Chains of dominants · Secondary dominants · Music theory
A secondary dominant can also resolve to another dominant, and that to another. Each stops being “secondary of a degree” and becomes a link: these are…
Chains of dominants
A secondary dominant can also resolve to another dominant, and that to another. Each stops being “secondary of a degree” and becomes a link: these are called extended dominants. The chain falls by fifths, normally reaching the tonic.
What you hear is the line of their 3rds and 7ths. The 7th of each chord falls a half step and becomes the 3rd of the next, while the 3rd falls another half step and becomes the new 7th. Two voices, each falling by half steps, carry the whole chain. Not every dominant has to resolve as expected: one can go to a surprise chord, and that is a deceptive resolution.