Dominant
The fifth degree of a scale, and the chord built on it, which creates the strongest pull back to the tonic.
The dominant sits a perfect fifth above the tonic, and because its chord contains a note that wants to rise and another that wants to fall, it produces the most powerful resolution in tonal harmony. That is why progressions so often end with the five chord going to the one, and why the dominant seventh is the most common tension chord in popular music. A modulation to the dominant key is also the most natural key change available.
Example: In the key of G, the chord of D is the dominant, and a song that ends by returning from D to G is resolving the dominant.
See also
Related
- PageScale degree
- PageTonic
- PageDominant seventh
- PageAugmented chord
- PageBlue note
- PageBlues scale
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley