Chord theory epic: functional harmony, secondary dominants, substitutions and diminished 7ths

Want to know more about chord theory and how harmony works? This tutorial takes a look at some of the more exotic chords you might find in a progression. It reviews the basics of diatonic chords and how to generate them and the different functions of important chords. Then I talk about secondary dominants, an interesting chord substitution and the notoriously tricksy diminished seventh chord.

If you'd like to know more about harmony, music theory or piano, be sure to check out and subscribe to my piano channel, where you'll find hundreds of massively popular tutorials explaining key concepts in a clear, straightforward style!

[BillHilton]

Remember to check out my books - How To Really Play The Piano, Seven Studies In Pop Piano and An Introduction To Cocktail Piano! Links here:

[afkaralp]

Im just 13 minutes in and already feel like einstein of music theory thanks bill stay the way you are

[buhlir]

Seriously man this was frickin incredible! So many things I’ve been searching for. I absolutely loved it. Thank you for doing this and going deep, I’m so sick of people never going into theory because they think people don’t want to hear it. I’m so glad you did. And also great composition, I feel like I can use a lot of these little theory nuggets for my own stuff. Thank you again !!

[codenamegrs]

That jump from C to E7 to Am7 wooow 🤩 that is magical 🧙🏻‍♂️🦉💣🔥🌚🌝

[matispiir]

Feels good to understand what this was all about, considering that 18 months ago I could not play a note and didn't know what a scale is. A slow but steady tool what the human brain is, yeah. Power to all the starting musicians out there!

[yummytums]

All of my life as a musician I have been searching for this video, an explanation for "how music actually moves" and how what I was producing sounded good or bad and why....
Thank you for making it!

[cathieproffitt]

My wee brain is blown! The subject is so huge and etc. I need to dig deeper into each of these to actually grasp them! Another nice video, thanks Bill!

[DoctorRapper]

Brilliant. As a piano player who has stopped taking lessons and continues to practice on my own, music theory is one thing that is not so easy to learn without a teacher. Really appreciate these types of videos. Quality content as always!

[gaintheprowess]

This is such a good explanation of non diatonic chords for folks with a basic knowledge of music theory, perhaps a beginner composer (me), but looking to for some spice in their song writing

[TheyBenefit]

Thanks for the fundamental particle analogy. I was quite confused until you said that

[TheKiteless]

I've been playing guitar for 30 years, but only started learning music theory 18 months ago. Thanks largely to Jake at Signals Music Studio (his YT channel is worth a look of you're a guitarist) I've got a good grounding on basic music theory and song writing tips. Stuff like Mediant Thirds / Picardy Thirds / Plagal shifts from a maj 4th to a min 4th and such like. But this video is a game changer, for me. A proper game changer. All of the stuff I've previously learned with regard to music theory, I can now apply creatively. I can not thank you enough. Liked and subscribed.

[PhilipDunn]

Great explanation, Bill. Thanks. This brings together exactly what I have been looking for for the last couple of years: how to make 'musical sense' out so many non-diatonic chords. And I'm impressed at how deep your music theory knowledge is!

[tonyrapa-tonyrapa]

There are 19 dislikes (at the time of writing)... I honestly cannot understand why. This was a very well described demonstration of functional harmony and song writing in general. More to the point, if there is one over-arching take-away from this well-presented lecture, it's this: it takes hard work and practice. Bravo Bill.

[mataleo]

I know that some people may think this was a little too technical, but for someone li me who has been playing the piano for over 20 years, this is exactly the type of thing I have been looking for. I already have the technical knowledge, so this type of functional info is a really good refresher for me. Thanks man, all your videos are top notch. I like that you make vids for all levels as opposed to just beginner stuff

[markjaysonmendoza]

wasn't expecting quantum mechanics in a piano tutorial :D great stuff!

[PrestonsDogFood]

Amazing! I can understand the Tonic-Subdominant-dominant part just as I play C-F-G on the ukulele. This is the first time ever that I get to know why the chords work. Many thanks! You are my master

[redfarrowmusic]

This video was the perfect mix of jumping in there and going full speed without loosing the passengers. Thank you for such a great explanation of some more complex subjects and I hope to see more videos like this!

[fishoscine]

You are the Vsauce of music theory! As a beginner, I did have to rewind a lot to really internalize everything. But you were incredibly concise and articulate in your explanation, and made it super easy to grasp, with fantastic examples.

Thank you, sincerely!

[ksbigksudjoht]

This video helped me soooo much.
I've been searching for videos on non diatonic chord progressions for soo long.

[majorlycunningham]

Bill, thanks so much for crystallising almost all of the class curriculum that I've been made to take this quarter in school! I didn't understand it much before watching this video. Definitely saving this for reference!