In guitar
chord theory part 1
we looked at major and minor triads. In part
2 we learned how to construct augmented and diminished
triads. These four types of chord are all part of the same "family" as triads
- 3 note chords.
Today we're looking at chords that contain 4 notes
- 7th chords. These can be seen as extensions of the basic
triads we learned in the first two parts.
In music, the 7th
chords are:
Major 7th
Dominant 7th
Minor 7th
Minor major 7th
Augmented 7th
Half diminished
Diminished 7th
Suspended 7th
Don't get confused at this
stage with their names. Just focus on getting to know how each one is
built and the sound each one creates.
Here's a useful introductory video on 7th chords I uploaded to YouTube...
Major 7th
chords
Major 7th chords can be described as "dreamy" and relaxed and are
therefore often used as a resolution chord.
Remember that a major
triad was simply the Root, 3rd and 5th notes from the major
scale? Well a major 7th chord is simply that with an added
7th tone from the major scale...
1
3 5 7
Now, if you haven't done so already, I strongly advise
you go back to this page
and learn the
major scale patterns as they appear on your fretboard, both
on the E string and A string to start with.
Later, we'll look at the major scale patterns and corresponding chord
shapes in
different positions, but it's all on that page if you want a
head start.
Once you've learned the major
scale patterns, you should be able to pick the Root (1), 3rd
(3), 5th (5) and 7th (7) from them to form the major
7th chord. For example...
Notice how it just uses those
4 tones (1 3 5 7), unmoved from the major scale.
Here's a common major 7th
chord shape rooted on the A string. It draws from its related major
scale pattern...
You
don't have to include that higher 5th voicing on the high E string, but
the option is there for if you want it to add to the harmony.
The major 7th chord is abbreviated as "maj7", so if the root note
lied on A, it would be Amaj7.
Learn major 7th chord variations all over the fretboard by using the JamPlay chord chart.
Dominant
7th
chords
Dominant 7th chords include a flat 7th
(b7) instead of a major 7th (7). This means you flatten the 7th from
its major scale position one semitone (the equivalent of one fret).
1
3 5 b7
Dominant 7th chords are abbreviated by simply adding a 7.
For example, C7, B7, D7 etc.
When you see just the 7 added like this, we can assume that the 3rd and
5th of the major triad are also present in the chord.
Minor 7th
chords
Minor 7 chords are a minor
triad (1 b3 5) with a flat
7th (b7).
1
b3 5 b7
Two commonly used minor 7th chord forms, rooted on the E and A
strings...
Remember that you can cut these larger, 5/6 string chord forms down. As
long as the main elements of the chord are included, you'll get the
sound you need. In fact, a lot of the time you won't need to include
the root or even 5th, as the bassist may cover those tones.
We abbreviate minor 7th chords as "m7". E.g. Cm7, Bm7, Dm7 etc.
Minor
major 7th chords
"Minor major 7th" might sound contradictory, but as the minor comes
first these can be seen as minor chords with a major 7th...
1
b3 5 7
Often
used as a more tense minor tonic/resolution chord within harmonic or
melodic minor based progressions. Also used in between regular minor
and minor 7th chords, creating a harmony line through both 7th
positions.
We can abbreviate this as "mM7" or "minMaj7". E.g. CmM7, BmMaj7 etc.
Augmented
7th
chords
I think you see where we're going with this now - in part
2, we looked at augmented triads (1 3 #5), well an augmented
7th chord is exactly that with an added flat 7th...
1
3 #5 b7
Very tense sounding chords, used a lot in jazz.
The abbreviation for augmented 7th chords is "aug7". E.g. Baug7, Caug7,
Eaug7 etc.
The aug
part refers to the sharpened 5th, and the 7 stands
for the flattened 7th note from the major scale.
Half
diminished chords
Half diminished? Well, you'll know from part
2 how a regular diminished triad is made up (1 b3 b5). A half
diminished chord is the diminished triad plus a flat 7th tone.
It's a bit of a confusing name, I know! Just make sure you learn the
elements that make up this chord to clarify in your own mind...
1
b3 b5 b7
When noting the chord, we write "m7b5" (minor 7th, flat 5th) to avoid
confusion. E.g. Bm7b5, Cm7b5 etc.
So really, it's just a minor
7th
chord with a flat 5th!
Diminished
7th chords
Diminished 7th chords involve
the 7th being flattened twice
from its natural major scale position. Incidentally, this puts it in
the position of the 6th
in the major scale. However, in the context of diminished chords
(1 b3 b5) we label it as a double flat 7th (bb7)...
1
b3 b5 bb7
In other words, it's a half diminished chord with the 7th flattened one
more semitone (fret).
The abbreviation of this chord is simply "dim7", e.g. Cdim7, Fdim7,
Gdim7 etc.
As I said at the beginning,
don't worry yourself over why
some of these chord names sound a bit misrepresentative, just know what
notes they involve and how you take those notes from the major scale
and sharpen or flatten them.
Just think of diminished 7th
chords as minor chords with a flat 5 and
double flat 7th or flat 5 and added 6th.
Suspended
7th chords
In
part 1 we learned about suspended triads, where the 3rd of a major or
minor triad is replaced with the 2nd or 4th (sus2 and sus4
respectively).
These triads can also be extended by adding the flat 7th (b7). Starting
with 7th suspended 4th...
1
4 5 b7
Abbreviated as "7sus4", e.g.
C7sus4, E7sus4, G7sus4 etc.
And here's a commonly used A
string chord shape for a 7th
suspended 2nd...
1
2 5 b7
Abbreviated as "7sus2", e.g.
D7sus2, F7sus2, A7sus2 etc.
Onward and upwards...
Right, you should now have a
good idea about how
to construct 7th chords. They add more depth to the standard triad
forms, so get to know them well.
In the next guitar chord
theory lesson we'll cover further
chord extensions such as added 6ths and 9ths and creating
"13th chords".
Remember,
you can learn tons more variations of the chords we've looked at in
this lesson by spending a little time every day studying a chord chart.
