
One can often find examples of tonicization by looking for accidentals, as there are always accidentals involved in tonicization.

In the key of C major, C sharp is an accidental. In the key of D minor, an A major chord is the dominant chord. The pitches used in a V/ii in this example include the notes A, C# and E (creating an A major chord). The V/ii chord is composed of the pitches in a V chord in the key of ii (key of D minor).

no sharps, no flats-the triad must be minor-the individual notes D, F and A. The D is minor because to construct a triad over D using only the pitches available in the key of C major-i.e. In this situation, the ii has been tonicized.įor example, in a piece in the key of C major, the ii chord is D minor, because D is the second scale degree in a C major scale. This would usually resolve to the ii chord (of the original key). Using Roman numeral chord analysis, a chord labeled "V/ii" (colloquially referred to as "five of two") would refer to the V chord of a different key specifically, a key named after the ii chord of the original tonic. When a chord is tonicized, this makes this non-tonic chord sound temporarily like a tonic chord. When a dominant chord or dominant seventh chord is used before a chord other than the tonic, this dominant or dominant seventh chord is called a secondary dominant.

A tonicized chord is a chord other than the tonic chord to which a dominant or dominant seventh chord progresses. The dominant chord, especially if it is a dominant seventh, is heard by Western composers and listeners familiar with music as resolving (or "leading") to the tonic, due to the use of the leading note in the dominant chord. A tonic chord has a dominant chord in the key of C major, the tonic chord is C major and the dominant chord is G major or G dominant seventh. In Western music that is tonal, the piece is heard by the listener as being in a certain key. In music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall tonic (the "home note" of a piece) as a temporary tonic in a composition.
