Learn the 24 7 lovers chords. These powerful voicings will add emotion to your songs.
Minor seven flat five is an intense chord that can add drama and emotion to your songs, such as The Supremes’ hit, “Baby Love”, or Eric Carmen’s, “All By Myself”. Its usage can be found both there as well as elsewhere – for example “All By Myself.”
Minor 11 chords can be formed by adding a perfect eleventh to the root of a minor 7th chord, according to research. Studies have revealed that these chords elicit emotions between those associated with major and minor chords, creating emotional responses intermediate in terms of valence between major and minor chords.
Major 7th
A major 7th chord is formed of three major triads with an additional major seventh added, creating a feeling of nostalgia and melancholy. Major sevenths tend to be more serene and romantic than dominant sevenths, being found often in pop ballads or soul music, and can work well when played over an IV chord in major keys and complementing major melodies.
Major sevenths are constructed using triads, which form the backbone of chords in Western music. Triads can be created by stacking thirds from scales like C major where a triad would appear as [C + E + G]. Adding sevenths creates an additional tension and instability to each chord – something jazz composers frequently utilize these chords for creating floating layers of ambiguity within their music like Wayne Shorter’s “Fall”.
Minor 7th
Minor 7th chords are a class of interval-based chords which feature some of the more easily recognisable tones from the harmonic series, making for a distinctive sound with jazzy undertones – perfect for adding that jazzy element into any piece of music!
This chord can be composed by stacking either a major 9th above the root note, or a minor 3rd above a minor 7, and dissonance between these notes creates its distinctive sound, as seen in songs such as Jimmy Hendrix’s Black Star.
To play a minor 7th chord, simply use the same shape as a dominant 7, but flatten its third and seventh to create an E-shaped dominant 7 chord that can be moved around your neck for ease. Wayne Shorter used this exact chord shape in his song Iris!
Dominant 7th
If you play guitar, chances are the dominant 7th chord is your go-to chord for most songs. Its use spans across genres from Mozart symphonies to Top 40 pop music – making its purpose clear when understanding its special qualities that provide resolution and cadence back towards its tonic chord of the key.
Tension in a dominant 7th chord arises from its unique tritone interval between major third and minor seventh; this key element of its quality lends it its distinctive sound that makes it so popular across genres of music.
A distinctive variation on the dominant 7th chord, known as a dominant sus4 chord, features replacing the third with fourths for [R – 4 – 5 – b7]. Jazz composer Wayne Shorter employs it in his compositions for an airy quality and can also be found in songs by John Lee Hooker like Fall and Muddy Waters’ Blues Before Sunrise.
Open 7th
An open version of a dominant 7th chord requires you to play all strings except the low E string – this may require more work but the results make it worth your while!
These chords are an incredible asset in your arsenal, boasting great power and capability of creating tension in songs. Additionally, they work perfectly as V chords leading back into an I chord progression.
As well as standard barred shapes, there are also several open position versions that enable you to move the root note of this chord up and down the fretboard.
Seventh chords are an extremely flexible chord type and can be utilized across many genres of music, adding both emotion and complexity to triads. Sevenths are most commonly associated with Jazz, R & B and Blues but are equally effective in any other genre – try substituting them for major or minor triads in your songs to see just how they can elevate things further!