Fundamentals
18 Seventh Chords
Chelsey Hamm
Key Takeaways
- A seventh chord is a four-note chord whose notes can be arranged in thirds. A seventh chord can always be “stacked” so that its notes are either on all lines or all spaces.
- When stacked in its most compact form in thirds, the lowest note of a seventh chord is called the root, the lower middle note is called the third, the upper middle note is called the fifth, and the highest note is called the chordal seventh.
- There are five common qualities of seventh chord. These qualities are the major-major seventh chord, major-minor seventh chord, minor-minor seventh chord, half-diminished seventh chord, and the fully diminished seventh chord.
- There is another common way of naming seventh chords: the major-major seventh chord is also often called the major seventh chord, the major-minor seventh chord is also often called the dominant seventh chord, the minor-minor seventh chord is also often called the minor seventh chord, and the fully diminished seventh chord is also often simply called the diminished seventh chord
- Within major and minor keys, seventh chords have particular qualities that correspond to scale-degrees. These are the same in every major and minor key, which makes memorizing them useful.
- Seventh chords are identified by their root, quality of triad and chordal seventh, and inversion.
In this chapter we will focus upon seventh chords: four-note chords whose notes can be stacked into thirds.
Seventh Chords
Like triads, the notes of a seventh chord can always be arranged in thirds.
shows a seventh chord written both melodically and harmonically:
This seventh chord is written on four adjacent spaces; however, seventh chords can also appear on four adjacent lines when stacked in thirds. If a triad in closed spacing looks like a snowperson, then a seventh chord in closed spacing looks like an extra-long snowperson, with a bottom, two middles, and a head.
When a seventh chord is stacked in this manner, the lowest note is called the the root. The notes above the root are called the third, the fifth, and the chordal seventh . shows this:
Like a triad, the third is so named because it is a generic third above the root, the fifth is so named because it is a generic fifth above the root, and the chordal seventh is so named because it is a generic seventh above the root. The root is analogous to a snowperson’s bottom, the third and the fifth to its “extra-long” middle, and the chordal seventh to its head.
Seventh Chord Qualities and Listening to Seventh Chords
There are five common qualities of seventh chord: a major-major seventh chord, a major-minor seventh chord, a minor-minor seventh chord, a half-diminished seventh chord, and a fully diminished seventh chord. The top line of
shows the five qualities of chordal seventh in each of these seventh chords, each with a root of F, while the bottom line of shows their qualities of triad labeled:
As seen in major-major seventh chord has a ma