Quartz 5

20220403113900 Related IIs

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Related IIs

Any V chord has what’s called its “related II” (in Berklee speak) which is simply the IIm chord of the key the V would diatonically belong to.

Knowing the related II is useful because you can slip it into any chord progression with a secondary dominant chord: simply insert the related II in front.

The “formula” is to use a minor chord with a root a 5th above the secondary dom chord in question.

Example 1

  • Chord progresion: C | Em
  • Add in a secondary dom: C | B7 Em
  • B7 is the V7 in the key of E, where F#m is the IIm chord
  • Add in the related II: C F#m7 | B7 Em

Example 2

  • Chord progression: Bb | Ab
  • Add secondary dom: Bb | Eb7 Ab
  • A minor chord a 5th away from Eb7 is Bbm
  • Bb Bbm | Eb7 Ab

Example 3

  • F | C7
  • F | Db7 C7 (tritone sub)
  • F Abm7 | Db7 C7 (Db7 is diatonic to Gb; Abm is the IIm chord)

Example 4

  • A | D (I IV)
  • A | A7 D (V7/IV; the tritone sub would be Eb7)
  • A Bbm | A7 D (Eb7 is key of Ab, IIm is Bbm)

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