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Hi, as far as I know in this chord progression the F#7 is the secondary dominant of the V chord B7 (the V Chord of the V Chord) This is why it works.
To resolve from the IV Chord back to I Chord you can go over the Minor IV. A over Am to E. This is why the Am works. I hope I have got it right and it helps.Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
The next Meetup will be on February 28, 2026For more information click here
I look forward to meet you.
Manfred -
That’s correct Manfred!
The sequence IV -iv – I (in this case: A – Am -E) is a very common way to return from IV to I. In terms of voice leading we have (A C# E) -> (A C E) -> (E G# B). The chromatic descend C# C B is what makes this progression so nice.
You can view it as a chromatic passing chord, or as a borrowed chord from E Aeolian.In bars 7 and 15, the F#7 is indeed the secondary dominant: it is the V7 of the V chord, which in this case is B.
In bar 13 the F#7 chord also functions as a secondary dominant, but here it is held much longer; in fact, the E chord that follows in bar 14 is a decoration of that V7 chord. Bars 13, 14 and 15 actually temporarily modulate to the key of B; in that key we have V7 – IV – V7 – I (F#7 – E – F#7 – B7). The final chord B7 is a pivot chord that brings us back to the original key of E major.
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Thanks for your detailed explanation, Jean Michel. You can explain it so much better than I can. But I’m glad I figured it out right. I’m just starting to find my way around music theory.
Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
The next Meetup will be on February 28, 2026For more information click here
I look forward to meet you.
Manfred
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Thanks to Manfred and Jean-Michel for your detailed answers. I am not sure if if I understand the theory but I learned that the V of the V – chord works well as a pasning chord! As also the IV of the IV chord does.
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The theory is very simple.
The diatonic chords in any major key are: I ii iii IV V vi vii°. The strongest chord change is V(7) – I (the perfect cadence).The idea is to reproduce this for all the other chords in the key, pretending that each one is a momentary tonic chord: V7/ii -> ii, V7/iii -> iii, V7/IV -> IV, V7/V -> V, V7/vi -> vi.
In C major, that gives: A7 -> Dm, B7 -> Em, C7 -> F, D7 -> G, E7 -> Am.
Of course, none of these “secondary dominants” are diatonic, but they are particularly effective to harmonize chromatic melody notes.The same concept applies to minor keys as well.
As for the IV -> iv -> I sequence (e.g. F -> Fm -> C), the Fm chord is just a chromatic passing chord.
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