If there is one area of basic harmony that tangles and snares newbie players it's the seventh chords.
Dominant seventh chords are often confused with major seventh chords; the dominant seventh variety are structurally different from the major seventh and perform an entirely different musical function.
Here's a quick review, even if you already know this stuff you might want to take another look just to be sure you have your ears pinned on straight.
Basic harmony review: Chord construction Major seventh construction: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 Dominant seventh construction: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 Chord symbols The significant thing to remember is that major seventh chords are indicated as (Maj7) e.
g.
, CMaj7 whereas the dominant seventh chord is simply indicated as (7) e.
g.
, C7 So there you have it! Whenever you see a C7 it is a dominant seventh chord not a major seventh...
remember that, most guitarists do not know (or play as if they do not know) that basic piece of essential information.
Chord function The major seventh chord can be substituted for a major chord; whereas the dominant seventh is always the fifth chord of a diatonic scale.
Some examples shown in the key of C to help clarify things.
In any basic triadic (three note) harmonization of a major scale chords 1,4 & 5 are major triads e.
g.
, triadic version 1 = C 2 = Dm 3 = Em 4 = F 5 = G 6 = A 7 = Bdim Notice how chords 1,4 and 5 are major triads, if we where to move on to the scaletone seventh (four note) version of the same scale we would create the following chords.
scaletone seventh version 1 = CMaj7 2 = Dm7 3 = Em7 4 = FMaj7 5 = G7 6 = Am7 7 = Bm7b5 Notice how chords 1 and 4 change from major triads to major 7th chords, whereas chord 5 (previously a major chord) converts to a dominant 7th chord.
As you can see a G7 chord belongs to the key of C because it was created from that key, a G7 is not created from the key of G.
This is very important information for the lead guitarist to know so that when they encounter a dominant seventh chord they will be able to identify it's parent key, Here is a list of dominant seventh chords and their parent keys, learn this table it will save a lot of trial and error practice.
G7 => C D7 => G A7 => D E7 => A B7 => E F#7=> B C#7=> F# Ab7=> Db Eb7=> Ab Bb7=> Eb F7 => Bb C7 => F In the following chord progression (Ex 1.
)the lead guitarist could safely play notes from the key of C as all chords are derived from that key.
Ex 1.
C ///| CMaj7 /// | FMaj7 /// | CMaj7 /// || However in this progression (Ex 2.
) the key of the song changed to the key of F in bar two (C7) Ex 2.
C ///| C7 /// | F /// | etc...
Important: Even though the key signature of the song may remain the same on the sheet music the experienced player knows how to de-code the chord symbols to reveal the true harmonic movement throughout the piece.
Study this information, play both the major seventh and dominant seventh chords s-l-o-w-l-y and paying close attention to the differences in chordal texture, if you take the time you will hear that the dominant seventh chord has a 'roaming' or 'restless' nature whereas the major seventh has a 'peaceful' or 'contented' feeling.
Remember your ear will only take you so far, that's when your theory kicks in and helps you find the sounds you are looking for on guitar.
Dominant seventh chords are often confused with major seventh chords; the dominant seventh variety are structurally different from the major seventh and perform an entirely different musical function.
Here's a quick review, even if you already know this stuff you might want to take another look just to be sure you have your ears pinned on straight.
Basic harmony review: Chord construction Major seventh construction: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 Dominant seventh construction: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 Chord symbols The significant thing to remember is that major seventh chords are indicated as (Maj7) e.
g.
, CMaj7 whereas the dominant seventh chord is simply indicated as (7) e.
g.
, C7 So there you have it! Whenever you see a C7 it is a dominant seventh chord not a major seventh...
remember that, most guitarists do not know (or play as if they do not know) that basic piece of essential information.
Chord function The major seventh chord can be substituted for a major chord; whereas the dominant seventh is always the fifth chord of a diatonic scale.
Some examples shown in the key of C to help clarify things.
In any basic triadic (three note) harmonization of a major scale chords 1,4 & 5 are major triads e.
g.
, triadic version 1 = C 2 = Dm 3 = Em 4 = F 5 = G 6 = A 7 = Bdim Notice how chords 1,4 and 5 are major triads, if we where to move on to the scaletone seventh (four note) version of the same scale we would create the following chords.
scaletone seventh version 1 = CMaj7 2 = Dm7 3 = Em7 4 = FMaj7 5 = G7 6 = Am7 7 = Bm7b5 Notice how chords 1 and 4 change from major triads to major 7th chords, whereas chord 5 (previously a major chord) converts to a dominant 7th chord.
As you can see a G7 chord belongs to the key of C because it was created from that key, a G7 is not created from the key of G.
This is very important information for the lead guitarist to know so that when they encounter a dominant seventh chord they will be able to identify it's parent key, Here is a list of dominant seventh chords and their parent keys, learn this table it will save a lot of trial and error practice.
G7 => C D7 => G A7 => D E7 => A B7 => E F#7=> B C#7=> F# Ab7=> Db Eb7=> Ab Bb7=> Eb F7 => Bb C7 => F In the following chord progression (Ex 1.
)the lead guitarist could safely play notes from the key of C as all chords are derived from that key.
Ex 1.
C ///| CMaj7 /// | FMaj7 /// | CMaj7 /// || However in this progression (Ex 2.
) the key of the song changed to the key of F in bar two (C7) Ex 2.
C ///| C7 /// | F /// | etc...
Important: Even though the key signature of the song may remain the same on the sheet music the experienced player knows how to de-code the chord symbols to reveal the true harmonic movement throughout the piece.
Study this information, play both the major seventh and dominant seventh chords s-l-o-w-l-y and paying close attention to the differences in chordal texture, if you take the time you will hear that the dominant seventh chord has a 'roaming' or 'restless' nature whereas the major seventh has a 'peaceful' or 'contented' feeling.
Remember your ear will only take you so far, that's when your theory kicks in and helps you find the sounds you are looking for on guitar.
SHARE
