| Component intervals fromroot | |
|---|---|
| minor seventh | |
| perfect fifth | |
| major third | |
| root | |
| Tuning | |
| 4:5:6:7,[1] 20:25:30:36,[2] or36:45:54:64[2] | |
| Forte no. / | |
| 4-27 / |
Inmusic theory, a dominant seventh chord, ormajor minor seventh chord,[a] is aseventh chord composed of aroot,major third,perfect fifth, andminor seventh; thus it is amajor triad together with a minor seventh. It is oftendenoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7".[3] Dominant seventh chords are typically built on the fifth degree (the dominant) of the major scale.[4] An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G7, having pitches G–B–D–F:
Theleading note and themajor third combined form a diminished fifth, also known as atritone. The clashing sound produced by playing these two notes together gives the dominant seventh chord its dissonant quality (i.e. itsharmonic instability).[5]
Dominant seventh chords are often built on thefifth scale degree (or dominant) of akey. For instance, in the C major scale, G is the fifth note of the scale, and the seventh chord built on G is the dominant seventh chord of this scale, G7 (shown above). In this chord, F is a minor seventh above G. InRoman numeral analysis, G7 would be represented as V7 in the key of C major.
This chord also occurs on the seventh degree of any natural minor scale (e.g., G7 in A minor).
The dominant seventh is perhaps the most important of the seventh chords. It was the first seventh chord to appear regularly inclassical music. The V7 chord is found almost as often as the V, thedominant triad,[6] and typicallyfunctions to drive the piece strongly toward aresolution to thetonic of the key.
A dominant seventh chord can be represented by theinteger notation {0, 4, 7, 10} relative to the dominant.
The majority ofRenaissance composers conceived of harmony in terms ofintervals rather thanchords; "however, certaindissonant sonorities suggest that the dominant seventh chord occurred with some frequency."[7]Monteverdi (usually credited as the first to use the V7 chord withoutpreparation[8]) and other earlyBaroque composers begin to treat the V7 as a chord as part of the introduction of functional harmony.
An excerpt from Monteverdi's "Lasciatemi Morire",Lamento d'Arianna (1608) is shown below. In it, a dominant seventh chord (in red) is handled conservatively, "prepared and resolved as asuspension, clearly indicating its dissonant status."[7]
The V7 was in constant use during theClassical period, with similar treatment to that of the Baroque. In theRomantic period, freervoice-leading was gradually developed, leading to the waning of functional use in thepost-Romantic andImpressionistic periods including more dissonant dominant chords through higherextensions and lessened use of the major minor chord's dominant function.Twentieth-century classical music either consciously usedfunctional harmony or was entirely free of V7 chords whilejazz andpopular musics continued to use functional harmony including V7 chords.[7]
An excerpt fromChopin'sMazurka in F minor (1849), Op. 68, No. 4, mm. 1–4 is shown below with dominant sevenths in red: "the seventh factor had by this time achieved nearly consonant status."[7]
| Inversion | Bottom note | Roman numerals | Macro analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | root: 5 | V7 | in C: G7 |
| First | 3rd: 7 | V6 5 | in C: G6 5 |
| Second | 5th: 2 | V4 3 | in C: G4 3 |
| Third | 7th: 4 | V4 2 or V2 | in C: G4 2 or G2 |
The opening bars ofMozart’sPiano Sonata in C, K545 features dominant seventh chords in both second and first inversions:
The concludingcadence of the same movement features the chord in root position:
A striking use of inversions of the dominant seventh can be found in this passage from the first movement ofBeethoven’s String Quartet Op. 127. Here, the second and third inversions contribute to the "magnificently rich harmony"[9]:
Thefunction of the dominant seventh chord is toresolve to thetonic note or chord.
... the demand of the V7 for resolution is,to our ears, almost inescapably compelling. The dominant seventh is, in fact, the central propulsive force in our music; it is unambiguous and unequivocal.
— Goldman, 1965: 35[11]
This dominant seventh chord is useful to composers because it contains both a major triad and the interval of atritone. The major triad confers a very "strong" sound. The tritone is created by the co-occurrence of the fourth degree and seventh degree (e.g., in the G7 chord, theinterval between B and F is a tritone).
In a diatonic context, the third of the chord is theleading-tone of the scale, which has a strong tendency to pull towards the tonic of the key (e.g., in C, the third of G7, B, is the leading tone of the key of C). The seventh of the chord acts as an upper leading-tone to the third of the scale (in C: the seventh of G7, F, is a half-step above and leads down to E).[11] This, in combination with the strength of root movement by fifth, and the natural resolution of the dominant triad to the tonic triad (e.g., from GBD to CEG in the key of C major), creates a resolution with which to end a piece or a section, often in acadence.
Because of this original usage, it also quickly became an easy way to trick the listener's ear with adeceptive cadence. The dominant seventh may work as part of acircle progression, preceded by thesupertonic chord, ii.
A non-diatonic dominant seventh chord (sometimes called achromatic seventh) can be borrowed from another key, and this can provide a way for the composer tomodulate to that other key. This technique is extremely common, particularly since the Classical period, and it has led to further innovative uses of the dominant seventh chord such assecondary dominant (V7/V, shown below),extended dominant (V7/V/V), andsubstitute dominant (♭V7/V) chords.
Forcommon practicevoice leading or "strictresolution" of the dominant seventh chord:[12]
According toHeinrich Schenker, "The dissonance is always passing,never a chord member (Zusammenklang),'"[15] and often (though by no means always) the voice leading suggests either apassing note:
or resolution of a (hypothetical)suspension:
In music that follows follow theblues progression, theIV andV chords are "almost always" dominant seventh chords (sometimes withextensions) with thetonic chord most often being a major triad. Examples includeBill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" andBuster Brown's "Fanny Mae", while inChuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." andLoggins and Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" the tonic chord is also a dominant seventh.[16] Used mostly in the first fifteen years of the rock era and now sounding somewhat "retrospective" (e.g.,Oasis' "Roll With It"), other examples of tonic dominant seventh chords includeLittle Richard's "Lucille",The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There",Nilsson's "Coconut",Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", andThe Drifters' "On Broadway".[16] Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" uses the dominant seventh on I, IV, and V.[17]
The dominant seventh isenharmonically equivalent to theGerman sixth. For example, the German sixth A♭–C–E♭–F♯ (which typically resolves to G) is equivalent to the dominant seventh A♭–C–E♭–G♭ (which typically resolves to D♭):
The dominant seventh chord is frequently used to approximate aharmonic seventh chord, which is one possiblejust tuning, in the ratios 4:5:6:7[1]Playⓘ, for the dominant seventh. Others include 20:25:30:36Playⓘ, found on I, and 36:45:54:64, found on V, used in5-limit just tunings and scales.[2]
Today, the dominant seventh chord enjoys particular prominence in the music ofbarbershop quartets, with theBarbershop Harmony Society describing the chord as the "signature" of the barbershop sound. A song may use the chord type (built on anyscale degree, not just
), for up to 30 percent of its duration.[18] As barbershop singers strive to harmonize injust intonation to maximize the audibility of harmonicovertones, the practical sonority of the chord tends to be that of aharmonic seventh chord. This chord type has become so ingrained into the fabric of the artform that it is often referred to as the "barbershop seventh chord" by those who practice it.[19][20]
| Chord | Notation | Seventh | Ratios |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonic seventh chord | C E GB♭ | Minor seventh | 20:25:30:36[21][2] |
| Harmonic seventh chord | G B DF + | Harmonic seventh | 4:5:6:7[1] |
| German sixth chord | A♭ CE♭G♭ | Harmonic seventh | 4:5:6:7 |
| Dominant seventh chord | G B D F | Pythagorean minor seventh | 36:45:54:64[2] |
| Chord | Root | Major third | Perfect fifth | Minor seventh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C7 | C | E | G | B♭ |
| C♯7 | C♯ | E♯ (F) | G♯ | B |
| D♭7 | D♭ | F | A♭ | C♭ (B) |
| D7 | D | F♯ | A | C |
| D♯7 | D♯ | F (G) | A♯ | C♯ |
| E♭7 | E♭ | G | B♭ | D♭ |
| E7 | E | G♯ | B | D |
| F7 | F | A | C | E♭ |
| F♯7 | F♯ | A♯ | C♯ | E |
| G♭7 | G♭ | B♭ | D♭ | F♭ (E) |
| G7 | G | B | D | F |
| G♯7 | G♯ | B♯ (C) | D♯ | F♯ |
| A♭7 | A♭ | C | E♭ | G♭ |
| A7 | A | C♯ | E | G |
| A♯7 | A♯ | C (D) | E♯ (F) | G♯ |
| B♭7 | B♭ | D | F | A♭ |
| B7 | B | D♯ | F♯ | A |
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![{
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff <<
\new Voice \relative c'' {
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b\trill ais \once \override NoteHead.color = #red b4\< g')\!
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}
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\new Voice \relative c' {
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r \once \override NoteHead.color = #red <ges des' fes> <ges c es>
r \once \override NoteHead.color = #red <f c' es> <f ces' es>
}
>>
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![{
\override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t
\set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/12)
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff <<
\relative c' {
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}
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\new Staff <<
\new Voice \relative c {
\clef bass \key bes \major \time 2/4
\stemUp <d bes'>8 \stemNeutral <f c'>-.[_\markup { \concat { "V" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #1.2 "I" \hspace #2 "V" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #1.7 "I" } }
bes-.] <f, f'>-. <bes, bes'>-. r \bar "|."
}
\new Voice \relative c, {
\clef bass \key bes \major \time 2/4
\stemDown bes8
}
>>
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