Like in a triad, the lowest note of a seventh chord stacked in closed spacing is called the root, and the other notes are named for their generic intervals above the root, as shown in Example 2: the third, the fifth, and the seventh. A seventh chord with the root, third, fifth, and seventh labeled. If a triad in closed spacing looks like a snowperson, then a seventh chord in closed spacing (as in the second measure of Example 1) looks like an extra-long snowperson, with a bottom, two middles, and a head.Įxample 1. A seventh chord written melodically and harmonically.

Like triads, the notes of a seventh chord can always be arranged in thirds, on adjacent lines or spaces of the staff. In this chapter, we will focus on seventh chords: four-note chords whose notes can be stacked into thirds. Seventh chords are identified by their root, quality of triad and seventh, and inversion.These are the same in every major and minor key, which makes memorizing them useful. Within major and minor keys, seventh chords have particular qualities that correspond to scale degrees.

There is another common way of naming seventh chords: the major-major seventh chord is also often called the major seventh chord, the major-minor seventh chord is also often called the dominant seventh chord, the minor-minor seventh chord is also often called the minor seventh chord, and the fully diminished seventh chord is also often simply called the diminished seventh chord.These qualities are the major-major seventh chord, major-minor seventh chord, minor-minor seventh chord, half-diminished seventh chord, and fully diminished seventh chord. There are five common qualities of seventh chord.When a seventh chord is stacked in thirds, the lowest note is called the root, the lower middle note is called the third, the upper middle note is called the fifth, and the highest note is called the seventh, which is sometimes called the “chordal” seventh to distinguish it from the seventh scale degree.A seventh chord can always be “stacked” so that its notes are either on all lines or all spaces. A seventh chord is a four-note chord whose notes can be arranged in thirds.

G flat major 7th chord