Seventh chords add an extra dimension to chord progressions by adding a seventh interval to any of your triads.
These dynamic chord shapes can be moved around the fretboard for added excitement in any song – particularly jazz and R&B styles.
Contrivances create tension in a progression by using minor thirds, diminished fifths and minor sevenths above the root note.
Major Seventh
The major seventh chord is composed of the major triad and major 7th interval. It can be constructed by taking its intervallic components: root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, and major 7th (C-E-G-B). As Theory Man notes, when played incorrectly or when its voicing changes dramatically it may produce dissonant sounds that could sound discordant to listeners.
If you want to identify which 7th chord a given note belongs to, use the complete note interval table. By looking at this table’s distance between third and fourth notes/scale degrees on this table – which measures six half-tones between them – as a way to identify if that particular note belongs in diminished (d5) harmony or not.
Learn to play this popular funk classic featuring dominant and minor seventh chords – an excellent song to enhance rhythm, fingerpicking technique and tone on an acoustic guitar! Plus it includes strategically-placed #9 and #11 extensions which give your right hand thumb an effective workout!
Minor Seventh
Minor seventh chords can add depth and color to jazz, blues, and pop songs, adding dimension and romance. Listen closely to Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” or Louis Armstrong’s “I’m in the Mood for Love” for examples of carefully placed minor seventh chords which add an air of romance.
Minor seventh chords, like major sevenths, are composed of triads that consist of a root, minor third, perfect fifth and minor seventh intervals above their roots. While they produce less tension than dominant sevenths do, minor sevenths sound different due to being melancholic yet sophisticated at once.
Learn minor sevenths easily using moveable chord shapes that you can build anywhere on the guitar frets. Simply referring to the chart below, locate where your fingers should go on each note, and make necessary changes accordingly.
Dominant Seventh
A dominant seventh chord is a four-note chord composed of a triad and an interval of a seventh from its root note, often used to add tension or color to music compositions. Due to their dissonant properties, dominant sevenths often provide tension or color that enhances songs or poems.
There are various seventh chords you can build, but the five most frequently found in music are: major seventh, minor seventh, dominant seventh and half-diminished seventh chords. There are also augmented seventh and diminished seventh chords which may also be constructed but these tend to be less common.
Know these chords is absolutely crucial to being an accomplished guitar player, as they’re used in nearly every style of music and can bring new depth and emotion to songs or progressions.
These chords are relatively straightforward to learn as they resemble major triads with an additional flatted seventh added on top. Simply use the same fingerings that were employed when learning major triad chord patterns and simply change one finger for account of a flatted seventh chord pattern.
Minor Seven Flat Five
The minor seventh flat five chord (m7b5) is one of the most frequently employed in jazz due to its flexibility; this chord shape can be played from various positions on the fretboard.
These shapes are created using the drop 2 half-diminished chord formula (1 b3 b5) used in dominant 7th chords; however, for minor seven flat five chords the fifth note (or fret) must be lowered a tone to create this sound.
Based on its key, Cm7b5 chords may have various names depending on where it occurs in a progression; most commonly it takes on its most familiar form as part of a minor key II-V progression and often acts as its dominant chord; they may also serve as in-between chords; they also make for great starting points when exploring more complicated diminished chords such as G7 and B diminished chords.
Seventh chords can be found across many genres of music. By adding an interval note to a basic triad, seventh chords provide another layer of sound which alters its overall character and sound.
Check out this dominant 7th chord for an easy guitar shape to move across the fretboard: its root note, major third note, perfect fifth chord and flat seventh note are all present here.
Major
Major chords are the simplest type of seventh chord and can be played both open position and barre chord. Also referred to as triads because they contain three notes, they can also be found as open position chords or barre chords.
Openly strumming major chords is a popular style in pop music, sounding vibrant and optimistic when strung openly. To play one, place your thumb over the first fret of an A string with two fingers on its third fret and third finger on fifth fret (thickest string) then five down from there while leaving E string open – this creates a major chord. To play it yourself: To create this chord form on an E string: position thumb over first fret with fingers three through fifth frets placed above thumb and first finger over first fret on A string A while two fingers on third fret (thickest string) then strung down from there five down from there and leave open E string while leaving out E string open.
To create a minor chord, add an extension note (usually the flattened 3rd of the major scale ) to a major triad. This extension note can either be the flattened 3rd (b3) from major scale or sometimes just minor 7. These chords are sometimes known as min7 (minor 7 flat 5 or just minor 7) while in other styles dominant seventh chords include all seven notes of major scale; these can be played similar to major chords.
Minor
Once you are comfortable with seventh chords, the next step should be exploring various extension notes and extensions. Here lies where things become truly interesting – as well as challenging!
An addition of a minor sixth to a major seventh chord produces an ambient, relaxing sound – almost like shimmering sunlight! You’ll hear this kind of chord often in songs by artists such as America’s Tin Man (check out their main riff at 2:40 for an example of this sound).
Dominant sevenths are constructed from the same triads used to form major seventh chords, but add an extra minor seventh interval on top for tension and instability that often resolves to its tonic chord.
This chord can be found all over the fretboard, just look out for chord names containing 7.
Dominant
As we venture deeper into blues music, dominant seventh chords become one of the cornerstones of its sound. Dominant 7th chords employ similar tones as major triads but add an additional flatted seventh tone (known as the flat seventh of the major scale) above their root note for added flavor.
Carl Perkins’ 1956 hit “Blue Suede Shoes,” for instance, features two dominant 7th chords (D7 and E7) to create its infectious groove. Blue Oyster Cult’s 1969 smash hit “Don’t Fear the Reaper” is another excellent example of how dominant 7th chords can create genre-spanning sounds that transcend any particular musical genre.
Just like major and minor seventh chords, dominant sevenths can also be decorated and altered using extensions like flat-9’s, sharp-11’s and flat-13’s to add even more options for creating tension, resolution and movement in your music.
Half Diminished
Chords are one of the core elements of songwriting, alongside melody and rhythm. Chords can be utilized in various ways to shape sound; one method being diminished seventh chords which add an aura of tension or mystery when played before major or minor chords.
Half diminished chords are created by adding a minor seventh to a diminished triad. If you start from C and build the diminished triad (C-Eb-Gb), adding the minor seventh would result in C-Eb-Gb-b5.
No one expects to encounter these chords in pop music, but they are often found in jazz and old standards music. You could use them effectively when writing progressions – for instance if you want to shift the mood of a song from sadness to happiness you could switch out a dominant seventh with an m7b5 which creates a much happier tone in a song.
Seventh chords can be found across many genres of music. By adding an interval note to a basic triad, seventh chords provide another layer of sound which alters its overall character and sound.
Check out this dominant 7th chord for an easy guitar shape to move across the fretboard: its root note, major third note, perfect fifth chord and flat seventh note are all present here.
Major
Major chords are the simplest type of seventh chord and can be played both open position and barre chord. Also referred to as triads because they contain three notes, they can also be found as open position chords or barre chords.
Openly strumming major chords is a popular style in pop music, sounding vibrant and optimistic when strung openly. To play one, place your thumb over the first fret of an A string with two fingers on its third fret and third finger on fifth fret (thickest string) then five down from there while leaving E string open – this creates a major chord. To play it yourself: To create this chord form on an E string: position thumb over first fret with fingers three through fifth frets placed above thumb and first finger over first fret on A string A while two fingers on third fret (thickest string) then strung down from there five down from there and leave open E string while leaving out E string open.
To create a minor chord, add an extension note (usually the flattened 3rd of the major scale ) to a major triad. This extension note can either be the flattened 3rd (b3) from major scale or sometimes just minor 7. These chords are sometimes known as min7 (minor 7 flat 5 or just minor 7) while in other styles dominant seventh chords include all seven notes of major scale; these can be played similar to major chords.
Minor
Once you are comfortable with seventh chords, the next step should be exploring various extension notes and extensions. Here lies where things become truly interesting – as well as challenging!
An addition of a minor sixth to a major seventh chord produces an ambient, relaxing sound – almost like shimmering sunlight! You’ll hear this kind of chord often in songs by artists such as America’s Tin Man (check out their main riff at 2:40 for an example of this sound).
Dominant sevenths are constructed from the same triads used to form major seventh chords, but add an extra minor seventh interval on top for tension and instability that often resolves to its tonic chord.
This chord can be found all over the fretboard, just look out for chord names containing 7.
Dominant
As we venture deeper into blues music, dominant seventh chords become one of the cornerstones of its sound. Dominant 7th chords employ similar tones as major triads but add an additional flatted seventh tone (known as the flat seventh of the major scale) above their root note for added flavor.
Carl Perkins’ 1956 hit “Blue Suede Shoes,” for instance, features two dominant 7th chords (D7 and E7) to create its infectious groove. Blue Oyster Cult’s 1969 smash hit “Don’t Fear the Reaper” is another excellent example of how dominant 7th chords can create genre-spanning sounds that transcend any particular musical genre.
Just like major and minor seventh chords, dominant sevenths can also be decorated and altered using extensions like flat-9’s, sharp-11’s and flat-13’s to add even more options for creating tension, resolution and movement in your music.
Half Diminished
Chords are one of the core elements of songwriting, alongside melody and rhythm. Chords can be utilized in various ways to shape sound; one method being diminished seventh chords which add an aura of tension or mystery when played before major or minor chords.
Half diminished chords are created by adding a minor seventh to a diminished triad. If you start from C and build the diminished triad (C-Eb-Gb), adding the minor seventh would result in C-Eb-Gb-b5.
No one expects to encounter these chords in pop music, but they are often found in jazz and old standards music. You could use them effectively when writing progressions – for instance if you want to shift the mood of a song from sadness to happiness you could switch out a dominant seventh with an m7b5 which creates a much happier tone in a song.