Secondary Dominants and the MMA
How all 12 transpositions of the Melodic Minor Ascending scale distribute across every dominant-function chord in a key center — and what this means for improvisation.
A secondary dominant is a dominant seventh chord borrowed to temporarily function as the V7 of a chord other than the tonic. In the key of C major, the primary dominant is G7 (V7 of C). The secondary dominants are A7 (V7 of Dm = V7/II), B7 (V7 of Em = V7/III), C7 (V7 of F = V7/IV), D7 (V7 of G = V7/V), and E7 (V7 of Am = V7/VI). Together with the primary dominant, these six dominant seventh chords represent every dominant-function chord that can appear in a diatonic progression in the key of C.
The central finding of the SuperScales discovery is that all 12 transpositions of the Melodic Minor Ascending scale cover all of these dominant-function chords — the six secondary dominants plus the primary dominant — without avoid notes, all heard from a single key center of C. This is the practical meaning of MMA’s universality: one scale family, complete dominant coverage.
The Complete Mapping — All 12 Transpositions in Key of C
Here is the full table showing each of the 12 MMA transpositions, the chord it covers in the key of C, and the mode of MMA that applies:
| MMA Root | Interval from C | Chord covered in key of C | MMA Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| C MMA | 0 (tonic) | CmΔ7 (Im/maj7 — tonic minor) | MMA itself |
| D MMA | 2 (major 2nd) | Dm7 (IIm7 — diatonic) | Dorian b2 |
| Eb MMA | 3 (minor 3rd) | EbΔ7#5 (bIIIΔ7#5 — modal interchange) | Lydian #5 |
| F MMA | 5 (perfect 4th) | F7#11 (IV7#11 — Lydian Dominant) | Lydian Dominant |
| G MMA | 7 (perfect 5th) | G7b13 (V7b13 — primary dominant) | Mixolydian b13 |
| Ab MMA | 8 (minor 6th) | Abmaj7 (bVIΔ7 — modal interchange) | Locrian nat2 |
| A MMA | 9 (major 6th) | A7alt (V7/II — secondary dominant) | Altered |
| Bb MMA | 10 (minor 7th) | Bb7 (bVII7 — blues dominant) | Lydian Dominant |
| B MMA | 11 (major 7th) | B7alt (V7/III — secondary dominant) | Altered |
| C# MMA | 1 (minor 2nd) | C#7alt (tritone sub of G7) | Altered |
| D# MMA | 3 (minor 3rd) | D#7alt (V7/V/V — extended secondary) | Altered |
| F# MMA | 6 (tritone) | F#7alt (tritone sub of C7) | Altered |
The Altered mode — the 7th mode of MMA — appears repeatedly because it is specifically designed for altered dominant function. Its interval structure (b2, b3, b4, b5, b6, b7 relative to the root — essentially every note flatted except the root and dominant 7th) creates the maximum tension against a dominant chord, making it ideal for secondary dominants that need to resolve strongly.
Why the Altered Mode Is the Key
The Altered scale (also called superlocrian or diminished whole-tone) is the 7th mode of MMA. Starting from B in C MMA: B, C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab. This scale contains the b9, #9, b5 (#11), and b13 — all four of the most common alterations added to a dominant seventh chord. It is the scale that fits altered dominant chords so perfectly that jazz musicians simply call it “the altered scale.”
In the key-center framework, the Altered mode of MMA appears at the MMA roots that correspond to secondary dominant relationships. A7 (V7/II) is covered by A MMA’s Altered mode. B7 (V7/III) is covered by B MMA’s Altered mode. D7 (V7/V) is covered by D# MMA’s Altered mode. The Altered mode’s appearance is not arbitrary — it is the mathematical consequence of the MMA scale’s interval structure at those specific transpositions relative to the key center.
What This Means for the Improviser
Before the SuperScales framework, a jazz improviser navigating a chord progression with multiple secondary dominants had to switch scales with each chord change — different scale for each dominant, calculated or memorized. The cognitive load of this chord-by-chord approach is substantial, and it is one of the reasons that secondary dominant navigation remains challenging for developing improvisers.
The SuperScales framework offers a different approach: instead of switching scales with each chord, the improviser maintains the key center reference and uses the appropriate MMA transposition for each dominant chord. The reference frame stays fixed; what changes is which transposition of MMA is being used. For an ear trained to hear from a key center, this is a far less disruptive operation — not a complete reorientation of the harmonic field but a shift within it.
Diatonic Chords — Beyond Dominants
The 84 chord-scale relationships documented in the SuperScales book extend beyond the dominant-function chords. The MMA transpositions also cover substantial portions of the diatonic chord family. The D MMA (Dorian b2 mode) covers Dm7 (IIm7). The F MMA (Lydian Dominant) covers not just dominant chords but can be used over F major contexts. The G MMA (Mixolydian b13) covers the primary dominant in its most colorful form.
The 84 total chord-scale relationships represent an exhaustive accounting of every real chord in a key center that an MMA transposition can cover without avoid notes. The dominant-function chords are the most striking because they include the secondary dominants — a result that was not anticipated before the computational verification. The diatonic coverage adds additional relationships that extend the scale family’s utility beyond what chord-by-chord theory had recognized.
The complete table of all 84 relationships is documented in the SuperScales book with chord charts in all 12 keys, MIDI drones for each transposition, and exercises for each mode. The goal is not memorization but internalization — to hear each relationship as a musical reality, not just know it as a theoretical fact.
Dominant function and MMA — the same mathematical structure
Secondary dominants
Secondary dominants are borrowed from outside the key to create temporary dominant function toward a non-tonic chord. The MMA scale’s coverage of all secondary dominants from one key center means that borrowed dominants are not “outside” the key center framework — they are inside it, covered by MMA transpositions.
The Altered mode
The Altered scale — 7th mode of MMA — contains all four standard dominant chord alterations (b9, #9, b5, b13). Its repeated appearance in the secondary dominant coverage table is not coincidental: its interval structure is specifically suited to resolving dominant tension, which is what secondary dominants do.
Cognitive load reduction
Chord-by-chord scale switching at tempo requires working memory for each change. Key center MMA navigation requires only knowing which transposition corresponds to which dominant function — a pattern that, once internalized, becomes automatic recognition rather than calculation.
84 relationships
12 transpositions × 7 modes per transposition = 84 scale-chord relationships. Not all 84 cover distinct chords (some overlap), but the number represents the complete enumeration of MMA’s harmonic coverage — a number that only becomes tractable to verify computationally.
Complete Dominant Coverage — A Musical Fact
The coverage of all dominant-function chords by the 12 MMA transpositions is not a music theory trick or a mnemonic device. It is a mathematical fact about the interval structure of the MMA scale, verified computationally and audible to any ear trained to hear from a key center. It was always there — in every chord progression that used secondary dominants, in every jazz standard that moved through the cycle of fifths, in every blues that touched the IV7. The key center lens made it visible.
The next article looks at the seven modes of MMA in detail — what each one sounds like, what chord type it covers, and how to build the ear training practice that makes each mode immediately recognizable rather than theoretically known.
Secondary dominant theory is covered in Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (1995) and Rawlins and Bahha, Jazzology (2005). The complete MMA chord-scale relationship table — all 84 relationships in all 12 keys — is in the SuperScales book at muse-eek.com.