Dominant 7th Chords - Root, 3rd, 5th, Lowered 7th

Dominant 7th Chords – Root, 3rd, 5th, Lowered 7th

Good morning, this is Duane, and today we’re going to take a look at dominant 7th chords. Dominant 7th chords are sometimes called the pregnant chord, and we’ll talk about why they’re called that sometimes. They’re used a great deal in the blues, as well, but in normal music, I shouldn’t say normal music, but music that’s not the blues, they’re a pregnant chord and they are called that because they want to deliver, they want to move to the next chord.

You know, a major triad is a root, 3rd, and 5th of a major scale. That’s the C major scale, so we take the root, 3rd, and 5th and we have a major triad, or a major chord. The 6th is right there, the 6th note of the scale. The 7th of the scale is right there, but that’s not a dominant 7th, that’s called a major 7th. What we’re talking about today is that chord. In other words, it’s a lowered 7th, you can call it a flat 7th if you want, but most people call it a dominant 7th. If you took traditional theory and harmony, that would be called a dominant 7th.

That chord is not a stable chord. In other words, it wants to move. It wants to move. See, that’s stable, it doesn’t want to go anyplace. That’s stable, it doesn’t want to go anyplace. That’s a stable chord, even though it’s dissonant, it’s still stable. It doesn’t demand to be moved. This chord implies that it wants to go somewhere. If you are familiar with the circle of fours, the place it wants to go is up a fourth from the root chord, which is C. It want’s to go from C to F, so we have that normal progression, and you’ve heard that a million times. Most songs end that way, by the way.

That’s a dominant 7th chord. It’s formed by lowering the 7th degree of the scale a half step. Let’s go through all the major chords and make them dominant 7ths. Here’s the D flat major chord, based on the D flat scale, which goes like that. The 6th would be there, one whole step above the 5th, and the 7th would be there, so a dominant 7th is right there. In other words, you lower the 7th scale note. See, that’s the 7th note of the scale, right there, isn’t it? That’s not the 7th we’re talking about, we’re talking about the dominant 7th, which is a half step below. That’s a D flat dominant 7th, or it could be called a C sharp dominant 7th, because that’s an in-harmonic note. It’s both D flat and it’s C sharp, depending on how it’s used. By the way, this note here would not be called B, it would be called C flat, because you’re lowering the 7th scale degree. If you saw that notated in sheet music, it would be C flat.

Here’s the D major chord based on the D major scale. 6th is there and the 7th is there, so the dominant 7th would be right there. That’s a familiar chord, you’ve heard a million times, D 7th going into G in the circle of fourths.

E flat major chord is like that, because it’s based on the scale of E flat. Root, 3rd, and 5th of the scale. The 6th is always that whole step above the 5th, not a half step but a whole step. Then, the 7th would be there, right, but we’ve got to lower the 7th, so that’s an E flat dominant 7th.

Here’s the E major chord, based on the root, 3rd, and 5th of the E scale. There’s the 6th, there’s the 7th, so that would be the E dominant 7th chord.

Let me move to the left hand now. The next chord is F. There’s the F triad, F 6th, F dominant 7th. Not the major 7th, but lower the 7th so it’s a dominant 7th.

Here’s the G flat or the F sharp major chord. That’s the 6th, and that’s a dominant 7th. Notice the dominant 7th is always a half step above the 6th. That’s another way to find it quickly if you’re looking for a shortcut.

Okay, that’s the G chord, G triad, based on the scale of G. The 6th note is there, that’s G6, so that would be G7 or G dominant 7. By the way, in sheet music, the dominant 7th chord is just called 7. G7, or C7, or whatever it is. If the composer wanted a major 7th, he would say so. He would say Gmaj7, which would be there, but if it just says G7, then you would play that.

Here’s the A flat major chord, based on the scale of A flat. Root, 3rd, and 5th, there’s the 6th, and there’s the dominant 7th.

Here’s the A major chord, based on the A major scale. Root, 3rd, 5th, 6th, a whole step above the 5th, and a dominant 7th is right there. That’s A dominant 7th.

B flat, B flat, D, and F, the root, 3rd, and 5th of the B flat scale. There’s the 6th, and there’s the dominant 7th.

The B chord is based on the B scale, of course, and the 6th is there, and the dominant 7th is there.

I would advocate that you practice through all those chords, just like I did. Start out with a major triad, go to the 6th, then go to the dominant 7th so you can get a feel for getting to the 7th chord quickly.

Okay, that’s it for today. If you enjoy these little series of tips, piano tips, and tips about chords and so on, then come on over to playpiano.com and sign up for our series of tips. Hope to see you there. Until tomorrow, I’ll say goodbye.

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