Seventh chords can be an invaluable asset to your repertoire. They are typically created by adding a seventh above any three-note chord triad (three note chord).
This additional note adds more depth and emotion, making them suitable for many genres of music. Seventh chords come in five types: major, minor, dominant, diminished and half-diminished chords.
Major Seventh
Seventh chords can be constructed by adding an additional note that is an eighth interval above the root of a triad, such as adding C (C-E-G) with one more note a 7th above it and creating a major seventh chord (C-E-G-B).
To identify the quality of a seventh chord, identify its notes that are stacked closely together (i.e. triad), followed by any notes located a third or fifth above its root (i.e. seventh). If any accidental applies to it (like we discussed in Triads section of this chapter) using Enharmonic Equivalence respell it (just like in Triads section of this chapter).
Learn 5 types of seventh chords, each with its own distinctive sound. Our first focus will be the familiar major seventh chord that can be heard across various musical genres.
Minor Seventh
Minor seventh chords add depth and texture to your music, often found in jazz music. They are formed by taking a minor triad and adding one note with an interval that spans seven minor sevenths above its root note – creating something known as an altered minor seventh.
This chord can be used at the end of a cadence to add tension or create new musical ideas, and is frequently found in songs and acoustic pieces to give more harmonic sounds to compositions.
Identification of this chord involves looking at the table of major scale notes and finding its root note, then following that with notes which are major thirds above it and perfect fifths and minor sevenths from it respectively. This method provides a quick and straightforward method for building chord progressions into your music pieces allowing for greater variety and complexity of sound as you create complex sounds for them all at once.
Dominant Seventh
The dominant seventh chord is one of five tertian chords most often used in Western music. It consists of a major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh above its root note – making this chord easy to visualize as three major thirds stacked one on top of another; for example a C dominant seventh has three major thirds: C-E-G).
A dominant seventh chord contains tension due to its dissonant nature, making it ideal for use in progressions requiring movement in one particular direction.
That is why dominant seventh chords can be found across almost every genre of music imaginable, including Elvis’ timeless hit “Heartbreak Hotel”, with its A7, B7 and E7 dominant seventh chord progression giving his music its trademark sound of making people move to its beat. Rolling Stones used dominant sevenths extensively as well, such as in their track “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Additionally, rock music contains numerous examples of dominant seventh chords as well; particularly from bands that embrace its bluesy roots such as Blue Oyster Cult or through bands who embrace bluesy roots such as Blue Oyster Cult.
Half-Diminished Seventh
Diminished scale (dim, deg) features notes decreased by one semitone or tone for a completely symmetrical and uniform scale that can be seen as stacks of minor thirds. A half diminished chord (m7b5) can simply be defined as any regular major 7 chord with an extra flat fifth note that is identified with “b5” (this term can also refer to 7th chords generally).
Dim7 chords serve many of the same functions as dominant seventh chords; however, their flattened perfect fifth interval (6 half steps) often results in them feeling more dissonant than major and minor chords. You could view a dim7 as an “intersection chord”, from which modulatory directions can hare off in any number of different directions; making it great for creating tension that resolves into tonic notes while acting as a bridge between chord progressions.