The Guitar Source

Part 3 - Harmony

Major and minor chords are made up of three notes - the 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th notes of the scale.

The 7th chord adds the seventh note of the major or minor scale to the existing triad. So it will contain the 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th notes of the relevant scale.

We can therefore have a major 7^th, a minor 7^th, and one other, a dominant 7^th

The major 7^th contains the 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th and 7^th notes of the major scale.

The minor 7^th contains the 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th and 7^th notes of the natural minor scale (or we could say it contains the 1^st, ^b3^rd, 5^th, and ^b7^th notes of the major scale).

The dominant 7^th contains the 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th and ^b7^th notes of the major scale.

The dominant 7 (written as just 7) is a strong, 'dominant' chord that is normally used as a V chord to resolve a piece of music. It has a strong resolution to the root chord.