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Seventh chords can add depth and character to progressions. There are five distinctive types of seventh chord qualities; major, minor, dom7, dim7 and m7b5. Each has its own flavor that can evoke emotion or heighten tension.
Major Seventh
Seventh chords can bring incredible emotion and color to a piano progression, found across almost all musical genres from classical to rock and funk. Understanding them will take your playing to new heights!
Major seventh chords can be composed by adding a major triad and seventh interval to a root note, whereby the seventh tone is dissonant to create a dissonant sound – making maj7 chords ideal for jazz, bossa nova, rock and blues music styles.
For a minor seventh chord, simply lower the third by half step so it becomes a minor 3rd. This shape can be found in many keys, making it an essential chord in every pianist’s toolkit. Funk progressions often benefit from using minor sevenths because their low sonic center provides strong anchor without treading on bass notes; additionally, they can be altered or diminished to add tension or mystery into their progressions.
Minor Seventh
Minor seventh chords have long been used as part of modern and romantic music composition, such as in Debussy’s “Claire De Lune.” Their warm tone makes them ideal for love songs.
Minor seventh chords can also be used to evoke various feelings and can often be easier for musicians to play than their heavier major chord counterparts.
For a minor seventh chord to be constructed, one needs only to draw the root of a major triad on a staff (or piano keyboard) and add an extra-long snowperson representing notes a third, fifth, and seventh above it. This chord is typically known as Imaj7 or Cmaj7 in sheet music notation as well as minor seven flat five chord progressions; it is by far the most widely played form of minor seventh chord found across musical styles.
Dominant Seventh
The dominant seventh chord adds an increasingly powerful and pronounced sound to a perfect triad, making it an immensely popular chord across many genres and often found in funk songs. Notated on sheet music or lead sheets as “CM7,” its flat seventh gives this chord its characteristic minor feel while giving more prominence than that found in diminished seventh chords.
As evidenced by the above chart, each chord possesses unique qualities due to the interval relationships between third and seventh chords. But these chords remain equally functional and often work well together, providing plenty of choices if you’re trying to recreate particular sounds with them. Once you master one particular technique – for instance using seventh chords to add tension – then start exploring various combinations!
Diminished Seventh
The diminished seventh chord features a dissonant sound that adds tension to any chord progression, creating a sense of haunting or torment. It is frequently used as passing chord in I – V – vi – IV chord progressions; alternatively it may modulate to another key as well.
This chord combines a diminished triad and minor seventh above its root note to form a complete and symmetrical structure which can be written using formula (0, 3, 6, 9).
This chord, commonly seen in jazz music, is known as a Drop 2 chord because its construction involves dropping the second highest note from four notes of an adjacent close chord below. This chord has become popular as an effective tool for adding tension and tension in chord progressions; plus it boasts the unique quality of being easily drawn down to any tonic triad regardless of harmonic environment – something most other chords cannot do!