The seventh chord can transform the mood and texture of piano music across most genres, especially jazz, blues, and modern pop. They can most commonly be found in jazz, blues and modern pop.
Seventh chords are similar to triads in that they consist of multiple notes from a scale, assembled into an arrangement. There are five common characteristics associated with seventh chords: Dominant, Minor, Diminished and Half-Diminished chords.
Dominant Seventh
A dominant seventh chord adds one note above the root, creating a four-note chord known as a tetrachord. Because this chord features dissonant seventh notes, its feeling differs greatly from major or minor triads.
This chord is one of the first ones used in classical music and adds depth, emotion and complexity to a triad. You may hear seventh chords frequently found in jazz music, R & B or pop songs but not usually found elsewhere such as rock or heavy metal music genres.
Mastering dominant seventh chords is an excellent way for guitarists looking to expand their skills beyond basic major and minor triads. Many of Elvis’ top hits, including “Heartbreak Hotel” and “That’s All Right”, feature A7, B7 and E7 dominant seventh chords – giving these songs their distinctive sound that makes dancing easy! You can learn this chord progression by starting with a major triad, then gradually adding in its fourth note an octave above its highest root note.
Minor Seventh
If you enjoy contemporary or love songs from today, chances are you have encountered major seventh chords. They can be found across numerous genres and even date back as far as romanticism with examples like Claude Debussy’s ‘Claire de Lune’ being examples.
If the major seventh chord doesn’t quite suit your musical taste, a similar structure can still be used to form a minor seventh chord by simply lowering its third and seventh notes by half steps so it sounds more minor.
To help you learn the various types of 7th chords, we have prepared a series of lessons. Each will begin from one note on the scale and build 7th chords from that particular note – giving you an excellent idea of how each type is formed and sounds.
Half Diminished Seventh
A half diminished seventh chord is an unusual type of 7th chord as it lacks an identifiable root note. Instead, like its diminished counterpart, this chord can be written enharmonically so any one of its notes could become the root if inverted. To create its first inversion, take its lowest pitch note (the lowest note in pitch terms) and move it up an octave; an A half diminished seventh chord could look something like this:
Minor seventh flat five (m7b5) chord is another excellent way of adding tension to songs. Like its diminuated cousin, the diminished seventh chord features minor third, flattened fifth, and diminished seventh notes above its root – just like minor triad. Since it can easily connect to other chords it can often serve as vii chord in major keys while in minor keys it functions as ii chord.
Major Seventh
As is true with triads, seventh chords have unique properties which correspond with certain scale degrees and remain the same across keys, making it easier to recognize and memorize them.
For creating a major seventh chord, use a major triad pattern as your basis and add an upper seventh note above its root note – using this chord chart is an effective way of practicing this step.
All seventh chords follow a specific formula, and this one is particularly straightforward: 1 3 5 b7. This chord can be built using any note from the major scale as long as its notes are minor and its fifth diminished.
Major seventh chords can be found everywhere from classical music to jazz and blues music, often used to build tension or serve as transitional chords to give listeners time to catch their breath. You may even come across major seventh chords occurring naturally!