What does DOMINANT imply?

[Coolie No.1]

In music theory what does the term dominant imply?

 

Can someone tell me what it means relating to chords or scales?

 

Is there an opposite of dominant?

 

Thanks

[gennation]

"Dominant" means the "V" of a Key, or the 5th note of a scale and/or the chord built from the 5th note of a Key.

 

The opposite of "Dominant" is "Tonic", but there a few other descriptors between Tonic and Dominant too.

 

Here's a good read for you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_%28music%29

[gennation]

That chord built from the 5th note of a Major scale creates a chord containing a R, M3, 5, and b7. Any chord with those Intervals in it's formula is also called a "Dominant chord".

 

In chord-terms, the opposite of Dominant would be maj7 or m7.

 

But the Dominant chord is kind of a mix of both:

 

maj7 = R M3 5 M7

m7 = R m3 5 m7

dom7 = R M3 5 m7

 

See how they all have the R and 5? But the Dominant chord has the M3 from the maj7 chord and the m7 from the m7 chord. Some people say "it's leans both ways" because of this.

[Selsaral]

My teacher would ask: what's the difference between major and dominant 7th? The answer: a flat 7 in the dominant chord.

 

Rock musicians often have trouble with the dominant chord, even though they often play them. This is because so much rock music just uses triads, so they never include the 7th note of the scale in their chord. A dominant 7th chord played as a triad sounds identical to a major chord. When you include the 7th note, it sounds bluesy. In a standard blues song, every single chord is a dominant 7th.

[1001gear]

There's a b7 in a mi7 as well. The term dominant (like *suspension* from that slash thread) is derived from the conventions of European music. The definition is literal in that they always functioned as and with the resolutional requirements of V chords. Dominant.

In modern music there are no functional requirements imposed on 7th chords and indeed they can be used nearly without discretion. but as soon as this happens, the term *dominant* no longer applies. It's still called that for convenience and to avoid confusion with the mi7th.

[lollygag]

Classically speaking, a dominant chord has a sound that pulls towards either a major or minor chord. When you hear the dominant chord you can tell immediately where each of the voices will resolve to. that sense of pull towards another chord is what establishes classical tonality.