Dominant seventh chord
Encyclopedia
In music theory
, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord,
is a chord
composed of a root
, major third
, perfect fifth
, and minor seventh
. It can be also viewed as a major triad
with an additional minor seventh
. It is denoted using popular music symbols by adding a superscript "7" after the letter designating the chord root.
The dominant seventh is found almost as often as the dominant triad
. The chord can be represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 7, 10}.
Of all the seventh chords, perhaps the most important is the dominant seventh. It was the first seventh chord to appear regularly in classical music
. The name comes from the fact that it occurs naturally in the seventh chord
built upon the dominant
(i.e. the fifth degree) of a given major diatonic scale
.
Take for example the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C):
The note G is the dominant degree of C major - its fifth note. When we arrange the notes of the C major scale in ascending pitch and use only these notes to build a seventh chord, and we start with G (not C), then the resulting chord contains the four notes G-B-D-F and is called G dominant seventh (G7). The note F is a minor seventh
from G, and is also called the dominant seventh with respect to G.
This basic 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 acoustic distance
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 tonal center, or root note, 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 of a piece. Because of this original usage, it also quickly became an easy way to trick the listener's ear with a deceptive cadence.
However, the most important use of the dominant seventh chord in musical composition is the way that the introduction of a non-diatonic dominant seventh chord (sometimes called a chromatic seventh), which is 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
, extended dominant, and substitute dominant chords.
The dominant seventh is enharmonically equivalent
to the German sixth, causing the chords to be spelled enharmonically, for example the German sixth G-B-C-E and the dominant seventh F-A-C-E.
The dominant seventh is frequently used to approximate a Harmonic seventh chord
, which is one possible just tuning
, in the ratios 4:5:6:7 , for the dominant seventh. Others include 20:25:30:36 , found on I, and 36:45:54:61, found on V, used in 5-limit
just tunings and scales.
In rock
and popular music
songs following, "the blues harmonic pattern," IV and V are, "almost always," major minor seventh chords, or extensions, with the tonic most often being a major triad, for example Bill Haley and the Comets
' "Rock Around The Clock
" and Buster Brown
's "Fanny Mae
", while in Chuck Berry
's "Back in the U.S.A.
" and Loggins and Messina
's "Your Mama Don't Dance
" the tonic is also a major minor seventh. Used mostly in the first fifteen years of the rock era and now sounding somewhat, "retrospective," (Oasis
' "Roll With It") other examples of tonic dominant seventh chords include Little Richard
's "Lucille
", the Beatles
' "I Saw Her Standing There
", Nilsson
's "Coconut
", 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.
) and other early baroque composers begin to treat the V7 as a chord as part of the introduction of functional harmony. 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. 20th century music either consciously used functional harmony or was entirely free of V7 chords while jazz and popular musics continued to use functional harmony including V7 chords.
, or "strict resolution
" of the dominant seventh chord:
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord,
is a chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
composed of a root
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
, major third
Major third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...
, perfect fifth
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
, and minor seventh
Minor seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...
. It can be also viewed as a major triad
Major chord
In music theory, a major chord is a chord having a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a major triad...
with an additional minor seventh
Minor seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...
. It is denoted using popular music symbols by adding a superscript "7" after the letter designating the chord root.
The dominant seventh is found almost as often as the dominant triad
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
. The chord can be represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 7, 10}.
Of all the seventh chords, perhaps the most important is the dominant seventh. It was the first seventh chord to appear regularly in classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. The name comes from the fact that it occurs naturally in the seventh chord
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 major triad with an added minor seventh...
built upon the dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
(i.e. the fifth degree) of a given major diatonic scale
Diatonic scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note, octave-repeating musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps...
.
Take for example the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C):
The note G is the dominant degree of C major - its fifth note. When we arrange the notes of the C major scale in ascending pitch and use only these notes to build a seventh chord, and we start with G (not C), then the resulting chord contains the four notes G-B-D-F and is called G dominant seventh (G7). The note F is a minor seventh
Minor seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...
from G, and is also called the dominant seventh with respect to G.
This basic dominant seventh chord is useful to composers because it contains both a major triad and the interval of a tritone
Tritone
In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...
. 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 acoustic distance
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
between B and F is a tritone). In a diatonic context, the third of the chord is the leading-tone
Leading-tone
In music theory, a leading-note 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....
of the scale, which has a strong tendency to pull towards the tonal center, or root note, 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
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
, 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 of a piece. Because of this original usage, it also quickly became an easy way to trick the listener's ear with a deceptive cadence.
However, the most important use of the dominant seventh chord in musical composition is the way that the introduction of a non-diatonic dominant seventh chord (sometimes called a chromatic seventh), which is borrowed from another key, can allow the composer to modulate
Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...
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
Secondary dominant
Secondary dominant is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device, prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period...
, extended dominant, and substitute dominant chords.
The dominant seventh is enharmonically equivalent
Enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently...
to the German sixth, causing the chords to be spelled enharmonically, for example the German sixth G-B-C-E and the dominant seventh F-A-C-E.
The dominant seventh is frequently used to approximate a Harmonic seventh chord
Harmonic seventh chord
The harmonic seventh chord is a major triad plus the harmonic seventh interval . This interval is somewhat narrower than and is "sweeter in quality" than an "ordinary" minor seventh, which has a just-intonation ratio of 9:5 , or an equal-temperament ratio of 1000 cents...
, which is one possible just tuning
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
, in the ratios 4:5:6:7 , for the dominant seventh. Others include 20:25:30:36 , found on I, and 36:45:54:61, found on V, used in 5-limit
Five-limit tuning
Five-limit tuning, or 5-limit tuning is a method to obtain a justly tuned musical scale. The frequencies of the notes of such a scale are obtained by multiplying the frequency of a given reference note by powers of 2, 3, or 5, or a combination of them...
just tunings and scales.
In rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
songs following, "the blues harmonic pattern," IV and V are, "almost always," major minor seventh chords, or extensions, with the tonic most often being a major triad, for example Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
' "Rock Around The Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" and Buster Brown
Buster Brown (musician)
Buster Brown was an American blues and R&B singer best known for his hit, "Fannie Mae".Brown was born in Cordele, Georgia, and in the 1930s and 1940s he played harmonica at local clubs and made a few non-commercial recordings...
's "Fanny Mae
Fannie Mae (song)
"Fanny Mae" is a 1959 song by American blues and R&B singer Buster Brown. The song was written by Morris Levy, Clarence Lewis and Waymon Glasco.The tough harmonica riffs off the song took it into the U.S. Top 40, and to #1 on the R&B chart in April 1960....
", while in Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
's "Back in the U.S.A.
Back in the U.S.A.
"Back in the U.S.A." is a song by Chuck Berry, which was first issued in 1959 as a single a-side and on Berry's 1962 album More Chuck Berry, . The song's lyrics were supposedly written based upon Berry returning to the USA following a trip to Australia and witnessing the living standards of...
" and Loggins and Messina
Loggins and Messina
Loggins and Messina are an American rock-pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina who achieved their success in the early to mid 1970s...
's "Your Mama Don't Dance
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 #4 on the Billboard pop chart and #19 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart as a single in early 1973."Your Mama Don't Dance" was covered in 1985...
" the tonic is also a major minor seventh. Used mostly in the first fifteen years of the rock era and now sounding somewhat, "retrospective," (Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
' "Roll With It") other examples of tonic dominant seventh chords include Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
's "Lucille
Lucille (Little Richard song)
"Lucille" is a 1957 rock and roll song which was one of Little Richard's international hits.Released on Specialty Records in February 1957, Little Richard's single made number 21 on the US pop chart, and number 10 on the UK chart...
", the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "I Saw Her Standing There
I Saw Her Standing There
"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....
", Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
's "Coconut
Coconut (song)
"Coconut" is a song written and first recorded by Harry Nilsson.-Original version:The third single from his 1971 album, Nilsson Schmilsson, it reached #8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and it features three distinct characters , all sung in different voices by Nilsson...
", Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim
You Don't Mess Around with Jim
-Notes:-Notes:-Notes:*A Tracks 1-12 correspond to the original 1972 album-Personnel:*Jim Croce - guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals, background vocals*Maury Muehleisen - guitar, vocals*The Briggs - background vocals...
", and the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
' "On Broadway". Chuck Berry's Rock And Roll Music
Rock and Roll Music
"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957 and has been covered by many artists....
uses the dominant seventh on I, IV, and V.
History
Renaissance composers thought in terms of intervals rather than chords, "however, certain dissonant sonorities suggest that the dominant seventh chord occurred with some frequency." Monteverdi (usually credited as the first to use the V7 chord without preparationPreparation (music)
In a nonharmonic tone, preparation is, in the move of a pitch or chord from a consonance to a dissonance, the consonant pitch or chord which precedes the dissonance...
) and other early baroque composers begin to treat the V7 as a chord as part of the introduction of functional harmony. 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. 20th century music either consciously used functional harmony or was entirely free of V7 chords while jazz and popular musics continued to use functional harmony including V7 chords.
Voice leading
For common practice voice leadingVoice leading
In musical composition, voice leading is the term used to refer to a decision-making consideration when arranging voices , namely, how each voice should move in advancing from each chord to the next.- Details :...
, or "strict resolution
Resolution (music)
Resolution in western tonal music theory is the move of a note or chord from dissonance to a consonance .Dissonance, resolution, and suspense can be used to create musical interest...
" of the dominant seventh chord:
- In the V7-I resolution, the dominant, leading note, and supertonic resolve to the tonic, where as the subdominant resolves to the mediant.
- In the other resolutions, the dominant remains stationary, the leading note and supertonic resolve to the tonic, and the subdominant resolves to the mediant.
- All four tones may be present, though the root may be doubled and the fifth omitted.
- The d5 resolves inwards and the A4 resolves outwards, meaning that the seventh resolves stepwise downwards while the third resolves (stepwise upwards) to the tonic though in such cases the root of the tonic chord may need to be tripled.
- The root of the V7, when in the bassBass noteIn music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice. While the bass note is often the root or fundamental of the chord, it does not have to be, and sometimes one of the other...
, 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
Dominant seventh chord table
| Chord | Root | Major Third | Perfect Fifth | Minor Seventh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C7 | C | E | G | B |
| 7 | C | E (F) | G | B |
| 7 | D | F | A | C (B) |
| D7 | D | F | A | C |
| 7 | D | F (G) | A | C |
| 7 | E | G | B | D |
| E7 | E | G | B | D |
| F7 | F | A | C | E |
| 7 | F | A | C | E |
| 7 | G | B | D | F (E) |
| G7 | G | B | D | F |
| 7 | G | B (C) | D | F |
| 7 | A | C | E | G |
| A7 | A | C | E | G |
| 7 | A | C (D) | E (F) | G |
| 7 | B | D | F | A |
| B7 | B | D | F | A |