dominant leading to the 1st

[bf0502tr]

hi, found out on youtube that the dominant chord or the 5th chord leans towards the 1st chord. like say the D7 leads to the Gmaj7 making the D7 the functional dominant. but he also said the 1st chord can be a major or a minor. it doesn't matter. how can this be if the 1st chord is always a major, and if its a minor key, the dominant would be different also.

 

[cobain1980]

From what I know, D7 can resolve to the first chord (Gmaj7) in G maj key and also to the 1st chord (Gm7) in G minor key. Both shared the same dominant.

 

[bf0502tr]

how is that?? i thought the dominant for the key of Gm is a F7?? or am i missing something here??

 

[firdaus]

hi sir i think the reason why he is saying that the i chord can be a major or a minor is because it can be a continuation of a different 2 5 1 key.

An example would be if i were to play 2 5 1 in c which is d min 7, g7 , c maj 7
Right........

But if i were to play d min 7, g7 ,c min 7
this would be 'wrong' if i play the c diatonic harmonization scale as c min 7 is not part of the diatonic scale.

C min 7 however is a part of other diatonic scale

b flat,c ,d, e flat,f ,g ,a [key of b flat]

in this instance c is the second which means its a minor so its a 2 in the key of b flat.

This is called 2 5 if im not wrong so the progression would be something like this

d min 7,g7 c maj 7,d min7 g7 ,c min 7, f7, b flat maj 7

hope you gain something from this

cheers..........

 

[cobain1980]

F7 is the bVII7 chord actually. The 5th chord in the G minor key is Dm7, it is changed to a dominant (by raising the minor 3rd, F to F#) so that it can resolve strongly to the Imin7 chord like how the V7 would resolve to the Imaj7 in major key.

I'm not sure if I explain correctly, you can search and read up on Jazz harmony for minor key and on harmonic minor.

 

[firdaus]

cobain im sorry wrong info youre rightbut if the key is change to b flat than c min 7 would be the 2 ,f7 would be the fifth and b flat maj 7 would be the first .......... right

 

[bf0502tr]

so that changes the key from a G major to a G minor just by leveraging on the 5th chord?

 

[bf0502tr]

F7 is the bVII7 chord actually. The 5th chord in the G minor key is Dm7, it is changed to a dominant (by raising the minor 3rd, F to F#) so that it can resolve strongly to the Imin7 chord like how the V7 would resolve to the Imaj7 in major key.

I'm not sure if I explain correctly, you can search and read up on Jazz harmony for minor key and on harmonic minor.

hmmm i think i'm starting to see something. does it mean when i'm playing in the key of Gm, i can use the Dm7 as a dominant to resolve back to the Gm7 just like when i'm playing in key of G, i can use the D7 to resolve back to Gmaj7?? am i observing right??

 

[vernplum]

Some good preceding answers.

Another way to look at it is as a major ii V I, or minor ii V i in the same parent key.

Consider tune Autumn Leaves which has inside it the following (in C)

Dm7 G7 C - this is a major ii V I
Bmin7b5 E7 Am - this is a minor ii V i

Note that the "ii" chord in each is a Dominant 7. in the case of the E7, this started out as a diatonic Emin, but has been made a Dom7 to increase it's harmonic dissonance so the resolution to the Am includes a leading tone, making it more satisfying.

So - you can see above, in top case, the V resolves to a major.
In the bottom case, the V resolves to a minor.

 

[cobain1980]

hmmm i think i'm starting to see something. does it mean when i'm playing in the key of Gm, i can use the Dm7 as a dominant to resolve back to the Gm7 just like when i'm playing in key of G, i can use the D7 to resolve back to Gmaj7?? am i observing right??

Yes you are right. In minor key, Dm7 is changed to D7. You can try playing Dm7 to Gm7, and then D7 to Gm7, see which one sounds a better pull to Gm7. Let your ear decides what is good for you. In both Gmaj and Gm key, D7 act as the primary dominant resolving to the I chord.

So in the key of Bbmaj, the diatonic chords are:

Bbmaj7 Cm7 Dm7 Ebmaj7 F7 Gm7 Am7b5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In Bbmaj, F7 which is the 5th chord act as the primary dominant to resolve to the tonic.

Gm key share the same chord as Bbmaj, so rearranging it becomes:

Gm7 Am7b5 Bbmaj7 Cm7 Dm7 Ebmaj7 F7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
You see that the 5th chord is Dm7. But Dm7 does not provide a strong enough tension to resolve back to tonic chord Gm7. So you raise the 3rd in Dm7 to become D7.

So now key of Gm:
Gm7 Am7b5 Bbmaj7 Cm7 D7 Ebmaj7 F7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Actually a dominant will always create tension for resolution to any chord up a fourth or down a fifth, lets say for in the key of Bbmaj, the following 6-2-5-1 chord progression:

Gm7--- Cm7--- F7--- Bbmaj7---

You can try changing to:

Gm7-G7- Cm7-C7- F7--- Bbmaj7-D7- & back to Gm7

You see there are so many dominant chords? G7 which will resolve up a fourth to Cm7. C7 resolve down a fifth to F7. D7 leads perfectly to Gm7. These are called secondary dominants. dominants that is not related diatonically to the key. But they still works in that key.

I hope I don't make any mistake in the explanation above. Also a beginner in Jazz theory.

 

[bf0502tr]

hey thanks for the detailed explanation!! that was really insightful

 

[Likui]

next time we meet up u ask me

 

[bf0502tr]

there's still more to it?? ok then next meet up i hpe to learn more