Learn to recognize these four seventh chords by carefully listening to the notes that compose them. Have your partner play one of the chords and describe exactly which tone of chord tone you hear.
Evaluate the relationship between each chord’s stacked notes and its root to determine its quality. For instance, a C major tonic with an added minor third (an MM7 chord).
Triads
Triads consist of the lowest, middle and highest notes within a chord. To identify a triad, eliminate duplicate notes until only three notes remain (ideally not spread across multiple staves or clefs). Once identified, invert it by switching around its first and third note positions; or move one of its higher notes down half step for a diminished or up one tone for an augmented triad.
Each of these four different triads has its own distinctive flavor that’s determined by the intervals between bottom and second and middle and top chords. Practice identifying these triads by name and use them in place of full chords in songs until you get used to using them as substitutions until you gain fluency with it; note that quality doesn’t depend on whether its chord symbols contain doubled letters (octave or open spacing) for added variety.
Major Sevenths
Although there are multiple methods for recognizing seventh chords, one simple and direct way is identifying whether a chord contains either a major or minor seventh. This will give an indication of its quality (major, minor, dominant, half-diminished).
To determine the quality of a chord, look at the Note Interval Table for the key being used and count how many half-tones/semistones exist between its root note (G#) and notes three, five, and seven of its scale – for instance in A major this interval is three half-tones / semitones apart.
Comparing this number with the notes used to construct the chord and using its note interval table as a basis, use this number to establish its quality (major, minor, diminished or dominant) using any scale-related chord type that can be built upon it. Each chord quality will have a unique name which can be determined by observing chord inversions and looking up its Roman numeral on the Scale Chord Summary table for that inversion type.
Minor Sevenths
Minor seventh chords can be more challenging to identify due to the larger interval between their root and fifth note compared with major sixths, but we can use their qualities as guides in various keys for identification purposes.
Imagine that a seventh chord exists in a key with seven sharps (every note sharp). When played in minor key with same key signature, all notes will be lowered by one semitone to create diminished chord.
Finding chords takes practice, but once mastered it becomes second nature to identify any style of music. To accelerate this process, check out ToneGym – a free app designed to improve your ear through games and interactive challenges – then continue your music education with Soundfly’s hundreds of online courses in songwriting, mixing, production, composition, beat making and artist-led lessons taught by Kimbra, Com Truise and Jlin.
Dominant Sevenths
Dominant seventh chords, commonly known as V7 chords, can be an excellent way to create tension within a song. While not as bright as major chords and possessing some dissonant qualities associated with minor chords, they still offer powerful resolution to the tonic chord.
Dominant sevenths are built using the same pattern as major seventh chords but with a flattened seventh (half-step lower than what would normally be considered a regular seventh), creating an exciting sound. They’re popularly found in blues, rock, and R&B music styles but can be used in any musical context.
Dominant seventh chords consist of the root, major third and perfect fifth from any scale with an additional flattened seventh added for added drama and sound. They’re among the most frequently found seventh chords across musical genres – pop, rock, blues or just about any other style imaginable can find these chords easily enough. Dominant sevenths offer great ways to add flavor and are easily identifiable due to their distinctive sound signature.