Music Theory Secrets by Dr. Brent Coppenbarger

Author:Dr. Brent Coppenbarger [Coppenbarger, Brent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2014-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Chords

Secret 51: The Major Seventh Chord

The seventh chord consists of four notes; therefore, it must be termed a chord and not a triad. Whereas the triad consists of a root, third, and fifth, the seventh chord consists of the root, third, fifth, and seventh degrees of the scale. Like the triad, it is built by stacking major and minor thirds. Once again, in root position if the root starts on a line, then all notes of the seventh chord will be on a line, and if the root starts on a space (in root position), then all notes (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th) of the chord will be on a space. If the triad in root position looks like a snowman, then the seventh chord is a snowman with a big hat.

There are four forms of triad: major, minor, diminished, and augmented, all built of major and minor thirds. In theory, this creates eight possible forms of seventh, as we can add a major or a minor third to the top of each triad. In practice, only five of these are commonly used: major, major-minor, minor, half-diminished, and fully diminished.

The major seventh is a major triad with a major third on top. This is the triad that forms naturally on the tonic note of the major scale. To build a major seventh chord on C (CM7), use the first, third, fifth, and seventh notes of a C scale; the notes C-E-G-B. Let’s build a DM7 (D major seventh) chord. Use the D major scale, taking the first (root), third, fifth, and seventh notes out and stacking them from the bottom up. This produces a chord consisting of D-F♯-A-C♯. This is a D major triad with an interval of a major seventh above the root. D-F♯-A is a D major triad and the interval from D to C♯ is a major seventh. This type of seventh chord is sometimes called a major-major seventh (MM7) or simply a major seventh (M7). If reading a lead sheet (see chapter 6), the indication for a C major chord with the interval of a major seventh, for example, is Cma7 (or CM7, CMaj7) The C in uppercase indicates the C major triad and the ma7 (or M7, Maj7) indicates the interval of a major seventh above the C.

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