Secondary dominant

Secondary dominant

A secondary dominant (also applied dominant, artificial dominant, or borrowed dominant) is a major triad or dominant seventh chord built and set to resolve to a scale degree other than the tonic. The dominant (seventh) of the dominant (written as V/V or V of V) is the most frequently encountered. The chord that the secondary dominant is the dominant of is said to be a temporarily tonicized chord. The secondary dominant is normally, though not always, followed by the tonicized chord. Tonicizations that last longer than a phrase are generally regarded as modulations to a new key (or new tonic).