MusicReasonChords and Harmony
What applied dominant points to this target?
Choose a key and a diatonic target degree. This tool spells the applied (secondary) dominant that resolves to that target: a chord a perfect fifth above the target's root, given a dominant quality. It presents no claim that resolution is required.
Answer
Want to learn more? Chord Function, Cadence, and Substitution
Understand
Every diatonic chord in a key has its own applied dominant: a chord built a perfect fifth above that chord's root, spelled with a dominant (major, or dominant seventh) quality, regardless of the target's own quality. This chord briefly treats the target as though it were a temporary tonic, then commonly (though never necessarily) resolves down a fifth into it.
Worked examples
Targeting the V chord (G) in the key of C major returns D or D7 as V/V, since D sits a perfect fifth above G. Targeting the vi chord (A minor) in the same key returns E or E7 as V/vi, since E sits a perfect fifth above A, regardless of vi's own minor quality.
Method and limitations
The applied dominant's root is always exactly seven semitones above the target chord's own root; this invariant holds for every target this tool supports. The tool spells that root a fifth up the letter cycle from the target's own letter, then builds either a plain major triad or a dominant seventh chord on it. Targeting the tonic itself has no meaningful applied-dominant rule distinct from the key's own plain V chord, so that case is reported unavailable rather than returned as a false secondary relationship. Minor-key targets and their own notation conventions are handled by the key's minor-mode context; this tool does not claim every applied dominant is stylistically required to resolve.
The seventh is optional because a triad alone already carries the applied-dominant relationship; adding the seventh only strengthens the pull toward resolution by adding a dissonant tone that itself wants to resolve down by step. Two different targets in the same key can share the same applied dominant root under enharmonic respelling in some edge cases, but this tool always spells the fifth-above relationship literally from the target's own letter rather than searching for a shorter enharmonic alternative, keeping the V-to-target relationship visually obvious in every result.