Practice

Seventh Chords

Step 3 of 10 · Intermediate Guitar Path

Add maj7, m7, and dominant-7 color to the shapes you already play.

What you'll learn

  • Build a 7th chord: a triad plus one more third
  • Find open and movable maj7, m7, and dominant 7 voicings in the chord library
  • Know where each 7th type lives in a key (Imaj7, ii m7, V7)
  • Swap 7ths into progressions you know and hear the difference

A seventh chord is just a triad with one more third stacked on top — and that single extra note carries all the color. Stack a major third on a major triad and you get maj7 (dreamy, floating); a minor third on a minor triad gives m7 (smooth, soulful); and a minor third on a major triad makes the dominant 7 — the restless, bluesy one that pulls back toward home. The chord-type guide spells each formula out interval by interval.

To get the shapes under your fingers, open the guitar chord library: pick any root and it lays out maj7, m7, and dominant 7 voicings side by side, from open shapes to movable barres. Start with Cmaj7, Am7, and E7 — three friendly open shapes — then find the same qualities as movable forms so no root is off limits.

Every 7th type also has a home address in a key: the I and IV take maj7, the ii, iii, and vi take m7, and the V is the one true dominant 7. See the full set laid out in any key with the diatonic chords tool, then swap 7ths into a progression you already know and hear it change character. The practice hook below drills the maj7 sound; for the dominant side, run the blues seventh shuffle — A7, D7, and E7, three chords you will meet again in step 7.

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