scrapyard
Applied chords
Key Takeaways
- Tonicization is the process of momentarily emphasizing a non-tonic chord by using chords borrowed from the key in which that chord is tonic.
- An applied chord (sometimes called a secondary chord) is a dominant chord borrowed from another key. The tonic of this other key is often a diatonic chord within the original key.
- Applied chords can be V, V7, viiº, or viiº7.
- Applied chords are notated with a slash. The chord before the slash is the identity of the applied chord within the secondary key, and the chord after the slash is the chord being tonicized. It’s read aloud left-to-right with the word “of” replacing the slash: V/ii becomes “five of two.”
- Applied chords nearly always involve accidentals, and especially accidentals that raise the pitch.
Applied chords are a category of chromatic harmony, in which a diatonic chord x is embellished with chords from the key of x. For example, in C major, a V chord (G) might be embellished with chords from the key of G major. But unlike modulationthere is no cadence in a new key: only a short progression of chords is borrowed from another key.
Function
The most common applied chords are dominant-function chords: V(7) and viiº(7). The unique quality of these chords (dominant and diminished, respectively) allows them to sound like dominant-function chords even in strange contexts. Example 1 demonstrates this concept: a V7–I progression in one key can be reproduced within a different key. The old I chord, then, is analyzed differently in the new key: for example, as ii, in the bottom staff of . The old V7 chord is then V7 of ii, written with a slash: V7/ii. The same principle holds with V[latex]\begin{smallmatrix}6\\5\\\end{smallmatrix}[/latex] and other inverted V chords, as shown in the second row of .
Spelling and writing applied chords
If you are asked to write an applied chord, follow this process. We will consider a hypothetical applied chord V7/x. x is a substitute for a Roman numeral—it could be V, vi, ii, or any other major or minor Roman numeral—the process is the same regardless of what x is.
Process for spelling V7/x
- Spell x in the current key.
- Identify the root of V in the key of x (a perfect fifth above x, or scale-degree 5 in the key of x).
- Spell a dominant seventh chord built on scale-degree 5 in the key of x.
Here is the above process applied to a concrete example: V7/vi in D major.
V7 is not the only possible applied chord—viiº is another common type of applied chord. To spell an applied viiº7, follow a slightly different, but related, process.
Process for spelling viiº7/x
- Spell x in the current key.
- Identify the root of viiº7 in the key of x (a minor second below x, or the leading tone of x).
- Spell a fully-diminished seventh chord built on V in the key of x by stacking minor thirds on top of one another.
As a concrete example,
demonstrates the spelling of viiº7/vi in B minor.Resolving applied chords
The leading tone of the applied cho