Secondary Dominant and Leading-Tone Chord Helper
Click any diatonic target chord to generate practical tonicization choices: V/x, vii°/x, and tritone substitution. This is a quick way to compare secondary dominants and secondary leading-tone chords for jazz, songwriting, and cinematic writing.
Diatonic Targets
Choose which chord you want to tonicize.
Applied Chord Options
Click any generated chord card to visualize and play it on the piano helper.
What Is a Secondary Leading-Tone Chord?
A secondary leading-tone chord is an applied diminished chord that points at a chord other than the tonic. In functional shorthand it is usually written as vii°/x, which means “the leading-tone chord of the target chord.”
In practice, the difference between V/x and vii°/x is color and texture. Secondary dominants sound fuller and more direct, while secondary leading-tone chords often feel tighter, more fragile, and more voice-leading driven.
This page shows both options side by side so you can choose the stronger dominant pull, the leaner diminished pull, or a tritone substitution when you want a smoother chromatic route.