Is a lydian II - V - I progression common?

Question

I recently learned that there's a harmonic reason why some scales exist. If you have a minor scale but want to have a dominant V chord, sharpen the 7th degree and as a byproduct you get the harmonic minor scale. If you have a major scale but want to sustain a VII chord, flatten the 7th degree to have a major VII(b) chord; as a byproduct you get the mixolydian mode. Is it useful to think of the lydian mode as a major scale altered in order to have a major II chord in the common II - V - I?

(Regardless of the answer, can someone point me to a tune that uses a II - V - I with a major II chord?)

Answer 1

Let's think through this in C major:

    G    A    D    G
    E    F    B    E
    C    D    G    C
    I    ii   V    I

These chords are all major with the exception of the D triad, which is minor. But when we make that D triad major, it starts to sound like the dominant of G major (which is also D major). Thus now we're looking at:

    G    A    D    G
    E    F♯   B    E
    C    D    G    C
    I    V/V  V    I

We call that second chord a "secondary dominant" (or "applied dominant") to the G chord, and we read the Roman numeral as a "V of V."

Long story short, this is very common, and is one of the first chromatic progressions students learn in music theory courses. But it's normally just called a secondary dominant; in my opinion, calling a "Lydian II–V–I" runs the risk of someone not recognizing the function of that D chord.

As a really silly example, here is Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash," conveniently in C major. It begins with a C chord, and at "Thinkin' everything was al-" it moves to a V/V, which then resolves to V at "-right," and finally back to I on "Well I stepped."

Answer 2

The pattern II-V-I is rather common in country and pop from the 20s to the 50s. Analytically, it's a V/V-V-I, the V gets its own dominant. (This is very common in classical). "San Antonio Rose" is one example.

Likewise the sequence V/IV-iv-V/V-V-I is common too (sometimes called the Montgomery Ward turnaround.) Example: C7-iv-D7-G7-C. The "ragtime sequence" III7-VI7-II7-V7-I is common too. ("Five Foot Two"). I prefer to think of it as a construct in itself rather than a sequence of secondary dominants with elision.