Seventh chords are triads that incorporate an additional note at a seventh interval above their roots, each providing their own distinctive flavor.
There are various ways of naming chords, but most commonly employ Roman numerals for the triad and 7 as the seventh chord name to help distinguish their different qualities.
Major
Seventh chords can add depth and character to many timeless classics from rock, jazz and funk – as well as being essential components of expanding harmonic range on piano.
As you begin to recognize various seventh chord shapes, they’ll come alive in your mind and on the keys of your piano. Learning these complex structures takes practice and patience – but will be well worth your while once mastered!
Just like their triadic counterparts, seventh chords can be identified by their ROOT, QUALITY and INVERSION characteristics. We will focus on five traditional seventh chord qualities described by classical theory.
Major, minor, dominant and half-diminished sevenths are the four most often-used seventh chords in music, usually perceived as romantic and serene compared to its dissonant cousin, dominant seventh. Major seventh is widely used today and even dates back as far as Romanticism; composers like Claude Debussy used it in “Claire De Lune.”
Minor
Chords are composed of thirds, and seventh chords add one note which is one third higher than the fifth note. A C major seventh chord consists of its root note (C), its third note (E), and fifth note (G). We will later explore extensions such as ninth, eleventh and thirteenth notes but for now let’s just focus on basic seventh chords.
Minor seventh chords can be formed by adding a third to a diminished triad, making this chord suitable when seeking more subdued sound than with dominant seventh.
The iv seventh chord is an effective way to add tension in music. It is a symmetrical seventh chord with its fifth being half a step down from its root; therefore it creates tension. Mambo jazz often employs this chord; check out this video lesson to learn a great mambo song featuring minor seventh, major seventh, and half-diminished seventh chords!
Dominant
Frequent in blues and rock music, dominant seventh chords consist of the first three notes from any scale as well as a flattened (lowered by half-step) seventh note – similar to major seventh chords but with a more intense sound due to the flattened seventh.
These chords often serve to bring focus back to the tonic (root) chord. For instance, one of the Rolling Stones’ iconic hits “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” begins with a C7 chord before shifting into G as its tonic chord.
Building a dominant 7th chord on any note can be achieved using an easy shortcut: begin with a major triad, add a minor third on top, and repeat this process for all remaining notes of the scale until all seven notes of it have been covered by dominating 7ths (also called drop 3 chords due to dropping their 3rd highest note of closed voicings). These guitar neck diagrams show four drop 3 dominant seventh voicings: black notes correspond with root voicing while blue and red represent first inversion and 2nd inversion versions respectively.
Suspended
Sus chords, also called unisons without third, create an undefined sound that adds tension or space into any progression.
Sus chords can often be found in both funk and jazz music, for instance The Police’s hit, Message in a Bottle opens with four Fsus2 or F9sus4 chords which play across the song for an engaging feel.
In the video below, a presenter explores how these chords can add tension and space to a progression, as well as how a dominant 9sus4 on the root key can create a II-V cadence.
He then shows how to play these chords on guitar by stacking 4th intervals to form 7sus4 shapes – an extremely effective technique for adding tension to songs and simple to implement on an instrument.
Seventh chords represent an essential step in expanding any musician’s musical vocabulary. Their complexity adds depth and makes the song shine against its peers.
To understand these chords, think of them in two parts: the base chord and then a seventh added on top. Draw the root of the chord onto the staff before writing notes that correspond to its third, fifth, and seventh degree above it.
Major Seventh
Major seventh chords are musical forms composed of the first, third, fifth and seventh notes from any major scale. Commonly used in jazz and blues music to produce fuller sounds, major seventh chords are an ideal way to add dimension and depth.
Maj7 chords can be easily found at certain scale degrees and add depth and colour to your progressions. Their construction is straightforward and they’re highly effective when used appropriately.
As with triads, seventh chords are distinguished according to their quality and inversion (this will be covered further in the Chord Inversion and Figured Bass chapter). To identify its quality on a staff, draw its root and then name all three generic intervals above it: third, fifth and seventh intervals.
Seventh chords composed of do and fa (1 and 4) contain a minor triad and major seventh, while those constructed using sol and ti (5 and 7) with raised leading tone contain an inverted diminished triad and minor seventh.
Minor Seventh
The minor seventh chord is an indispensable voicing in jazz, often used to add tension in chord progressions. Additionally, it works great over minor triads to emphasize more bluesy feel in songs.
Minor seventh chords feature close spacing among its notes, similar to triads. The lowest note, known as the root, serves as the anchor of this structure while all others are named according to their interval distance from this origin as described by a note interval table.
Minor seven chords are created using the pattern of a minor third, major third, and minor seventh above any root note: G-C-Eb-A is one such minor seven chord. You can add a flattened seventh for a minor 11 chord; these chords can serve as effective alternatives to dominant chords in minor keys when used together with secondary dominant or diminished chords.
Dominant Seventh
A dominant seventh chord adds an additional note to a major triad chord, giving it a stronger sound. However, its tones tend to be darker and less bright than its major counterpart; as such it’s often used to create tension within songs.
Not only can this chord serve to resolve with its falling-fifth root motion to the tonic, it can also act as a modulation. When followed by another chord from its key – such as tonic chord – this gives a strong push toward new key.
Dominant seventh chords can harmonize all the notes in a major scale with the exception of its subtonic (sixth) and dominant (fifth) tones. When including a flat seventh tone, however, an unstable tritone interval emerges that requires resolution; hence making dominant seventh chords an inherently tension-filled and dissonant musical formation.
Half-Diminished Seventh
While major seventh chords tend to feel comfortable and stable, diminished seventh chords tend to create tension as their flattened fifth (b5) interval causes dissonance. Therefore, diminished seventh chords should only be played for short durations as they cause dissonance between chords; they are most commonly used between chords to create dissonance or connect other chords. Surprisingly enough, their interval structure mirrors that of triad chords; however the key difference lies in that major fifth of triads is major while diminished sevenths have minor fifths instead.
This chord, commonly written as m7b5, is often abbreviated to “o7,” although in bass clef it should read as “m7(b5).” It’s used frequently in jazz music for its melancholic tone and can often function as either the vi chord in major keys or chord ii in parallel minor keys – and is frequently included as part of blues progressions.