Guitar Chord Charts:
Dominant 7 chords

Guitar Chord Charts--Dominant 7 Chords

Dominant 7 Chords in Theory

CONSTRUCTION

The Dominant 7 Chord is an extremely important chord because it defines "key". But first, let us see how it is constructed.

The notes, by number, in a dominant 7 chord are: 1 3 5 b7. If we plug in notes from the C Major scale, we get C E G Bb. Using the same formula, the D7 chord would contain the notes D F# A C.

THIS is the chord you want when you are told to play "C7". Construct this chord by starting with the MAJOR TRIAD and adding the flatted seventh note in the scale.

FUNCTION

The Dominant 7 Chord functions as a "V" chord. This means that in a chord progression, this is the chord that is built upon the fifth note in the scale.

For example, a G7 chord is built on the 5th note of the C MAJOR scale and therefore is the V chord in the key of C.Let's try another one: What is the V chord in the key of "D"? The fifth note in the "D" scale is "A", so the V chord in the key of D is A7.

The V chord determines the key because it occurs only ONCE in each key. For example, if you see the chord "E7", you KNOW you are in the Key of "A" because "E" is the fifth note of the "A" major scale.

What if you see the chord "B7"? If you said that you are in the key of "E", you are absolutely right because "B" is the 5th note in the "E" scale.

Of course, to apply this formula to all 12 keys, you need to know the Key Signatures.

If you need to learn more about chord progressions, Click Here to go to that location on this site.

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Printable Guitar Chord Charts

Here is the link to a free printable pdf chart of the simplest positions for Dominant 7 Chords: Dominant 7 Chords. Remember to expand it to 100% in the viewer. You will need the Adobe Reader to view and print it. You can download the reader free on the Adobe web site.

Here is the link to free printable chord charts for Major and Minor Open Chords: Major and Minor Open Chords.

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