Extended dominant series

An extended dominant series is a fancy term for a sequential progression of secondary dominants – i.e. the ragtime progression.

This can lead to awesome chromatic voice leading: there are 2 chromatic lines a tritone apart. This movement is the essence of the sound.

Example: E7 A7 D7 G7 C

  • Line 1: G# -> G -> F# -> F -> E
  • Line 2: D -> C# -> C -> B -> C

During analysis, you can notate it with large “slur”-ish arrows, and the scale degree of the first chord goes above ✏️ #🖼️

Examples