Songs that use Secondary Dominants

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I think the tension really built through this video over the lack of Radiohead references and then resolved at the very end.

I don’t know anyone else on YouTube who does the “here’s what it would have sounded like if . . .” method. A great teaching tool.

V/ii. That’s it. That’s the “old-fashioned” sound I hear. That’s what it is. Amazing.

David teaching kindergarten maths: "So, as you can see, one and one and one is three - for example, in this song by The Beatles..."

Never really thought about why Mr. Sandman is SOOO satisfying, but it totally makes when you think about it. Yo dawg, I hear you like perfect cadences.

I first saw "Mr. Sandman" at the bottom of the screen and my brain said "Oh, Metallica." Then after two seconds my brain over-corrected course and made me think "Mr. Sandman, man me a sand."

David is elite but never elitist. Name another music theory teacher who will throw both Radiohead and Dolly Parton at you as examples. Thanks for being normal about it. So much music appreciation or education is buiilt on elitism or "high art". The secondary message of this video is "music is music," regardless of popularity or cultural context. That's a great message.

Ridiculously good teaching....I want to dominate these dominants muhaha

It's absurd how boomers like me passed 40 years trying to understand things that David explains in 15 minutes. That's outrageous!!! Thanks so much, Dave, anyways. That is mastering in teaching, not even mantioning the overwelming acumulus of knowledge.

It's no secret that Muse are big fans of the secondary dominant, but I think one of my favourite uses of it by them is "Survival". It's one of those songs where the key centre itself is fairly ambiguous, but it really feels like they try to bring out that unresolved feeling that comes with a secondary dominant. The main chord progression goes Bb -> Bb+ -> Ebm -> Ebm/F# -> B -> F# and then repeats.

"Life On Mars?" by David Bowie has lots of secondary dominants.

Years of tension trying to resolve my understanding of secondary dominants resolved in 15 minutes. This clarity of teaching used to only be available to middle class people who could afford private lessons.

The beautiful melody and chord progression of MGMT’s Loss Of Life is another example of the use of a secondary dominant chord progression when moving from E to Am (ii chord in the key of G major). Incredible explanation - thank you for the video!

I can’t believe this even has a name. I’ve always been drawn to songs that use this, especially the first kind, but I never knew how to describe it. When I taught myself piano I just used to hear it as a logical, emotive jump between chords, and I noticed it in so many muse tracks growing up. Also, Creep by Radiohead would sound great with G, B, Em, C albeit a much more common chord progression.

The last part of "15 minutes" by the strokes is just chaining secondary dominants together and therefore using all 12 major chords in the process, its cool

I love the I-II7-V chord progression. It sounds great in Lydian and it’s also a perfect way to transition from Lydian to major👍

Queen also uses the V/iii chord in The March Of The Black Queen, one of their earlier songs (and my personal favourite!), which is similar to Bohemian Rhapsody in many ways, sometimes being called Bohemian Rhapsody's older sibling. During the guitar solo in C major after the first chorus, a B major chord is used as a secondary dominant to lead to an E major chord, which sets up a return to the next section in the relative key of A minor. After the second chorus, the B chord is used almost the same way, except that it leads to an E minor chord instead of a major chord, as the song goes into its next section. During the instrumental break near the end (also in C major), the B chord is used as a dominant chord (not a secondary dominant) for a sudden modulation into E major for the coda. Very cool stuff, the V/iii is definitely my favourite secondary dominant.

The intro to Creep by Stone Temple Pilots is a great example. Starts in C then goes to B7 then resolves to Em then Em7. Great intro.

Mr. Blue Sky - Jeff Lynn / ELO love that song and if I heard it right. It uses a couple of secondary dominants.