Secondary dominants and borrowed chords

Temporary Pull and Modal Color

A secondary dominant points briefly to a chord other than tonic. In C, A7 can behave as V/ii, pulling strongly toward Dm before the key settles again.

Borrowed chords come from the parallel major or minor. They do not tonicize a new key, but they do change the color of the progression by importing a different scale degree.

Together, these devices make harmony feel more directed and less purely diatonic.

Secondary Dominant into ii-V

Study Imaj7-VI7-ii7-V7 in C. The VI7 works like a temporary dominant that intensifies the move into ii7.

Add Borrowed Color to a Diatonic Loop

• Identify which chord comes from outside the major scale
• Notice the stronger pull created by VI7 in the example progression
• Compare the color of IV and borrowed iv
• Use the numerals to track function instead of memorizing one key only