Lesson Goal: To quickly internalize the Dominant 7th Chord in all spellings… by ear, intellect, eye and muscle…
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.
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G Dominant Seventh Chord
- Chord symbol: G7
- Chord structure: 1-3-5-b7
- Character: bright, unstable, dissonant.
The Dominant 7th chord is commonly just called a “7 chord” for short.
The G7 chord is a G major triad plus one more note: F.
The G7 chord a G major triad (something you already know) plus one more note: F. This added note gives it a bright, unstable, dissonant quality.
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Common Uses for the G7 Chord
The G Dominant Seventh chord can perform any of the following functions (using Roman Numeral Analysis)…
- V chord in C Major or C Minor.
- Tonicization of a C or Cm chord.
- I or IV chord in C Mixolydian.
- IV chord in G Dorian.
- I7 chord in G Blues, IV7 chord in D Blues, or V7 chord in C Blues.
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Dominant 7th Chord Names, Symbols, Spellings, & Keyboard Layouts, All Keys
Lesson Goal: To name, spell, hear, and visualize the keyboard layout for the most commonly used Dominant 7th Chords…
About Learning to Spell Dominant 7th Chords
First, realize that all you need to do to build a Dominant 7th Chord is to add “the b7” to a major triad.
Second, learn to spell each chord just as you’d spell any four-letter word in English. For example, you spell face F-A-C-E and star S-T-A-R. Likewise, you spell a C7 chord C-E-G-Bb and D7 chord D-F#-A-C.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
C Dominant 7th
- Chord Symbol: C7
- Spelling: C-E-G-Bb
- Common Usage: V chord in F Major or F Minor or Tonicization of an F or Fm chord.
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Dominant Seventh Chord Names & Spellings (Flashcards)
Lesson Goal: To quickly learn to spell the most commonly used Dominant 7th Chords (just as you spell any three-letter word in English…
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Dominant Seventh Chord Practice, All Spellings
Root position Dominant Seventh Chords played melodically and harmonically, arranged chromatically ascending in all spellings…
Sample at 100 beats per minute…
Dominant 7th Chords, All Keys (MP3 Play Along Practice Tracks)
The benefits of playing along with a click track at various tempos cannot be overstated: very slowly at first to have enough time to “think about everything”, then fast enough to be forced to “play without thinking”.
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 40 bpm…
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 60 bpm…
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 80 bpm…
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 100 bpm…
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 120 bpm…
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 140 bpm…
Dominant 7th Practice, All Keys @ 160 bpm…
For a donation to the website (Donations Page) Frank would be happy to send you his personal collection of zip files that include high-res PDFs of the scores and MP3 play along practice tracks for the entire Piano-ology study aids library. This includes all practice tracks for scales, chords, and chord progressions produced to date.
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Seventh Chords Ear Training
Learning Goal: To recognize the sound-feeling of the five most commonly-used 7th chords: major, minor, dominant, diminished, and half-diminished…
Format: Downloadable MP3s that allow you to do ear training for the five main 7th chord types almost anytime and anywhere: while doing the dishes, taking a walk, or driving your car!
Important Note from Frank: Don’t get too carried away with this. Do just enough to get the gist for how each 7th chord type sounds and feels. You will get lots more experience when we study 7th chords as part of chord progressions in real music.
Ear Training Files: Seventh Chords (MP3s)
This downloadable study consists of dozens of MP3s compressed into a single *.zip file. Simply download, unzip, create a playlist, set to random play, and do ear training on the run!
Each mp3 follows the same sequence:
- A random 7th chord is played.
- Identify it by type: major, minor, diminished, dominant, half-diminished.
- After a short pause, the correct answer is given.
Listen to an example:
Successful ear training is not the fruit of trying to hear something. It is about being receptive to the sound/feeling you are experiencing and then associating that sound/feeling with something you already know–in this case the name of each 7th chord.
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learn more… Chords & Chord Progressions
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