Seventh chords share a basic formula, consisting of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th of a major scale plus one seventh note. Their Roman numeral indicates whether or not it’s major, minor, or diminished seventh chord.
This chart will assist in learning the intervals for every type of seventh chord, so once you know them it will only take you minutes to apply them in chord progressions.
Major
The major seventh chord can be found across genres of music – rock, blues, jazz and beyond all incorporate them for added depth and character to their compositions.
To create a major seventh chord, stack diatonic 3rds from the root key up until they meet at their final point and add a minor seventh note for dominating chord effect.
When creating seventh chords, always label them according to their quality and numbering position in the key signature. This helps determine how each chord functions within its musical context; chords may typically use Roman numerals for their roots while letters indicate quality and position (see Inversion and Figured Bass for further reference).
Minor
The minor chords chart provides a collection of the most frequently used triad and seventh chords found in minor-key songs, making this chart especially helpful in crafting chord progressions that convey certain moods or feelings within music.
This chord chart incorporates Roman numeral analysis so that you can quickly grasp the relationship between minor chords and their tonic chords, making reading the chart easy without needing an octave chart or guitar fingering diagram.
This chart features dots with numbers in them that tell you which frets to use to play a chord, providing invaluable assistance if you’re unfamiliar with all the various barre chord shapes available for minor key playing.
Dominant
This chord can be found across many genres of music from rock to soul to blues, often providing the dominant chord in an ascending series of minor chords. It features a powerful, heavy feel which serves as the dominant of each minor chord found within it.
Chord extensions and alterations (b9, #9, #11, and b13) can add unique sounds to a dominant chord voicing; in example 9c the 13th is displace from its normal position to create an exotic soundscape.
As dominant chords with an augmented fifth typically do not resolve to minor triads, as the chromaticized fifth cannot descend a step towards scale-degree 2, these chords may also be known as 7 or b7 chords.
Half-diminished
A half-diminished seventh chord can be an extremely effective bridge in jazz progressions. It creates tension that builds throughout a chord sequence before leading to another destination chord.
Half-diminished seventh chords may be used instead of IV chords (see examples above). An iio7 chord is often seen as the C dominant with an I3i diminished chord inserted between.
Fully-diminished leading-tone seventh chords share three pitches in common with dominant sevenths: scale degrees 77, 22 and 44. Unlike minor chords, however, fully-diminished leading-tone seventh chords cannot be constructed from diatonic notes; rather a tone from their complementary key must be borrowed in order to complete them.
This gives it its distinctive sound. Additionally, its unique property enables it to resolve to chords composed from any root note of any note in its range.
Augmented
Augmented chords offer a distinctive sound. Although less frequent than their major or minor counterparts, augmented chords can add tension and drama to your music.
Contrary to other chromatic predominant triads, augmented sixth chords do not fall under Roman numeral analysis as such, but are classified by their interval between le and fi (downarrowhat6-uparrowhat4) instead. Each augmented sixth chord also contains one or two scale degrees beyond this interval and may occur both major and minor keys.
Augmented chords are widely utilized as transitional chords between major chords or between major and minor chords, serving both as dominant substitutes or linear passing chords with linear functions. Augmented chords also create dramatic effects as seen in Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas”, or by Foo Fighters in their song “Germ,” using E+ chords which gives their song its unique sound.