Dominant Seventh Chord
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In music theory, 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 mino ...
, 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 musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval from the first to the last of five ...
, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad 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 between the chord's third and seventh. Dominant seventh chords are often built on the fifth scale degree (or dominant) of a key. 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. The V7 chord is found almost as often as the V, the dominant triad, and typically functions to drive the piece strongly toward a resolution to the tonic of the key. A dominant seventh chord can be represented by the integer notation relative to the dominant.


History

Renaissance composers conceived of harmony in terms of intervals 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 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 conside ...
(usually credited as the first to use the V7 chord without
preparation Preparation may refer to: * Preparation (dental), the method by which a tooth is prepared when removing decay and designing a form that will provide adequate retention for a dental restoration * Preparation (music), treatment of dissonance in tona ...
) and other early Baroque composers 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 ' ( SV 291, ''Ariadne'') is the lost second opera by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. One of the earliest operas in general, it was composed in 1607–1608 and first performed on 28 May 1608, as part of the musical festivities for a royal wed ...
'' (1608) is shown below. In it, a dominant seventh chord (in red) is handled conservatively, "prepared and resolved as a suspension, 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, freer voice-leading was gradually developed, leading to the waning of functional use in the post-Romantic and Impressionistic periods including more dissonant dominant chords through higher extensions 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 majo ...
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). ''Funk ...
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. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
’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 ( ...
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 classic ...
’s String Quartet Op. 127. Here, the second and third inversions contribute to the "magnificently rich harmony" :


Function

The function of the dominant seventh chord is to
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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 tritone. 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 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
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 ( ...
. : \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. The dominant seventh may work as part of a circle progression, preceded by the supertonic 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 ...
'' 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 A secondary chord is an music analysis, analytical label for a specific harmony, harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonality, tonal idiom of Western culture#Music, Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of Diatonic a ...
(V7/V, shown below),
extended dominant A secondary chord is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of diatonic functions for tonicization. Secondary chords are a typ ...
(V7/V/V), and
substitute dominant The tritone substitution is a common chord substitution found in both jazz and classical music. Where jazz is concerned, it was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like Coltrane changes. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in ...
(V7/V) chords. :


Voice leading

For common practice voice leading or "strict resolution" 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 (if the seventh is above the third, as in the first measure below) resolves inwards while the augmented fourth (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 Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...
, 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, "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) suspension: :(8) 7 3 :(4) 5 1


In blues progressions

In rock 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). ''Funk ...
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 ...
, the IV and V chords are "almost always" dominant seventh chords (sometimes with extensions) with the tonic chord most often being a major triad. Examples include Bill Haley and the Comets' " Rock Around the Clock" and Buster Brown's "
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", 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 "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined a ...
's " Back in the U.S.A." and Loggins and Messina'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 Listeni ...
" 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 environmentRoll With It"), other examples of tonic dominant seventh chords include Little Richard's " Lucille",
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
' " I Saw Her Standing There", Nilsson's "
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", Jim Croce's " You Don't Mess Around With Jim", and The Drifters' " On Broadway". Chuck Berry's " Rock and Roll Music" uses the dominant seventh on I, IV, and V.


Related chords

The dominant seventh is enharmonically equivalent to the
German sixth In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth, usually above its bass tone. This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, was further developed in the Baroque, and became a distinctive part of the musi ...
. 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): : The dominant seventh chord is frequently used to approximate a harmonic seventh chord, 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 Five-limit tuning, 5-limit tuning, or 5-prime-limit tuning (not to be confused with 5-odd-limit tuning), is any system for tuning a musical instrument that obtains the frequency of each note by multiplying the frequency of a given reference note ...
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, with the Barbershop Harmony Society 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 as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. An interval tuned in this way is said to be pure, and is called a just interval. Just intervals (and ...
to maximize the audibility of harmonic overtones, the practical sonority of the chord tends to be that of a harmonic seventh chord. This chord type has become so ingrained into the fabric of the artform that it is often referred to as the " barbershop seventh chord" by those who practice it.


Tuning

:


Dominant seventh chord table

:


Guitar chord diagrams

In standard tuning, 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 * A7sus2: x02000 * B7sus2: x24222 * C7sus2: x30333 * D7sus2: x57555 * E7sus2: x79777 * F7sus2: xx3543 * G7sus2: 303033 Dominant 7 Sus4 * A7sus4: x00030 * B7sus4: x24252 * C7sus4: x35363 * D7sus4: xx0013 * E7sus4: 020200 * F7sus4: 111311 * G7sus4: 330011


See also

* Dominant ninth, etc. * Irregular resolution * Nondominant seventh chord * Subtonic * Mixolydian mode


Notes


References


External links


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