There are various chords used in music, with the seventh chord being one of the more commonly found varieties.
A seventh chord can be defined as any triad containing an added 7th scale degree. These chords come in various forms and some may even be portable.
Below are a few examples of the most frequent shapes.
Dominant Seventh
Dominant seventh chords can be found across many genres of music. Their strong, warm sound makes them particularly suitable for songs focusing on love or emotion, such as those composed by Claude Debussy’s “Claire De Lune.” You may also encounter them more commonly in contemporary forms like soul or R&B music as well as classical pieces like his work “Claire De Lune.”
As with triad chords, seventh chords can also be categorised based on their chord quality. A dominant 7th chord consists of a major triad plus an inverted flat seventh; to construct one such chord use the formula 1-3-5-b7.
These chords have more of a dramatic feel than major or minor ones and are used to add tension in music. They tend to be slightly dissonant than other seventh chord types while still maintaining some melodic qualities.
Chord inversions can easily be created by shifting the lowest note up an octave. For instance, to produce an A dominant 7 chord in first inversion, simply move its seventh note from its current location – C – one step and lower it one note further to G for third inversion.
Minor Seventh
The minor seventh chord is an indispensable building block of jazz music. With its warm sound and wide array of uses in love songs, this chord also plays a prominent role in modern forms of music such as hip-hop.
To create a minor seventh chord, begin with its root note and add notes a third, fifth, and seventh above it. It follows the same basic process as major triads – except you use natural minor scale instead of the key signature of major keys to build it.
If you want to learn the chord, check out this lesson on Guitar Chords Chart. It will show the various variations of minor seventh chord, and how to form them on your fretboard. Furthermore, drop 2 voicings – constructed by dropping the second highest note of four-note close triad to bass note – will also be discussed.
Half Diminished Seventh
The Half Diminished Seventh Chord, commonly referred to as minor 7 flat 5, is a seventh chord with its fifth interval lowered by one semitone and its name changed accordingly (thus becoming diminished). It is often used as the II chord in minor key keys.
As with other diminished chords, the Half Diminished Seventh chord is built from a diminished triad (1 – b3 – b5). What sets it apart from fully diminished seventh chords is that it features a minor seventh rather than major seventh.
Half Diminished Seventh chords can easily be inverted. To do so, simply move their root pitch up an octave. This will result in different ordering of notes within the chord itself; to demonstrate this further let’s consider Drop 2 A half-diminished seventh chords; when inverted they contain their bass notes b3 and b5 instead of being found within its body as this will alter both its sound as well as tone order of tones that compose its structure.
Major Seventh
Seventh chords can add a distinct flavor to your music beyond regular major and minor chords, creating emotion and tension within it.
Seventh chords can be divided into four primary types, according to their intervallic content. The major seventh (maj7) chord can be constructed by adding a major third interval on top of a major triad chord, creating the major seventh (maj7).
Similar to triads, seventh chords can be written melodically as well as harmonically. Furthermore, they may also be stacked in close spacing (such as Example 1) to form what looks like an extra-long snowperson with bottom, two middles and head. Each note in a seventh chord has an interval from the root assigned a name; these notes are then organized into chord qualities (see the Chord Qualities chart for further information).