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In music theory, the dominant triad is a major chord, symbolized by the Roman numeral "V" in the major scale. In the natural minor scale, the triad is a minor chord, denoted by "v". However, in a minor key, the seventh scale degree is often raised by a half step (♭ to ♮), creating a major chord.
A typical sequence of a jazz or rock song in the key of C major might indicate a chord progression such as C – Am – Dm – G 7. This chord progression instructs the performer to play, in sequence, a C major triad, an A minor chord, a D minor chord, and a G dominant seventh chord.
This dominant seventh chord is useful to composers because it contains both a major triad and the interval of a tritone. The major triad confers a very "strong" sound. The tritone is created by the co-occurrence of the third degree and seventh degree (e.g., in the G 7 chord, the interval between B and F is a tritone).
A tonic chord has a dominant chord; in the key of C major, the tonic chord is C major and the dominant chord is G major or G dominant seventh. The dominant chord, especially if it is a dominant seventh, is heard by Western composers and listeners familiar with music as resolving (or "leading") to the tonic, due to the use of the leading note in ...
Dominant function requires a major-quality triad with a root a perfect fifth above the affiliated tonic and containing the leading tone of the key. This dominant triad must be preceded by a chord progression that establishes the dominant as the penultimate goal of a motion that is completed by moving on to the tonic.
These three triads were soon considered the most important chords of the major tonality, with the tonic in the center, the dominant above and the subdominant under. This symmetric construction may have been one of the reasons why the fourth degree of the scale, and the chord built on it, were named "subdominant", i.e. the "dominant under [the ...
A major triad has a major third (M3) on the bottom, a minor third (m3) on top, and a perfect fifth (P5) between the outer notes. In harmonic analysis and on lead sheets, a C major chord can be notated as C, CM, CΔ, or Cmaj. A major triad is represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 7}.
In a major key, the supertonic triad (ii) is minor, and in a minor key it is diminished. The dominant is, in its normal form, a major triad and commonly a dominant seventh chord. With the addition of chord alterations, substitutions, and extensions, limitless variations exist on this simple formula.