Lesson 14: Dominant 7th Chord Forms
In a major key, dominant 7th chords are
most commonly used as the V chord;
however, in the areas of jazz and blues,
the dominant 7th chord is used extensively
in all positions. This chord is also unique in
that it has more altered forms than any
other chord. The interval construction is
1 - M3 - P5 - m7.
Below are 3 common forms that should
provide you with a good
foundation in dominant 7th chords.
The roots of the chords have been circled.
Roots are the notes for which the chords
have been named.
For example, to play a G7 chord,
make sure that the circled note of the form
is on the note G on the fretboard.
Notice that the roots of forms 1 and 2 are on
the 5th string and the root of form 3 is on
the 6th string. X's indicate strings should
not be played, and the number over the fret
indicates the fret number. The numbers in
the black dots indicate which finger to use.
Exercise #1:
Play chord form #1.
Make sure that your left hand thumb is near the center of the curve in the neck so that your fingers can come straight at the fretboard.
Play each note of the chord one at a time to make sure that each note sounds clear.
Once this is done, slide the entire chord up the fretboard one half-step.
Again, play each note of the chord one at a time to make sure that each note sounds clear.
Then move up one more fret and play the chord. Keep doing this until you run out of fretboard.
Now, move back down the fretboard by half-steps.
Repeat the above steps using form #2 and then again using form #3.
Exercise #2:
Play through all three forms for each chord in the order listed after the chord name.
Play:
C7 forms: 1 --> 2 --> 3
F7 forms: 3 --> 1 --> 2
Bb7 forms: 2 --> 3 --> 1
Eb7 forms: 1 --> 2 --> 3
Ab7 forms: 3 --> 1 --> 2
Db7 forms: 1 --> 2 --> 3
Gb7 forms: 3 --> 1 --> 2
B7 forms: 2 --> 3 --> 1
E7 forms: 3 --> 1 --> 2
A7 forms: 2 --> 3 --> 1
D7 forms: 1 --> 2 --> 3
G7 forms: 3 --> 1 --> 2
Exercise #3:
Play the following dominant 7th chords.
Make sure to play the chord form number
specified in parenthesis. After playing
through this exercise you should begin to
see a pattern.
C7 (form 3) --> F7 (form 2) -->
Bb7 (form 3) --> Eb7 (form 2) -->
Ab7 (form 3) --> Db7 (form 2) -->
Gb7 (form 3) --> B7 (form 2) -->
E7 (form 2) --> A7 (form 3) -->
D7 (form 2) --> G7 (form 3).
Exercise #4:
Play the following dominant 7th chords.
Again, you should begin to see a pattern.
C7 (form 3) --> F7 (form 1) -->
Bb7 (form 3) --> Eb7 (form 1) -->
Ab7 (form 3) --> Db7 (form 1) -->
Gb7 (form 3) --> B7 (form 3) -->
E7 (form 1) --> A7 (form 3) -->
D7 (form 1) --> G7 (form 3).
Exercise #5:
Now that you have the chords under your
fingers it's time to do a little brain work.
Go through each of these chords and identify
each note - whether it is the Tonic, the
Third, the Fifth or the Seventh.
Final Note: The chord forms you have just
been working on sometimes provide too
many notes. For example, if you are working
with a keyboard player and you are both
playing big full chords, things might start to
sound a little muddy. Sometimes it is better
to play only two or three notes of the chord.
This can help clean up the sound. You can use
any combination of notes of
the 3 forms.
Please email me at TVieira@ix.netcom.com if
you have any questions regarding this lesson.
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