Q&A: Secondary Dominants ft. Sierra Ferrell's "Bells of Every Chapel"

Lesson #630 • Sep 9, 2026

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About This Lesson

In this members-only Q&A video, I answer Cody’s question about chords that seem to come from outside a song’s key. Often, secondary dominants are the explanation: dominant chords borrowed from another key that strongly pull toward their would-be tonic.

We’ll look at how Sierra Ferrell uses this sound in Bells of Every Chapel, which uses a chain of dominant chords that ultimately lead our ear back toward our “home” chord of C. I’ll also show you how to play the song’s catchy opening riff, and break down what’s happening harmonically along the way.

Secondary dominants are something you’ll find in tons of songs, once you learn to recognize them. To quickly demonstrate this, I’ll also look at Queen’s We Are the Champions and point out several out-of-key chords that function as secondary dominants. Let’s dive on in!

0:00 Intro Riff Playthrough
1:21 Riff Breakdown
3:43 Question
4:44 Dominant & Tonic Chords
7:03 Secondary Dominants
12:19 “We Are the Champions” Example
16:00 Playing the F#dim Chord
17:50 Farewell & Final Tips

Instructional PDF 3 pages

Lesson Discussion

Here’s a video of Sierra Ferrell playing Bells of Every Chapel live, where you can hear her playing this riff. She plays it many times, but I find the best reference is around 1:18 of the video below:

If you’re after more from Sierra Ferrell, here’s an earlier lesson where I teach her amazingly fun In Dreams riff. A few years later, she released a very similar song entitled Jeremiah which sounds like it uses a very similar guitar part.

Jangly Carter-Style Riff in D (ft. "In Dreams" by Sierra Ferrell)

★ Instructional PDF

You might also be interested in my major key cheat sheets, which help you visualize the “five” chord (dominant) in each major key:

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Q&A: Secondary Dominants ft. Sierra Ferrell's "Bells of Every Chapel"

About This Lesson

Instructional PDF 3 pages

Lesson Discussion

Related & Recommended

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Browse Related Lessons

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Travis Picking Essentials

Practical Music Theory

Guitar for Beginners

Beginner Chord Guide

Blues Starter Kit

Reading Music for Guitarists

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

JamBox

Key Master

Capo Captain

Blank Tabs

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons