Subject: Add Some Sass to Your Music With 7th Chords
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Up until now, we've been discussing basic, three note chords, or triads. I've tried to keep the focus on major and minor chords. As you know, these chords are built using a very specific pattern. From those building patterns we get distinctly different sounds. By manipulating a chord pattern by as little as one note, we can evoke a completely different feeling in our listener.So what happens when we change a chord shape by adding a note to the mix? How does this affect the sound, and consequently the feel, of the music? Let's check it out. This week we'll look at 7th chords - the sound that gives Blues its flavor and helped launch Rock & Roll... The 7ths Another critical group of chord shapes to be familiar with are the 7th chords - Dominant 7, Minor 7 and Major 7. Each of these chord shapes has a distinct sound and lend themselves well to many styles of music. Today's email will focus on Dominant 7ths, but I'll touch briefly on the Minor 7th and Major 7th as well. You've probably seen Dominant 7th chords in tabs and chord charts. They're almost always shown as just '7' chords. For example, a C Dominant 7th chord is just noted as 'C7'. If the chord is a Major or Minor 7th, it would be notated as 'M7' or 'm7', respectively. The most commonly used 7th chords are the Dominant 7ths, followed closely by Minor 7 chords. You can hear Dominant 7th chords used heavily in early Rock from the 1950s and 60s. The Beatles utilized Dominant 7th chords in many of their early songs such as "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Eight Days a Week." 7th Chord Construction 7th chords are an extension of the major and minor chord shapes we've learned so far. Where those chords are constructed from three notes, 7th chords add a fourth note to the chord shape and sound. You may have suspected the particular note - yes, 7th chords use the 7 note from the scale. Again, that's in addition to the first three notes traditionally found in a chord. Here's an example: If you'll recall, when we make a major chord we use the 1, 3 and 5 notes from the major scale. In the case of the key of C major, those scale notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, B. So the C major chord is made using the notes C, E and G (C minor uses C, Eb and G). Major 7th Instead of starting with the dominant 7th chord, it's a bit easier to understand how the major 7th chord is made, so let's start there. Think of a major 7th as a straight major chord with the seventh note from the same scale added on. For example, a CM7 (C major 7th chord) is made up of the notes C, E, G and B. These notes all occur naturally in the key the chord is named after: C, D, E, F, G, A, B C, E, G and B = CM7 (C Major 7) We don't see major 7th chords used much in Rock or Blues, but a nice example is the first three bars of the chorus for Carole King's "It's Too Late" which uses the BbM7 and FM7 chords. Dominant 7th To get the dominant 7th version of the chord, simply flatten (more the note down in pitch one fret) the seventh note from the major 7 chord of the same name. So a C7 (C dominant 7th) is made of the notes C, E, G and Bb. C, E, G and Bb = C7 (C Dominant 7) Because dominant 7 chords are used so often and it's easier to call them seven chords, we usually drop the 'dominant' from the name. So C7 is just 'C seven,' rather than C dominant 7. I mention some Beatles songs above that use dominant 7th chords, but many of the artists that influenced the Beatles made heavy use of dominant 7th chords - Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, many early Blues players. I think they have a "sassy" sound, or a twang to them. They tie into Rock well with a bit of rebellion in the tone, and isn't that how Rock music started out? So why is it called a dominant 7th chord? The naming of a dominant 7th chord is pretty confusing at first, so I recommend we don't focus on why it's named 'dominant', but rather just understand how it is made. The why isn't really that important in the context of playing the chord and using it musically. Truthfully, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the why, so when I can figure out a way to explain it that isn't completely confusing, I'll share it with you. Until then, just worry about knowing how to make it. Minor 7th The minor 7th chord basically combines the minor and the dominant 7th chords. With the minor of the chord, we flattened the third note. To get a minor 7th chord, we take our minor chord and add to it the minor 7th note. Here's Cm7: C, Cb, G, Bb = Cm7 (C minor 7) A great example song of minor 7th chord usage is "Sara Smiles" by Hall & Oates. The first three chords in the introduction are minor 7th chords - Em7, Bm7 and Am7. Here are links to those sample songs: "It's Too Late" by Carole King - Major 7th "Eight Days a Week" by The Beatles - Dominant 7th "When I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles - Dominant 7th "Sara Smile" by Hall & Oates - Minor 7th Here's a PDF of the Dominant and Minor 7 chords you're likely to come across. I'll be back next week with more chord fun. Have a great weekend! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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