BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
3596 / 18210 · Workshop 17 — “All of Me”: Secondary Dominants Everywhere, Turning a Simple Tune into a Functional-Harmony Laboratory← prev⊞ allnext →

17.75The biggest conceptual point

A secondary dominant is not mainly:

“a non-diatonic dominant seventh chord.”

It is better heard as:

a temporary leading-tone machine aimed at a specific destination.

Once you hear that, the chords stop feeling foreign.