Secondary dominant chords are used to spice up your chord progressions. The same goes for diminished triads or diminished chords. They are very beautiful and can be useful and incredibly powerful! But what if you don’t know any
I will show you an extremely easy technique for creating diminished triads and a secondary dominant chord in the first inversion. It sounds difficult and like a mouthful, but trust me. Secondary dominant chord progressions are easier than you think!
I discovered this technique on the guitar. And it came to me by accident. I have used it to create
When you have any normal major chord/triad, you just change one or two notes. There you go first inversion secondary dominants. And creating the diminished triad is even easier. You just move the root note of your major chord half a step up, while the rest of the chord stays the same. Let’s check out some diminished triad and first inversion secondary dominants examples.
Video Tutorial: Secondary Dominant Chords and Diminished Chords The Intuitive Way!
You can check out my video tutorial if something is not clear. Or if you want to hear examples with real music. For more creative songwriting and
Easy Trick For Getting Diminished Triads
What do you hear when you play a chord progression like this?
The chord in the middle is a diminished chord/triad. This chord creates a strong pull towards the last Em chord. I made this chord by simply raising the root note of the D major chord with half a step.
You can apply this trick to any major chord. It will give you the diminished chord that lies half a step above your original major chord. So in this diminished triad example, we went from D major to D#diminished.
What are diminished triads?
Diminished triads are three-note chords that sound tense and dissonant. Diminished chords are made up of two minor thirds stacked on top of each other. You can easily create a diminished chord by stacking two minor thirds and playing them at the same time. And just to be sure, a minor third is the distance of three half steps on the piano or guitar.
For example, in the key of Eb, a D-diminished triad would be D – F – A♭. Each note is three-half steps apart from the next one.
To recap: Diminished triads often sound like they’re waiting for something else to happen. They create a bit of tension and make you feel like the
How To Create and Use a Secondary Dominant Chord In First Inversion
What if you want to have the same kind of tension as a diminished triad, but you want the chord to sound brighter? Then using a secondary dominant chord in the first inversion is the way to go. And I know it sounds difficult, but it’s not! See below for more info about chord inversions, dominant chords and secondary dominant chords.
Let’s take the D major chord from our previous example. We need to raise the root note with half a step and the fifth with a whole step. What you get is a major chord in the first inversion.
When I apply this to our previous chord progression, we create a secondary dominant chord in the first inversion. Just play the previous example and this one to compare their sound.
Secondary Dominant First Inversion Guitar
On the guitar, this type of chord sounds amazing. And also the chord shape is easy to grab. In my song analysis of Foo Fighters Rope, you can see two first inversion secondary dominants in action. Play it and use it in your music!
First Inversion Secondary Dominants Piano
On piano, it is just as simple as on the guitar. In the example below the first chord is a C major and the third is a Dm. The chord in between is an A major in the first inversion. This A major chord functions as a secondary dominant chord. From the C major you raise the root note by half a step and the fifth by a whole step.
Adding multiple first-inversion secondary dominant chords to a progression
Let’s compare a regular chord progression with a progression that uses many secondary dominant chords. You tell me which progression has more tension.
Go ahead and use these secondary dominant first inversion examples in any chord progression you like.
Conclusion
You don’t need to know the
But for the people who want to get things straight: What you are doing is making a chromatic passing chord between the two original chords. These chords are one whole step away from each other. This added chord in between creates tension and a smooth stepwise connection to the chord half a step above it.
If you liked this article, then I think you will love my lesson about augmented triads or parallel chords!
Suggested Video Tutorial:
Step up your game when it comes to songwriting and arranging. Watch my tutorial: The Easiest Arrangement Tip For Better Songs & Clean Mixes!
