Seventh Chords

1. The Major Seventh Chord (maj7)

The Major Seventh Chord is built by stacking a Major 3rd (4 semitones), a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), and a Major 3rd (4 semitones). It is a Major Triad with a Major 7th on top (scale degrees 1 - 3 - 5 - 7).

It has a bright, warm, nostalgic, and jazzy character.

2. The Dominant Seventh Chord (7)

The Dominant Seventh Chord is built by stacking a Major 3rd (4 semitones), a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), and a Minor 3rd (3 semitones). It is a Major Triad with a Minor 7th on top (scale degrees 1 - 3 - 5 - ♭7).

It has a tense, bluesy sound that strongly pulls to resolve to the tonic.

3. The Minor Seventh Chord (m7)

The Minor Seventh Chord is built by stacking a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), a Major 3rd (4 semitones), and a Minor 3rd (3 semitones). It is a Minor Triad with a Minor 7th on top (scale degrees 1 - ♭3 - 5 - ♭7).

It softens the melancholy of the minor triad, resulting in a warm, relaxed, and atmospheric sound.

4. The Half-Diminished Seventh Chord (ø7)

The Half-Diminished Seventh Chord is built by stacking a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), and a Major 3rd (4 semitones). It is a Diminished Triad with a Minor 7th on top (scale degrees 1 - ♭3 - ♭5 - ♭7).

It sounds highly dramatic, mysterious, and tense, frequently used as a pre-dominant chord.

5. The Fully Diminished Seventh Chord (°7)

The Fully Diminished Seventh Chord is built by stacking a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), a Minor 3rd (3 semitones), and a Minor 3rd (3 semitones) consecutively. It is a Diminished Triad with a Diminished 7th on top (scale degrees 1 - ♭3 - ♭5 - 𝄫7).

It is extremely tense, symmetrical, and unstable, and can resolve to multiple distant keys.

6. The Augmented Seventh Chord (aug7)

The Augmented Seventh Chord is built by stacking a Major 3rd (4 semitones), a Major 3rd (4 semitones), and a Minor 3rd (3 semitones). It is an Augmented Triad with a Minor 7th on top (scale degrees 1 - 3 - ♯5 - ♭7).

It has an extremely tense, whole-tone-like, and exotic sound that resolved strongly to the tonic, widely used in jazz and classical music.

The Sophistication of the Seventh

Adding a fourth note to the triad introduces a tension-filled 7th interval that enriches the harmonic conversation, infusing your music with the expressive sophistication of jazz, romanticism, and modern pop.