Seventh chords are an indispensable part of a guitarist’s repertoire. Based on major triads and using only two fingers for movement, seventh chords provide easy learning opportunities for beginners.
Seventh chords are very versatile and allow you to add tension or resolution as required in your music. Let’s examine a few different seventh chord types.
Major 7th
Once you’ve learned the fundamental beginner chords, major 7th chords can add another level of flavor and movement in your progressions. They are an effective way of creating tension and motion within a song.
Maj7 chords are triads with the addition of the major seventh note (one tone below an octave). They tend to produce a more romantic sound than Dominant 7th chords and can be found across various genres such as blues, jazz and rock music.
Maj7 chords come with various inversions. One popular technique involves moving the first two notes up an octave for [5 1 3], as seen below – known as Drop 2 voicing – so as to produce [5 1 3].
Minor 7th
By adding a minor seventh to a major triad, minor seventh chords create a soft, melancholy sound. They’re less tensiony than their dominant 7th counterparts and can be used in almost any genre of song.
There are various m7 chord shapes, but the most prevalent ones are variations on open Em7 and Am7 chords. At first, learning these may prove challenging; with practice however they soon become second nature.
These guitar neck diagrams present four drop 2 minor 7th chord voicings for practice purposes, featuring their root position in black, the first inversion in blue, second inversion red and third inversion green. Add these chords into your songs so they become part of your playing style!
Dominant 7th
Dominant seventh chords are a type of major triad featuring an additional minor seventh interval, or 10 semitones above the root note, to create dissonance and tension within a chord progression by drawing listeners closer towards its tonic chord in order to find resolution.
Bluesy tones also ring true with dominant 7th chords when used appropriately – think Rolling Stones with (Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, or Blue Oyster Cult’s classic “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” complete with cowbell!
This lesson will explore four dominant 7th drop 2 voicings that you can add to your acoustic guitar chord repertoire. These voicings are constructed by dropping the 3rd highest note from a closed dominant 7th chord and adding an additional bass note an octave lower, creating four new dominant 7th drop 2 chords.
Half Diminished 7th
The half diminished 7th chord is an effective addition to any guitarist’s arsenal. This dominant chord can work well when used within dominant function progressions.
An m7b5 chord consists of a minor triad on its bottom with an added major 7th on top, often known as an m7 flat 5 chord. When this minor third interval is flattened (lowered by one semitone) it becomes a diminished chord.
The vio7 chord can be used either in major keys as a viio7 chord, or minor keys as a iio7 chord to create tension and create movement within music. Furthermore, this chord can act as an effective secondary dominant chord to accompany strong melody lines.
Barre chord
Barre chords offer an easy and efficient way to play seventh chords, since their shorter string length allows the fingers to take on the role of the nut and make them much simpler to finger in keys with few or no open notes.
This barre chord utilizes an E shape with the addition of a flat 7th for a dominant seventh chord. As with all seventh chords, it’s crucial that all strings ring clear so as to achieve an authentic sound.
Dominant seventh chords are an indispensable element in many genres of music and it is easy to understand why they have such an integral place in them. Dominant seventh chords add tension while providing a solid basis for songwriting. Practice dominant seventh chord shapes regularly so as to develop your strength and dexterity as an artist.