7 chords play an integral part in creating the mood and texture of piano music across genres, as they feel slightly tenser than other chords.
All seventh chords are composed using tertiary harmony, meaning they consist of multiple thirds stacked onto one another. A major seventh chord consists of four notes: root note, major third, perfect fifth and major seventh.
Dominant 7th Chord
Dominant 7th chords are one of the most frequently encountered forms of seventh chords and can be an effective way to generate tension before moving to a major triad. Their name derives from their inclusion of a dominant (b7) note which adds dissonance while simultaneously drawing listeners closer towards its tonic (root) chord.
Dominant seventh chords are composed of five scale degrees in any key, making them suitable for use on either major or minor scales. As with triads, seventh chords may be classified according to their quality: major, minor, dominant or diminished.
Dominant seventh chords are a staple of blues music, and are also an integral component of early rock and roll. Carl Perkins’ classic, “Blue Suede Shoes,” for instance, contains two dominant seventh chords–D7 and E7–which sound distinctively bluesy when played with lots of distortion.
Major 7th Chord
Major sevenths tend to offer more romantic overtones than dominant 7 chords and are frequently found in classical music, adding extra tension to your voicings.
An effective way to construct a major seventh chord is to take an existing major triad and add the note one half step below its root – for instance, to make a Cmaj7 chord you could start by starting with C, E and G and adding B (because B is half step below the root).
When playing major 7th chords, it’s important to keep in mind that they can also be left out of the triad itself, producing a valid yet less dissonant chord. You might hear this technique used in baroque or classical music as well as modern pop songs; jazz musicians are particularly fond of doing this too. Just keep in mind that every chord needs its root note for its strength – any time spent leaving something out should be minimized as much as possible!
Minor 7th Chord
Minor 7th chords (abbreviated m7) are among the most frequently played seventh chords. Composed of three components – roots, minor third and fifth – to play it requires using only your 1st finger for root string fingering on bottom string while both minor third and seventh are lowered one half step over time to add it a bit of color and interest to any musical score.
You’ve probably encountered this chord before in various forms of contemporary music – from Debussy’s Clair de Lune to My Funny Valentine by Rod Stewart. It has a warm tone that works well across many styles of music.
This chord can also be created by stacking two minor triads together and adding a major seventh above their root note. Though not generally known as a minor major 7th chord, lead sheets often display it using M, ma or maj and do not always indicate the quality of its seventh (as would normally be indicated with suffixes like m7, maj7 or m9) This chord may also be constructed from minor scale and possess non-diatonic characteristics.
Triad
Seventh chords add variety and dissonance to a tonal landscape. These chords can be built in any scale degree and may feature non-chord tones (called 7ths ) to produce richer textures than their triad counterparts.
As you learn the different qualities of seventh chords, it is vital that you recognize their triad roots to prevent confusion. To do this, draw their root onto a staff and add notes a third, fifth, and seventh above it until a triad is formed.
Note that a diminished triad is simply the equivalent of an augmented triad minus its 7th note; therefore E G Bdim equals G7. You could also omit both roots while keeping one or more chords to create half-diminished seventh chords such as Bm7.
By learning the various triad shapes and seventh chords associated with them, you’ll develop the tools to improvise single-note melodies over any chord progression. For instance, this etude uses larger chord forms in open position or barre chords combined with triad roots on three strings to improvise melodies that support its chord progression.