A Seventh Chord is typically a four-note chord that includes some kind of 7 in its chord structure…
Here is a gallery of the five most commonly-encountered seventh chords: Major, Minor, Dominant, Diminished, and Half-Diminished…
Major 7th
- Chord symbol: Cmaj7, CM7, or CΔ7
- Chord structure = 1-3-5-7
A great way to develop your chord vocabulary is to relate new chords to chords you already know. For example, notice that Cmaj7 is a C major triad (something you already know) plus one more note: B.
Listen… and notice the colorful, sweet, dissonant, jazzy quality of the major 7 chord compared to the major triad…
The Major 7th chord is most often used in the following ways:
- Imaj7 chord in a major tonality
- IVmaj7 in major tonality
- bVImaj7 in minor tonality)
You will learn lots more about chord functions when you study chord progressions.
Minor 7th
- Chord Symbol: Cm7, Cmin7, Cmi7, or C-7
- Chord Structure: 1-b3-5-b7
Notice that Cm7 is a C minor triad (something you already know) with one more note (Bb) added.
Listen… and notice how the additional note Bb adds some color to the already dark minor triad.
The Minor 7th chord is most often used in the following ways:
- i7 chord in a Dorian tonality
- i7 chord in minor blues tonality
- ii7 chord in major tonality
- as part of a ii7-V7 secondary dominant
- iv7 in Dorian minor tonality
You will learn lots more about chord functions when you study chord progressions.
Dominant 7th
- Chord symbol: C7
- Chord structure: 1-3-5-b7
The Dominant 7th chord is commonly called just a “7” chord for short.
Notice that C7 is a C major triad (something you already know) plus one more note: Bb.
Listen… and notice the bright, but unstable, dissonant quality of the dominant seventh chord… like it needs to go somewhere.
The Dominant 7th chord is most often used in the following ways:
- V7 in major tonality
- V7 in minor tonality
- I7, IV7, V7 in blues tonality
- secondary dominant (V7/x) in a major or blues tonality.
- to modulate to a new key center.
You will learn lots more about chord functions when you study chord progressions.
Diminished 7th
- Chord symbol: Cdim7 or C°7
- Chord structure: 1-b3-b5-bb7 (Yes, that is a double flat!)
Notice that C°7 is a C diminished triad (something you already know) plus one more note: Bbb…
Notice the highly unstable, dissonant quality of the diminished seventh chord… like it needs to go somewhere:
The Diminished 7th chord functions like a dominant seventh chord. It typically acts in either of three ways:
- viio7 in a minor tonality.
- secondary dominant viio7/x.
- Tension chord that sets up a change in key center, typically to a minor tonality.
You will learn lots more about chord functions when you study chord progressions.
Half-Diminished 7th
- Chord Symbol: C∅7 or Cm7b5
- Chord Structure: 1-b3-b5-b7
Notice that this is a C diminished triad (something you already know) with one more note (Bb) added.
Notice the unstable, dissonant quality of the Half-diminished 7th chord…
The Half-Diminished 7th chord, also called a “minor seventh, flat 5”, is most often used in two ways:
- as part of a iiø7-V7-i chord progression in a minor tonality.
- as part of a iiø7-V7 secondary dominant.
Download 7th Chords Ear Training MP3s
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