Wannabe synthwave/synth rock guy here with a lifelong interest in jazz, classical, rock, pop, showtunes, cinematic etc etc music. I enjoy YT videos that explore & explain ways to develop more versatile compositional colors than just the major/minor keys with only diatonic chord progressions. Your videos are an excellent resource! And make great listening while mowing the lawn. Thanks for what you do!
Thanks man, appreciate your comment 🙏 Glad you're enjoying the videos. I never imagined someone would be watching/listening to them whilst mowing the lawn though! 😂
🙏 Thanks Lucy, really appreciate your kind comment. I feel like I'm already winning at 15k, it's just really good to know that people think my little videos have some value and are making a difference to people on their music journey. 😳
Micheal, these tutorials of yours are so informative and so useful. As one of those folks who as a young kid learned to play by ear alone, having never learned any formal theory, nor even how to even read properly, I find myself later in life trying to filll in the holes in my musical knowledge. I never stopped playing, so it's been about 55 years as a musician, albeit one with plenty yet to learn, and it's so fun to learn new things about something you do and love. Your lessons are so very clearly expressed, and I've picked up so much from these sessions that I just wanted to give you the most heartfelt thanks. You're a great teacher and help make this knowledge instantly attainable. So cheers! Thank you, so much!
Hey Douglas! Thanks for your nice comment, it's much appreciated 🙏. It's great to hear you're finding some value from my videos. Good luck on your musical journey! Cheers
Michael. Hands down the best video in explain secondary dominants. Clear, precise and great visuals make this required viewing for any piano or guitar player. Well done!!!
Hi Michael. Thanks to RU-vid's algorithm, I found your channel. Your explanation on this subject is the best one I have found. It helped me a lot. You got a new subscriber !
This was useful...! I have used secondary dominants on my guitar in my songs and also watched many videos to understand, but now i think i understand the concept. Thank you.
great explanation; i've used them a lot and never knew what i was doing; just going on how harmonies worked and how the melody fit inside certain dominant chord infusions.....good stuff!!!
I stumbled upon your channel a couple of months back. Your teaching and video technique is exceptional. The ‘Diminished Chords - Why they’re the best!’ hooked me. Now I’m working through the info in this ‘Secondary Dominant chords’ video, translating what you reveal into my bass guitar theory and practice. Perhaps in my next life I will find time to learn the piano. I hope one day you make a video on ‘suspended’ chords and demystify their place in composition.
Ah, thanks for the kind comment! It’s great to hear you’re getting some value from my videos. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, I appreciate it. 👍🏼
Superb video, thank you. It has a great mix of background for the concept vs clearly explaining more detail. Helped me to better understand the detail and practical use.
Great video! I've been recently undertaking the process of analyzing the Bach Chorales, and it's amazing how much he used secondary dominants (also making use of viiº), so understanding them makes analysis a lot easier. What's interesting is similar to your example around 9:00, I typically associate the sound of back-to-back dominant chords moving by 5ths with blues & jazz (where basically every chord is a Dom7) - but just yesterday I was analyzing a Bach chorale and I noticed a chain of secondary dominants a few bars in a row. I thought to myself - wow - Bach could get quite blues-y. Baroque Blues!
Thanks for sharing Jonathan! I'm not very familiar with Bach due to my lack of any classical experience but I get the impression he was the GOAT! Cheers man. 👍
You know how you learn something, then don't use it for years (decades?!) and the knowledge just sort of evaporates? I know I spent a semester or year of college music theory on this topic, probably in relation to Bach chorales of course. I had forgotten almost all of it. This was an incredible refresher, and arguably better presented than all that chalkboard/piano stuff I immediately brain-dumped in the late '90s! :D
Hey Joshua! Thanks for watching. Diatonic chords are simply the chords that are made up of the notes in the key of the song. So if a song is in C major all the diatonic chords would be C Dm Em F G Am Bdim. I go into a bit more detail on this in my video ‘How to improvise on the piano’, there might be some useful bits in there. 👍🏼
I make it a point to watch each of your videos at least thrice. Although I'm nowhere near understanding all the concepts you discuss, I hope to one day be at least 1/4th as good as you are.
Ah Jezreel! Thanks for keeping the watch count climbing! I appreciate your persistence! Are there specific topics that you think would be more suited to where you’re at?
@@michaelkeithson I'm such a novice that I don't even know what to ask for. Circle of fifths is something that I keep hearing about. But I can't quite grasp the concept.
@@jezdan1 Don’t get bogged down with the circle of fifths, I’m not a fan. I think it’s something you should memorise week one of music theory and then never need to talk about again. In my opinion and experience you should appreciate the strong relationships between 5ths, you’ll see them appear a lot in music. And use the circle to memorise the different keys, how many sharps or flats they have and what they are. Im sure that once you have the sequence memorised there’s not much more required from it. Other people might disagree though! 😬
Bro you get it! I just uploaded a video about this yesterday too! (Not advertising myself lol) But this video was excellent, amazing hearing your explanation! Love your setup as well! What camera do you use? And what editing software?
Ah cheers man, appreciate it! I’m using a Sony a6500 and final cut nothing fancy but I’ve got experience in video production. It’s really all about the lighting and how you position things. Checked out your channel too, you know what talking about mate, nice playing too. Good luck with the channel 👍🏼
@@michaelkeithson I see, yeah I need to work on my setup and get a new computer lol Best to your channel as well! Looking forward to learning some things from you!
Hi Michael, I'm curious what did you do at 07:49 when playing the C chord? I'm a beginner and I'm learning ways to prolong a chord/stay on one chord for a while in interesting ways. I know about sus2 and sus4 but at 07:49 it looks like you did a sus4 in the higher octave and "sus6" on the lower octave, and then resolved to G on both octaves. Sound awesome. Do you have videos about this topic that you can point me to or if not, maybe interest in making one? ;) Thanks!
Hey man, it is some sort of sus thing where I keep the root note at the top and bottom and move the 3rd and 5th around together, separated by the interval of a 6th. I made a short about that as few months ago: ru-vid.comHuXMpZdgRtw?feature=share Good luck and thanks for watching! 🎹👍🏼
But what about the chord sequence: C, C7, F6, F7, C, G, C? 12-bar blues often adds a minor 7th onto the 4-chord (or the subdominant) of the main scale.
Cheers for your comment. Good question! In my opinion the F7, the IV chord of a blues, isn’t functioning as a secondary dominant due to the absence of the resolution to the tonic. I don’t think every non-diatonic 7 chord is a secondary dominant. To me, the characteristics or function of a secondary dominant is to accentuate the movement to the next chord, creating a V-I, and making it feel like a resolution to the target chord even though it’s not the tonic. Does that make sense?! I think blues is an unusual framing because it’s not standard to a lot of other theoretical harmony. What key is it even if if the tonic chord is a dominant 7?! You’ve got the cogs turning in my head about blues theory! 👍🏼🎹🎵
Thanks. I forgot to give examples of songs where the subdominant of the major scale is a "dominant 7th" chord. These are: "Chantilly lace" by Jerry Lee Lewis, where you'll hear the string section bow a C7 that clearly resolves back to G maj before going to the next line of music; "Goin' up the country" by Canned Heat, where you'll hear Eb7 resolve back to Bb major; "Everything's alright" by Joe Cocker, where the piano often plays F7 in a sort of arpeggio, particularly during its instrument break.
Ummm this was like a "Let's get naked" nothing to hide or pretense. Total demystification of elaborate (seeming) progressions by RU-vids most celebrated ornamentalists. I now not only know that subD can be tossed in the salad practically anywhere but they do not require a rigid key obedience an embroidery.
@@tonytoy3939 Cheers Tony, I appreciate the encouragement. Feel like it’s still early days for me too, looking forward to seeing how the channel can grow as it continues.
great video, clear concise and I really appreciate staying in Cmajor for demonstrations! Already quite familiar with the concept but this video gave me a bunch of ideas I want to try out, thanks!
This is my new favorite music channel. You have everything right. Your voice and attitude just works for jazz and is really pleasant. The piano roll, pacing and everything… you got it all right. I make videos too (not in music), so I’m kind of blown away by just how right you got it. Love your work - I look forward to seeing more!
I agree. I just came across this channel and I’m thinking I can definitely learn from him. Simple and to the point. Everything is structured and explained well and the visuals help
Lovely! If you take a standard Andalusian cadence i bVII bVI V And stick a secondary dominant after each chord we get the familiar Hotel. It's so catchy that you can check out any time you like and you can never leave.
Or to save you 12 minutes of your life... any 7 chord leads your ear to want to hear a major chord a 4th interval higher or a 5th interval lower. You're welcome. :)
I was bored tonight, and decided to study up some music theory (yes I’m a dork) and man I’m a guitar player, not even a pianist, but you’re videos have gave me so much insight and perspective on ways to improve and spice up my songs so much!! These videos are amazing man keep up the good work I’ll definitely be subscribing
All good with introducing the naming conventions for the "dominant" as the name of a particular scale degree. Then you introduce the SEVENTH as the extension of that chord which gives it the dominant quality. Also good. Now you really must stress, just then, that this extension is the b7, not the NATURAL 7 with respect to this V chord. That "MINOR SEVENTH" interval against the root of a chord is why we call out "dominant seventh" not just the seventh of the natural key. The b7 interval on the "dominant V chord" is a WHOLE TONE below the V interval which turns out to be the IV against the root key.. That's an enharmonic note. But it does want to resolve to the root.
When putting the third in the bass it sounds a bit uneven to double the “leading tone” within the secondary dominant function so if it’s in the bass I always avoid having it anywhere else in my voicing
Michael, I'm a recreational saxophonist and (7 years now) and I've always struggled to understand what a secondary dominant chord really is and why I would ever want to use it in my playing. Your video made it very clear and my confusion is now gone! You did a splendid job not only explaining what it is but where it should be placed and why. Given that I outline chords, (plating one note at a time - since I play and in-line instrument), I was a but skeptical that you'd fare well in breaking it down fir me to digest. You did a magnificent job! Fantastic work and THANK YOU.
🙏 Thank you Alistair, I really appreciate you taking the time to leave such a nice comment. I'm really glad the video helped you finally get over that hurdle. Good luck exploring your secondary dominants!!
Freshening up on my theory. This definitely a standard set in terms of quality, info and ease of understanding. Very great video for beginners to advanced
So it's the 7th chord that is not diatonic to the key of the moment. That's actually very easily understandable as soon as you understand the concept of diatonic chords.
Pretty much, although the chord that follows it needs to be a 5th below. If it's just a non-diatonic chord that doesn't precede a chord a 5th below it's not a secondary dominant. It must lead us to that next chord. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
😂 Awesome, that’s a great way to think of them. When I’m editing I sometimes think ‘man, that’s a lot of talking/information, a bit of noodling will break this up!’ Thanks for watching. 👍🏼
Michael, your video tutorials are on another level!! Pacing, visuals, sound, and the clarity you bring to concepts are a rare find! Definitely subscribed and I hope you keep putting these out. Much appreciated!!!
This is very baptist traditional gospel sounding huh. Michael if you haven't done so, could you please explain what's happening when we use a minor 4? Eg 1 5 4 to minor 4 back to 1.
Hey man, the minor 4 is an example of modal interchange, you're borrowing from the parallel minor key. I mention it in my video on Modal Interchange. Check it out. 👍
Hi Michael, I thoroughly enjoy your videos. I'm on a safari to try and understand harmony beyond the simple 3 note chord so I can apply it to my beginner acoustic guitar playing. The detailed explanation for each part with examples of everything is brilliant. And as someone else commented, the visual effects are perfect. The pacing of the material is also thoughtful and makes what you're saying very compelling. Thanks for all the hard work you have put into this series. Cheers, Richard.
You are the best teacher I have ever seen! I don't even play piano, I play guitar, but I have learnt more from you than any body else. Thank you so much!
Ah, thanks so much, I really appreciate your kind words. It seems that a lot of guitarists are finding my videos helpful which is so great to hear. Thanks for sharing the love 🙏
I have a friend in Taiwan who is having difficulty expressing the importance of secondary dominant chords to piano players. He said that they wouldn't understand this video. Is there a way to make it easier for those piano murderers?
Hey Jack! I wouldn't necessarily say that they're 'important' but can be really useful and interesting to add to compositions. They do create a certain 'sound' or 'feel' so if those people inTaiwan aren't a fan of the sound, there's no need to use them. My suggestion would probably be to find a bunch of popular songs that use them so they can see/hear the value or use of them in songs that they know, then they may appreciate them a little more. They may even see that they've been using them for years anyway! Hope that helps!
