, you’ve gotten comfortable with diatonic chords.
Today, we’re diving into how to supercharge those progressions using secondary dominants — a key ingredient in jazz, blues, pop, and rock.
Remember a dominant chord is typically the V or 5 chord in any give key: i.e. G7 in key of C. The reason the dominant chord is called that is because it tends to dominate the chord progression, it almost always resolves to the tonic or the I (1) chord in any give key.
So then...
💡 What’s a Secondary Dominant?
A secondary dominant is a chord that temporarily acts as the V7 of a chord other than the tonic.
Example in C major:
D minor (ii) often goes to the V7
But if you play A7 (V7 of D minor), suddenly Dm feels like a temporary resolution.
That A7 is called V7/ii.
You can do this for almost any diatonic chord:
B7 → E minor (V7/iii)
E7 → A minor (V7/vi)
A7 → D minor (V7/ii)
D7 → G (V7/V)
G7 → C (V7/I)
These stacked dominants form a powerful chain of tension and release.
🔄 Circle of Fifths Progression: vii – iii – vi – ii – V – I
In C major:
Bø – Em – Am – Dm – G7 – C
Now insert secondary dominants to spice it up:
B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G7 – C
This creates a dominant chain — each dominant chord resolves a fifth below, giving your progression a sense of momentum and inevitability.
🎵 Songs That Use This Dominant Motion:
🎶 “Sir Duke” – Stevie Wonder
🎶 “Just Friends” – Jazz Standard
🎶 “I Will Survive” – Gloria Gaynor (e.g., A7 to Dm)
🎶 “Cheek to Cheek” – Irving Berlin
🎶 “There Will Never Be Another You” (dominant motion in transitions)
🎶 "Someday My Prince Will Come V7 of ii and V7 of V7
🎶 "All You Need is Love" - Beatles
🎶 "Dancing Queen" - Abba
🎶 "Piano Man" - Billy Joel
🎶 Jazz Blues in Any Key – Often includes V7 of ii - C7 F7 G7 - normal chords in a typical blues progression in C becomes C7 A7 Dm or D7 G7 resolves to C or C7
✅ Today’s Challenge:
1. Play the Diatonic Circle Progression in C:
Bø – Em – Am – Dm – G7 – C
2. Then play the Secondary Dominant version:
B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G7 – C
3. Record a quick video demo or voice memo — and post it in the group!
Bonus: Try applying this in G major or A minor, and listen for the pull of each dominant.
🧠 Mindset Hack:
Every time you add a new color to your chord vocabulary, you open the door to deeper musical expression. Don't be afraid to experiment with tension — it's the release that makes it beautiful.
MUSIC THEORY ISN'T SCARY, IT'S FUN - It helps make make music more enjoyable to listen to and to play...
Next up... we're talking about improvising, yep that's right taking solos... now maybe I can get back to making content again...
Stay tuned!!
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🎸 Day 28 – Circle of Fifths + Secondary Dominants = Pro-Level Progressions
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