What's a Back Door Dominant? (Lady Bird Analysis) 

Hey all! My apologies for some of the auto-focus issues that come up from time-to-time in the video. But let me know if the comments: what jazz standards can you list that have backdoor dominants?

Nice job. But there are more choices as well for a V7. You sort of hint (I think) at this if we consider the family of dominants separated by a b3 (just like G and Bb!), and the b9. One way to look at this is the symmetry of dim chords, which are a dominant with a b9. Keep it up!

Great explanation 👍like a substitute (tritone maybe keeps the 3 and 7) the backdoor sub keeps the 5 and the 7,however it can be used to reharmoniz or change key,its a very cool technique

In "Everything Happens to Me," this backdoor dominant trick might be used. The song is multiple phrases over a 2-5- going to a "deceptive -1." For example, 2-5-3-b3. What's a 3? It's just the top 4/5 of a 1-chord. And the b3 falls back to the next phrase, which is another fake-out 1-chord trick: 2-5-3-6. Finally, the next phrase gives us that back door dominant: 2 - b7 - 3 - 6. In Bb, that would be: Cm7 - Ab7 - Dm7 - G7.... and that brings us to the first ending, a simple turn around... or second ending, a 2-5-1, no more "fake outs." We might focus here on that Ab7 chord as a pointer to the 1-chord, Bb. We're faked out with the top 4/5 of Bb, but the principle is the same, no?

Hey, great video! Much interesting stuff to think about watching that one. For me, a IV-bVII-I chord progression is a root note substitution of II-7b5 V7b9, where the root is played a minor third above the original one. For example, a D-7b5 G7b9 progression becomes a F-7 Bb7b9 progression, both resolving in Cmaj7. It's similar to SubV, but the interval used for the substitution is a minor third instead of a diminshed fifth. cheeers

Hi Brent, excellent video. Misty is another tune using backdoor dominants

All kidding aside....Back door five chords serve an interesting task. All based entirely on the the five chord even though its different....and why its different is a fact of color and new space for something different. Predominantly the five chord will hold tonality like a magnet , but the flat seven will help move tones to the five as he explains and create some awesome chord voicings that can actually be labelled. Classically it would be chromatic displacement. I just made that up, but good ear training with turnarounds using common triads between the v7 and b7 to tonic you will find some goodies that work.

Wow! All this time I was baffled by what to play on a iv7 bVII7 I progression. I've also heard that the progression is borrowed from the parallel minor, but treating the bVII7 as a V7alt is much easier. I always wondered why I liked a B natural over the Bb7 going to Cmaj. Now I know. Another tune is the end of the first A of There Will Never Be Another You. That goes IVmaj7 to bVII7 to I. Another really interesting progressions is the #iv7 to VII7 to I. IE, in C: F#minor7 to B7 to Cmaj7

"You go to my head" has a backdoor dominant in the C section: Gb^7 Cb7 Db^7.

When Sunny Gets Blue is also a good example of this, a tune that has a lot of interesting tonality changes.

3:50 I disagree here with why the backdoor progression works. If we are thinking of the Bb7 as a sort of altered G7 then it would only contain the 5th and 7th chord tones, and the alterations b9 and #9 are typically incompatible with one another (they would usually be played one after the other as a melody, not simultaneously). I think a more convincing explanation is that it's a case of borrowing chords from the parallel minor. Every chord in C major serves a function that eventually leads to the resolution on the C major chord, and every chord in C minor serves a function that eventually leads to a C minor chord. Since major is a stronger and more consonant resolution, we can play any progression in C minor but for the last chord resolve on a C major chord instead (i.e. a picardy third resolution), for a good example see the chord progression in American Boy by Estelle: instead of a typical i - bVI - iv - bVII7 minor progression, the i is replaced with I so each chord relationship is consistent in minor until the final resolution to the tonic chord which is actually major.

backdoor dom works well because it’s the tritone sub of the 5 of the relative minor

The notes of Bb7 are Bb D F Ab this notes OVER G7 are b9 5 b7#9 . So if you play Bb7 while others are playing G7 you get a nice organized way to add some altered tensions

great explanation. All knowledge, no bull shit!

why not think of it like a 2-5 on the relative major of the parallel minor?

In a mellow tone!

Great video!

Umm...so Fmin is the iv min of C min c minor is the parallel key to C Major Bb7 is bVII7 domanant Is that why we are saying " back door Dominant "

Thank you!!!!!

So, it’s basically a subtonic7 (a borrowed minorish attribute..from mixolydian mode..kinda)?? Thnx bro ❤

What would be the more natural scale for this? Bb mixolydian or Bb lydian b7?

I usually play Bb dom Flat 5 .................... Do you guys play Just straight Bb Dom ?

Can I interpret a bVII7 as a chord borrowed from eolian? It kinda makes sense to me

Hi! Is it the same as deceptive cadence?

Great video!! Now, i rather think of this progression as a modal interchange to the IV and bVII of the eolian. In modal harmony this progresión is very strong and resolve to im7 chord. Of course in modal music we can not talk about harmonic functions, but we can talk of characteristic chords

remember kids: you still need protection when using the backdoor.

Donna Lee or Indiana

"Without a song".

Greta concise video. I'd prefer it if the intro music was brought down a little bit after you start talking, felt as if both audios were competing for attention.

Joy spring

We could also just view it as a IV - 6 chord in disguise!

Four hehe

Cherokee!

Cant we say that its a ii V in phrygian which modulates to ionian/major on the root?

But beautiful

I see this kinda into C harmonic major somehow...

I thought this video about the movie LADY BIRD

What scale would you play over a Backdoor dominant chord?

Half Nelson (ha hah)

Good info but way too fast for me.