Confession #42 - 7th Chords Cheat Sheet!

At some point in the future, I'll do a lesson on harmonizing the major scale in 7ths (see Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play! for a lesson on harmonizing the major scale), but for now I'll provide a cheat sheet that will get you started quickly on 7th chords.

There are three 7th chords that you will commonly encounter.  The three chords are:

• the major 7th chord,
• the dominant 7th chord, and
• the minor 7th chord

Let's jump right in and demonstrate the first two chords as G chords and the last chord as an Am chord.  Then we'll see how 7th chords fit into a harmonized major scale.


G MAJOR to G MAJOR 7

I have shown the fifth string muted for the G chord to keep things simple.  Just let your 2nd finger gently touch the fifth string to mute it.

Notice how when switching from the G major chord to the G major 7th chord, we lower the G on the first string 1 fret.  So the cheat sheet lesson here is take an octave of the root note of the chord and lower it a half step to make a major 7th chord.


G MAJOR to G DOMINANT 7

TIP - A dominant 7th chord is usually written like this: G7.  No need to put the word dominant in there.

Notice how when switching from the G major chord to the G dominant 7th chord, we lower the G on the first string 2 frets. So the cheat sheet lesson here is take an octave of the root note of the chord and lower it a whole step to make a dominant 7th chord.

A MINOR to A MINOR 7

Notice how when switching from the A minor chord to the A minor 7th chord, we lower the A on the third string 2 frets. So the cheat sheet lesson here is take an octave of the root note of the chord and lower it a whole step to make a minor 7th chord.


HARMONIZING IN 7ths

Back in Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play! we learned how to harmonize the major scale and how the formula:

    I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - viio

tells us which chords work in a particular key.

I'm going to ignore the viio chord in the 7th chord cheat sheet because, it would hurt my brain to figure out, its got a really weird name, and its used very infrequently.

So summarizing the formula above:

• the I, IV and V chords are major chords, and
• the ii, iii and vi chords are minor chords

When you harmonize in 7ths, the summary changes only slightly:

• the I and IV chords are major 7th chords, 
• the V chord is a dominant 7th chord, and
• the ii, iii and vi chords are minor 7th chords

So the way I remember this is:

• the I and IV chords are still major, but they are major 7th.  (just add the note that is one fret below the octave)
• the ii, iii and vi chords are still minor, but they are minor 7th.  (just add the note that is two frets below the octave)

So all you need to remember is that the V is chord is a dominant 7th chord. And really, this is just the V chord with one added note (the note that is two frets below the octave).

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Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales! (Part 2)

Confession #13 - Learn More Barre Chords!

In Confession #11 - Learn Root 6 Barre Chords and in Confession # 12 - Learn Root 5 Barre Chords we learned how to take the open E chord shape and the open A chord shape and use them to create a bunch more chords by sliding the shape up and down the neck of the guitar and barring finger 1 across all the strings.

In this week's confession, we'll learn how to create major, dominant 7th, minor and minor 7th barre chords.

With these extra chords, you'll have the ability to play the majority of the principal chords in any given key!

With this ability and a bit of knowledge from next week's confession, you'll have the ability to start creating your own chord progressions and write your own songs!

TRIVIA - The rhythm guitar part for The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry" consists entirely of root 5 barre chords, both major and minor.  Great songs can be written with just basic chords!


WARNING!  Barre chords can be very hard on your fretting hand.  Make sure that you warm-up first (see Confession #6 - Warm-Up!).  If you start to feel any pain or discomfort in your fretting had, stop immediately!  If you keep on playing, you can do serious damage to your fretting hand.


ROOT 6 / E SHAPE BARRE  CHORD VARIATIONS

First we'll start with some E shape major chords.

Remember from Confession #11 - Learn Root 6 Barre Chords!  that the name of the chord comes from the fretted note on the sixth string.  In the examples that follow, that's an F, so these are all variations on an F chord.

EDIT - The last 2 charts are labelled incorrectly, and should say Dominant 7th chord.  I will fix them later.

Note the two different ways of playing the dominant 7th chord.  While technically the same chord, each has a  slightly different feel, so try both and see which fits best in your song.


Next we'll do some E shape minor chords:

ROOT 5 / A SHAPE BARRE  CHORD VARIATIONS

First we'll start with some A shape major chords.

Remember from Confession #12 - Learn Root 5 Barre Chords!  that the name of the chord comes from the fretted note on the fifth string.  In the examples that follow, that's a B, so these are all variations on a B chord.

EDIT - The last 2 charts are labelled incorrectly, and should say Dominant 7th chord.  I will fix them later.

Next we'll do some A shape minor chords:

Spend some time practicing these chords to prepare for next week's confession.  Focus on the major and the minor chords, and if you have time the 7th chords.


Next Week's Confession - Know What Chords to Play!