A secondary dominant that never pays off: 3 major points at 6- but steps to 4 instead, then 4- twists the knife. Tension raised, promise broken — that's the whole aesthetic.
hear it in “Creep” (Radiohead) — 1 · 3 · 4 · 4-
Lead-in — how players set it up1 must be established first — the 3 major is the betrayal.Vamp 1 twice — the 3 major needs a settled before-picture.Or from 5, so the 3 reads as a wrong-way dominant.Follow — where it usually goes4 → 4- and back to 1: the full four-chord cycle.Pay it off late: let 3 finally reach 6- a bar later.Or loop the whole four-chord cell — the ache is the hook.
Over the 3⁷, play the ♯5 like you mean the 6- — then when 4 arrives instead, fall onto its 3rd for the sweet lie.Target tones (in C)C — lean on E (3)E — lean on G# (3)F — lean on A (3)Fm — lean on Ab (b3)Half-step wiresC ↘ B · G → G# · E → F · G# → A · A ↘ Ab