music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a

seventh chord A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a mi ...

, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

major third In classical music, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept and P ...

perfect fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval fro ...

, and

minor seventh In music theory, a minor seventh is one of two musical intervals that span seven staff positions. It is ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten semitones. The major seventh spans eleven. For example, the interval f ...

. Thus it is a

major triad In music theory, a major chord is a chord that has a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a major triad. For example, the major triad built on C, called a C major triad, has pitch ...

together with a minor seventh, denoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7". An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G⁷, having pitches G–B–D–F: : Dominant seventh chords contain a strong dissonance – a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three a ...

between the chord's

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and

seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

. Dominant seventh chords are often built on the fifth scale degree (or dominant) of a

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

. For instance, in the C major scale, G is the fifth note of the scale, and the seventh chord built on G is the dominant seventh chord, G⁷ (shown above). In this chord, F is a minor seventh above G. In Roman numeral analysis, G⁷ would be represented as V⁷ in the key of C major. Similarly, this chord also occurs on the seventh degree of any natural minor scale (e.g., G7 in A minor). The dominant seventh is perhaps the most important of the seventh chords. It was the first seventh chord to appear regularly in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. The V⁷ chord is found almost as often as the V, the

dominant triad In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree () of the diatonic scale. It is called the ''dominant'' because it is second in importance to the first scale degree, the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the dominant note is sung as "So ...

, and typically functions to drive the piece strongly toward a

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

to the tonic of the key. A dominant seventh chord can be represented by the

integer notation In music, a pitch class (p.c. or pc) is a set of all pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart; for example, the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves. "The pitch class C stands for all possible Cs, in whatever octave posit ...

relative to the dominant.

History

Renaissance composers The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a Periodization, period in History of Europe, European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an e ...

conceived of harmony in terms of

intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to arbitrary partially ordered sets * A statistical level of measurement * Interval e ...

rather than

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

, "however, certain

dissonant In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...

sonorities suggest that the dominant seventh chord occurred with some frequency."

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

(usually credited as the first to use the V⁷ chord without preparation) and other early

Baroque composers Composers of the Baroque era, ordered by date of birth: Transition from Renaissance to Baroque (born 1500–49) Composers in the Renaissance/Baroque transitional era include the following (listed by their date of birth): * Philippe de Monte (1521 ...

begin to treat the V⁷ as a chord as part of the introduction of functional harmony. An excerpt from Monteverdi's "Lasciatemi Morire", '' Lamento d'Arianna'' (1608) is shown below. In it, a dominant seventh chord (in red) is handled conservatively, "prepared and resolved as a

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...

, clearly indicating its dissonant status."Benward & Saker (2003), vol. 1: p. 201. : The V⁷ was in constant use during the Classical period, with similar treatment to that of the Baroque. In the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, freer

voice-leading Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines (Part (music), voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create Harmony, harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of Common practi ...

was gradually developed, leading to the waning of functional use in the

post-Romantic Post-romanticism or Postromanticism refers to a range of cultural endeavors and attitudes emerging in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, after the period of Romanticism. Post-romanticism in literature The period of post-romantici ...

and Impressionistic periods including more dissonant dominant chords through higher

extensions Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate * E ...

and lessened use of the major minor chord's dominant function. Twentieth-century classical music either consciously used functional harmony or was entirely free of V⁷ chords while

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

s continued to use functional harmony including V⁷ chords. An excerpt from Chopin's Mazurka in F minor (1849), Op. 68, No. 4, mm. 1–4 is shown below with dominant sevenths in red: "the seventh factor had by this time achieved nearly consonant status." :

Use

Inversions

: The opening bars of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

’s Piano Sonata in C, K545 features dominant seventh chords in both second and first inversions:The concluding

cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

of the same movement features the chord in root position:A striking use of inversions of the dominant seventh can be found in this passage from the first movement of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

’s String Quartet Op. 127. Here, the second and third inversions contribute to the "magnificently rich harmony" :

Function

The

function Function or functionality may refer to: Computing * Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards * Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system * Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-oriente ...

of the dominant seventh chord is to

resolve Resolve may refer to: * ''Resolve'' (Lagwagon album) * ''Resolve'' (Last Tuesday album) * "Resolve" (song), by the Foo Fighters *'' The Resolve'', a 1915 American silent short drama film * "Resolve" (''One Tree Hill'' episode) *''Resolve'', a Brit ...

to the tonic note or chord. This dominant seventh chord is useful to composers because it contains both a major triad and the interval of a

. The major triad confers a very "strong" sound. The tritone is created by the co-occurrence of the third degree and seventh degree (e.g., in the G⁷ chord, the interval between B and F is a tritone). In a diatonic context, the third of the chord is the

leading-tone In music theory, a leading-tone (also called a subsemitone, and a leading-note in the UK) is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. Typically, ''t ...

of the scale, which has a strong tendency to pull towards the tonic of the key (e.g., in C, the third of G⁷, B, is the leading tone of the key of C). The seventh of the chord acts as an upper leading-tone to the third of the scale (in C: the seventh of G⁷, F, is a half-step above and leads down to E). This, in combination with the strength of root movement by fifth, and the natural resolution of the dominant triad to the tonic triad (e.g., from GBD to CEG in the key of C major), creates a resolution with which to end a piece or a section, often in a

. : \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \relative c' >> \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c' >> >> Because of this original usage, it also quickly became an easy way to trick the listener's ear with a

deceptive cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

. The dominant seventh may work as part of a

circle progression A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

, preceded by the

supertonic In music, the supertonic is the second degree () of a diatonic scale, one whole step above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the supertonic note is sung as ''re''. The triad built on the supertonic note is called the supertonic chor ...

chord, ii. Importantly, non-diatonic dominant seventh chords (sometimes called a ''

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...

'' seventh), borrowed from another key, can allow the composer to modulate to that other key. This technique is extremely common, particularly since the Classical period, and has led to further innovative uses of the dominant seventh chord such as secondary dominant (V⁷/V, shown below), extended dominant (V⁷/V/V), and substitute dominant (V⁷/V) chords. :

Voice leading

For

common practice In European art music, the common-practice period is the era of the tonal system. Most of its features persisted from the mid-Baroque period through the Classical and Romantic periods, roughly from 1650 to 1900. There was much stylistic evoluti ...

voice leading Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines ( voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and counte ...

or "strict

" of the dominant seventh chord: * In the V⁷–I resolution, the dominant, leading note, and supertonic resolve to the tonic, whereas the subdominant resolves to the mediant. *: \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \relative c' >> \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c' >> >> * In the other resolutions, the dominant remains stationary, the leading note and supertonic resolve to the tonic, and the subdominant resolves to the mediant. *: \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \relative c' >> \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c' >> >> * All four tones may be present, though the root may be doubled and the fifth omitted.Benjamin, Horvit, and Nelson (2008). ''Techniques and Materials of Music'', pp. 46–47. .Benward & Saker (2003), vol. 1: pp. 202–204.Benward & Saker (2008), vol. 2: p. 343 * The

diminished fifth Diminished may refer to: *Diminution In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which ...

(if the seventh is above the third, as in the first measure below) resolves inwards while the

augmented fourth Augment or augmentation may refer to: Language *Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages *Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns i ...

(if the seventh is below the third, as in the second measure below) resolves outward. This means that the seventh resolves stepwise downwards while the third resolves upwards to the tonic though in such cases the root of the tonic chord may need to be tripled. *: \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c'' \new Voice \relative c'' >> * The root of the V⁷, when in the bass, resolves to the root of the I, in the bass. * In an incomplete V⁷, with a missing fifth, the doubled root remains stationary. * The "free resolution of the seventh" features the seventh in an inner voice moving stepwise upwards to the fifth of I According to

Heinrich Schenker Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully ex ...

, "The dissonance is always passing, ''never a chord member'' (''Zusammenklang''),'" and often (though by no means always) the voice leading suggests either a

passing note A nonchord tone (NCT), nonharmonic tone, or embellishing tone is a note in a piece of music or song that is not part of the implied or expressed chord set out by the harmonic framework. In contrast, a chord tone is a note that is a part of the ...

: :8 7 3 :5 5 1 or resolution of a (hypothetical)

: :(8) 7 3 :(4) 5 1

In blues progressions

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

songs following the

blues progression The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

, the IV and V chords are "almost always" dominant seventh chords (sometimes with

) with the tonic chord most often being a major triad. Examples include

Bill Haley and the Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

' "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

" and Buster Brown's " Fanny Mae", while in

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

's " Back in the U.S.A." and

Loggins and Messina Loggins and Messina was an American rock- pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who achieved their success in the early to mid-1970s. Among their well-known songs are "Danny's Song", "House at Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don't D ...

's "

Your Mama Don't Dance "Your Mama Don't Dance" is a hit 1972 song by the rock duo Loggins and Messina. Released on their self-titled album ''Loggins and Messina'', it reached number four on the ''Billboard'' pop chart and number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening ...

" the tonic chord is also a dominant seventh.Stephenson, Ken (2002). ''What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis'', p. 82. . Used mostly in the first fifteen years of the rock era and now sounding somewhat "retrospective" (e.g.,

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

' " Roll With It"), other examples of tonic dominant seventh chords include

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

's " Lucille",

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

I Saw Her Standing There "I Saw Her Standing There" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It is the opening track on the band's 1963 debut UK album ''Please Please Me'' and their debut US album '' Introducing... The B ...

Nilsson Nilsson is a Swedish surname and the fourth most common surname in Sweden. The name is a patronymic meaning "Nils's son". Nils was a very common name, especially in 19th century Sweden. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 89.8% of all known bea ...

's "

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to p ...

's "

You Don't Mess Around With Jim ''You Don't Mess Around with Jim'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in April 1972. History and release The album was recorded over a three to four-week period for approximately $18,000, with most fundi ...

", and

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...

' " On Broadway". Chuck Berry's "

Rock and Roll Music Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

" uses the dominant seventh on I, IV, and V.

Related chords

The dominant seventh is

enharmonically equivalent In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written no ...

to the German sixth. For example, the German sixth A–C–E–F (which typically resolves to G) is equivalent to the dominant seventh A–C–E–G (which typically resolves to D): : Harmonic seventh chord just on C

The dominant seventh chord is frequently used to approximate a

harmonic seventh chord The harmonic seventh chord is a major triad plus the harmonic seventh interval (ratio of 7:4, about 968.826 centsBosanquet, Robert Holford Macdowall (1876). ''An elementary treatise on musical intervals and temperament'', pp. 41-42. Diapason ...

, which is one possible just tuning, in the ratios 4:5:6:7Benitez, J. M. (1988). ''Contemporary Music Review: Listening 2'', p. 34. . Cites

Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...

(1764). , for the dominant seventh. Others include 20:25:30:36 , found on I, and 36:45:54:64, found on V, used in 5-limit just tunings and scales.Wright, David (2009). ''Mathematics and Music'', pp. 140–141. . Today, the dominant seventh chord enjoys particular prominence in the music of

barbershop quartets A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries ...

, with the

Barbershop Harmony Society The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...

describing the chord as the "signature" of the barbershop sound. A song may use the chord type (built on any scale degree, not just ), for up to 30 percent of its duration. As barbershop singers strive to harmonize in

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...

to maximize the audibility of harmonic

overtones An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...

, the practical sonority of the chord tends to be that of a

. This chord type has become so ingrained into the fabric of the artform that it is often referred to as the "

barbershop seventh chord The harmonic seventh chord is a major triad plus the harmonic seventh interval (ratio of 7:4, about 968.826 centsBosanquet, Robert Holford Macdowall (1876). ''An elementary treatise on musical intervals and temperament'', pp. 41-42. Diapason P ...

" by those who practice it.

Tuning

Dominant seventh chord table

Guitar chord diagrams

standard tuning In music, standard tuning refers to the typical tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired instrument. Viol ...

, the left is the low E string. x means mute the string.Guitar Chord Name Finder
''Gootar.com''. Dominant 7 * A⁷: x02020 * B⁷: x21202 * C⁷: x3231x * D⁷: xx0212 * E⁷: 020100 * F⁷: 131211 * G⁷: 320001 Dominant 7 Sus2 * A^7sus2: x02000 * B^7sus2: x24222 * C^7sus2: x30333 * D^7sus2: x57555 * E^7sus2: x79777 * F^7sus2: xx3543 * G^7sus2: 303033 Dominant 7 Sus4 * A^7sus4: x00030 * B^7sus4: x24252 * C^7sus4: x35363 * D^7sus4: xx0013 * E^7sus4: 020200 * F^7sus4: 111311 * G^7sus4: 330011

Notes

References

External links

Dominant Chords
Theory and applications for jazz guitar {{DEFAULTSORT:Dominant Seventh Chord Dominant chords Seventh chords

History

Use

Inversions

Function

Voice leading

In blues progressions

Related chords

Tuning

Dominant seventh chord table

Guitar chord diagrams

See also

Notes

References

External links