The C Major Scale in Seventh Chords
Add one more third on top of each triad from Exercise 2 and you get a seventh chord: root, 3rd, 5th and 7th. Here are all eight in C major, with every root on the A string.
Riddim Up Harmony · Exercise 3 · Key of C major
The scale in seventh chords
The pattern in any major key: major 7, minor 7, minor 7, major 7, dominant 7, minor 7, half-diminished, then major 7 again at the octave.
Four kinds of seventh chord
Each one is a triad from Exercise 2 with a 7th added on top.
Major 7
Major triad + major 7thThe 7th is 1 fret below the octave. Cmaj7, Fmaj7.Minor 7
Minor triad + minor 7thThe 7th is 2 frets below the octave. Dm7, Em7, Am7.Dominant 7
Major triad + minor 7thOnly on the 5th note of the scale. G7.Half-diminished
Diminished triad + minor 7thAlso written m7b5. Bm7b5.The four shapes
Every root is on the A string. Major and dominant chords use the major shape from Exercise 2 with the 7th on the G string. Minor and half-diminished chords use your minor shape, with the 3rd on the root's string, the 5th on the D string and the 7th on the G string at the root's fret.
Major 7
D string: 3rd 1 fret back, 5th 2 frets forward. G string: 7th 1 fret forward.
Minor 7
A string: 3rd 3 frets up. D string: 5th 2 frets up. G string: 7th at the root's fret.
Dominant 7
D string: 3rd 1 fret back, 5th 2 frets forward. G string: 7th at the root's fret.
Half-diminished
A string: 3rd 3 frets up. D string: 5th 1 fret up. G string: 7th at the root's fret.
All frets are counted from the root.
The whole neck
Tap any note to hear it on its own. All eight chords, with roots climbing the A string from C at fret 3 to C at fret 15. Tap a chord below to pick it out, or play them all.
Root3rd5th7th
Major 7minor 7Dominant 7Half-diminished
Play chords:
Chord by chord
Tap a note on any card to hear it on its own, or press Play to hear the chord. The "Play chords" switch above sets whether the notes sound one at a time, as an arpeggio, or all together.
Good to know
- With every root on the A string, your hand moves up the neck for each chord but the shapes stay the same. Learn the four shapes and you can play any seventh chord.
- The top chords reach fret 17, so check your bass has at least 17 frets. Most have 20 or more.
- G7 is the only dominant 7 in the key. Its 7th, F, pulls strongly back home to C, which is why V7 to I is the most common chord change there is.
- Every minor 7, dominant 7 and half-diminished chord has its 7th on the G string at the same fret as the root. In a major 7 chord the 7th is 1 fret higher.
- Practise each chord up from the root to the 7th and back down. Then try root, 5th, 7th: a classic reggae and soul bass pattern.