Entry 9 – Harmony Part 2

Secondary dominants. I had no idea how they functioned before this week, and was surprised to discover how widespread they are used in the music I listen to. After this class we had to find a song that featured the use of secondary dominants, and suddenly numerous chord changes in songs I’d been playing on piano for years that had never made sense finally did. I found this especially applicable for the band Radiohead, who I’ve been a fan of for many years and whose chord progressions have always fascinated me, and I discovered that they used secondary dominants consistently throughout their career. From their grungy breakout hit Creep¹¹ in 1992, to the poignant album closer Motion Picture Soundtrack¹² in 2000, to the angelic bridge of 2007 track Reckoner¹³, all three tracks utilises B major as secondary dominant (the first two tracks are in G major, making it the III chord, while the latter is in C major making it a VII chord). That insight into Radiohead’s songwriting was valuable to me as it helped to further demystify the process of progression writing, and led me to include a secondary dominant in the kids song in my portfolio, which primarily features the progression F-G-Bb-F, which uses G major as the II secondary dominant in the key of F major.

https://soundcloud.com/jachin-mee/growing-up

11 Radiohead. “Creep”. Pablo Honey. By Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood and Radiohead (Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway, Thom Yorke). Produced by Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade. 21 September 1992.

12 Radiohead. “Motion Picture Soundtrack”. Kid A. By Radiohead (Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway, Thom Yorke). Produced by Nigel Godrich. 2 October 2000.

13 Radiohead. “Reckoner”. In Rainbows. By Radiohead (Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway, Thom Yorke). Produced by Nigel Godrich. 10 October 2007.