Welcome to this Music Theory Centre tutorial. This lesson is about 7ths - the different types of 7th chords, how they are built and where they might be used. If you've ever been confused about 7ths, that is about to change.
Video Tutorial:
TRIADS
We will start this lesson with the basics of Chord construction. This will be covered in more detail in another lesson, but here is a quick guide, as it will be important to understand 7ths.
Chords are built from something called a triad. This is the first, third and 5th.
These numbers come from intervals. Start with the note you want the chord to be, for example for a D chord, the first is a D. Then we count up, the third will be an 'F' of some kind, and the 5 is an 'A' (which is the 5th letter of the 'D' scale).
There are two main type of triad, a major triad and minor triad. And there are some others which will be in different lessons, for now we will focus on these main two triads.
Both of these triads start with the root, numbered 1. And both use the same 5th - this is called a perfect 5th, as it is the same for both major and minor triads. If you don't quite understand that, check out our lesson on intervals for more on this topic.
The difference between the major and minor triad is the third. This will be a minor third for minor triad or a major third for a major triad.
Minor thirds are 3 semitones (above the root/1st) while major thirds are 4 semitones from the root.
So in D:
D Major - D, F#, A (F# is 4 semitones above D)
D Minor - D, F, A (F is 3 semitones above D)
Extensions
Extensions are essentially additions to this triad. You can add all sorts of other notes, usually named by the interval number. So simply, 7th chords are adding the interval of a 7th to the triad - 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th.
Extensions are usually spelt over two octaves, so you could have a 9 chord, 11, 13 or 6 as example, and they all add the described interval to the chord, look at these examples.
This lesson is about the extended chord called the 7th.
7ths
The most common extension is called the 7th.
Continuing the example in D, the 7 for a D triad will be some kind of a C. It’s always the note before the octave. For example;
the 7th of a G is F,
the 7th of a B is an A
The same way the third can be minor or major, so can the 7.
The minor 7 is a 10 semitone interval
The major 7 is an 11 semitone interval
This means there are 4 combinations of 7th chord that we can make. Remember, these are built on the minor or major triad.
The Minor Triad can have a major or minor 7th added and
The Major Triad can have a major or minor 7th added.
These all have different names based on the type of 7th it is. These are:
Major 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7
Minor major 7
Let’s look in detail:
MINOR 7
Firstly is the most simple, the minor 7 adds the interval of a minor 7 to a minor triad. This is the 7th degree of the minor scale, so Am7 will add a G, which is the minor 7th interval or as we saw - 10 semitones (A to G)
We are adding the 7th interval to the chord on top of the root, minor third and 5th.
So C minor 7 is: C, Eb, G and then Bb.
Another way to look at it is that the minor 7 adds the 7 which is one tone down from the octave or root. This is just a faster way to find the note.
DOMINANT 7
The next type of 7 is called the Dominant 7.
This one is the same as the minor 7 except it is built on a major chord. So the first, major third, fifth then minor 7. For example G dominant 7 is G, B - major third is 4 semitones, D, and F - 10 semitones (G to F)
But, if chord was in the key of 'G', the 'F' should be an 'F#' in this key, not 'F'...
This is what the Major 7 does.
MAJOR 7
The major 7 is the same as dominant 7 except in uses a major 7 interval instead of minor 7. Remember minor 7 is 10 semitones, major 7 is 11.
Here is the G again, but this time it has a Major 7.
The Major 7 is essentially a semi tone down from the octave (or root) rather than a whole tone - If you wanted to find it quickly.
USING 7th CHORDS
So, how are these chords used in a key?
Well really, you can play them however you want, if it sounds good, it is good!
But the typical rule is:
The minor chords in a key use minor 7,
Then the 5th, uses the dominant 7, and
The first and 4th use major 7.
Here they are in the key of C major,
C Major 7
D minor 7
E minor 7
F Major 7
G Dominant 7
A minor 7
This chart is available to download at the top of this page.
This arrangement of 7's use the notes which are within these key signatures, but there isn't a reason you can't use a 7th from outside the key. That's down to your taste. You can use a dominant 7 for chord 4 or major 7 for chord 5. Things like this are often used to help change key or move to different parts of a piece of music.
You may have noticed there is one 7 we haven't covered yet.
MINOR MAJOR 7
The last one on the list is the minor major 7. Which is exactly what it sounds like its the minor triad with a major 7.
In C, this is C, Eb, G but with the major 7, B Natural.
It sounds suspenseful and mysterious… have fun with it.
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