In
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
, the dominant is the fifth
scale degree () of the
diatonic scale
In music theory a diatonic scale is a heptatonic scale, heptatonic (seven-note) scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by eith ...
. It is called the ''dominant'' because it is second in importance to the first scale degree, the
tonic. In the
movable do solfège system, the dominant note is sung as "So(l)".
The
triad built on the dominant note is called the dominant chord. This chord is said to have dominant
function, which means that it creates an instability that requires the
tonic for
resolution. Dominant triads,
seventh chords, and
ninth chords typically have dominant function.
Leading-tone triads and
leading-tone seventh chords may also have dominant function.
Dominant chords
In
music theory
Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
, the dominant
triad is a
major chord, symbolized by the
Roman numeral
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
"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.
These chords may also appear as
seventh chords: typically as a
dominant seventh chord, but occasionally in minor as a
minor seventh chord v
7 with
passing function:
:
As defined by the 19th century musicologist
Joseph Fétis, the ''dominante'' was a seventh chord over the first note of a descending perfect fifth in the ''
basse fondamentale'' or root progression, the
common practice period dominant seventh he named the ''dominante tonique''.
Dominant chords are important to
cadential progressions. In the strongest cadence, the
authentic cadence (example shown below), the dominant chord is followed by the tonic chord. A cadence that ends with a dominant chord is called a ''
half cadence
In Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999). ''The Harvard Concise Dic ...
'' or an "imperfect cadence".
:
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff <<
\new Voice \relative c''
\new Voice \relative c''
>>
\new Staff <<
\new Voice \relative c'
\new Voice \relative c'
>>
>>
Dominant key

The dominant key is the
key whose tonic is a
perfect fifth
In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval f ...
above (or a
perfect fourth below) the
tonic of the main key of the piece. Put another way, it is the key whose tonic is the dominant scale degree in the main key. If, for example, a piece is written in the key of
C major, then the tonic key is C major and the dominant key is
G major
G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
since G is the dominant note in C major.

In
sonata form
The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...
in major keys, the second subject group is usually in the dominant key.
Music which
modulates (changes key) often modulates to the dominant key. Modulation to the dominant often creates a sense of increased tension; as opposed to modulation to the
subdominant (fourth note of the scale), which creates a sense of musical relaxation.
In non-Western music
The dominant is an important concept in
Middle Eastern music. In the
Persian Dastgah,
Arabic maqam and the
Turkish makam, scales are made up of
trichords,
tetrachords, and
pentachords (each called a ''
jins'' in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
) with the tonic of a maqam being the lowest note of the lower jins and the dominant being that of the upper jins. The dominant of a maqam is not always the fifth, however; for example, in
Kurdish music and
Bayati, the dominant is the fourth, and in
maqam Saba, the dominant is the minor third. A maqam may have more than one dominant.
See also
*
Predominant chord
*
Secondary dominant
A secondary chord is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of diatonic functions for tonicization.
Secondary chords are a ...
*
Secondary leading-tone chord
* For use of the term "dominant" as a
reciting tone in
Gregorian chant, see
church modes.
*
Nondominant seventh chord
References
{{chords
Diatonic functions
5