Episode 39 reviews how to find the quality of a seventh interval.
Episode 39 reviews how to find the quality of a seventh interval (1:19). Then dive into major-major seventh chords (1:43), major-minor seventh chords (2:08), minor-minor seventh chords (2:35), half diminished seventh chords (2:57), fully diminished seventh chords (3:29) and augmented seventh chords (3:47). Remind yourself of how to make each chord inversion (4:49) and finish with notating some practice examples (6:31).
Question of the day: What are the pitches of an E augmented minor seventh chord? (9:00)
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Hi and welcome to the APsolute Recap: Music Theory Edition. Today’s episode will recap Seventh Chords
Lets Zoom out:
We’re in Unit 3 Music Fundamentals III
Topics 3.4 & 3.5
Our Big idea is pitch
We’ve all been there. You’re hard at work building a chord, and you mix up the difference between a major and minor seventh. It’s ok, the APsolute recap has your back. A major seventh is really not much different than down a minor second, and a minor seventh and major second are also related. Take D for example. Visualize how on the keyboard a major second down is C. So a minor seventh up would be C. A minor second down is C#, so a major seventh up is C#. Now onto the blueprints for seventh chord building.
Lets Zoom in:
Seventh chords are named as such because they include an interval of a seventh from the root of the chord. If the root is 1, then a seventh chord includes 1,3,5 and 7. Although some pitches from the chord can be omitted, most typically the 5th.
Intervals have qualities of major, minor, diminished or augmented. Therefore, there are seventh chords with the same qualities.
A major-major seventh chord will be labeled with a capital letter for the chord name, a capital M or m-a-j and a seven. This is a major chord, with a major seventh interval from the root. A C# E G# (MM7 example)
A major-minor seventh chord is most commonly used as a dominant seventh chord. This would be labeled with a capital letter for the name of the chord, a lower case m and a seven, or sometimes just a seven. This is a major triad with a minor seventh interval from the root. A C# E G (Mm7 example)
A minor-minor seventh chord would be labeled with a lower case letter for the chord, sometimes also seen uppercase, a lower case m and a seven, or just a seven. This is a minor chord with a minor seventh. A C E G (mm7 example)
A half diminished seventh chord would be labeled with a lower case letter for chord, or an uppercase just like before and then degree sign with a slash followed by a seven, or a lower case dm or dim . This is a diminished triad, which is a minor chord with a lowered fifth scale degree, and a minor seventh. A C Eb G (ø7 example)
A fully diminished seventh chord would be labeled with a letter for the name of the chord and a degree sign with a seven. This is a diminished triad with a diminished seventh. A C Eb Gb (o7 example)
An augmented 7th chord won’t be needed for the test, but it can’t hurt to be aware of it. It is labeled as Augmented or Aug with either a seven to show minor seventh, or a capital M7 or Maj7 for Major seventh. It is a major third on a major third, or like a Major chord with a raised 5th scale degree. On top of that you can add either a major or minor seventh. Here is an example of A augmented Major 7th A C# E# G# (Augmaj7 example) and an example of A augmented minor 7th A C# E# G. (Aug-minor7 example).
Side note- seventh chords have a tendency to need to be resolved. The part of the chord that is inclined toward resolution can be labeled as chordal dissonance.
As with any type of chord, you will need to be familiar with their inversions. We’ve heard of first and second inversion chords, but have you heard of third inversion chords? These are only possible when a chord has four notes. Seventh chords have a root, third, fifth and seventh. First inversion, with triads or seventh chords, has the third as the bass (first inversion example triad and seventh). Second inversion, with triads or seventh, has the fifth as the bass (second inversion example triad and seventh). Third inversion is only with seventh chords, they have the seventh as the bass (third inversion of seventh chord).
Let’s practice.
With each example you will hear a given bass note, and you need to sing or auralize the remaining pitches of the chord and then arrange the pitches in the inversion.
Create a major-minor seventh chord root position.
Here is your bass note E (think time)
Here is the answer E G# B D
Now notate this chord in third inversion…(think time)
That would be D E G# B.
Create a half diminished seventh chord in root position.
Here is your bass note E (think time)
Here is the answer E G Bb D
Now notate this chord in second inversion…(think time)
That would be Bb D E G.
Create a fully diminished seventh chord in root position.
Here is your bass note E (think time)
Here is the answer E G Bb Db
Now notate this chord in first inversion…(think time)
That would be G Bb Db E
To recap……
The five types of seventh chords you need to know for the exam are major-major7, major-minor7, minor-minor7, half diminished 7, and fully diminished 7. Seventh chords can be found in first, second or third inversion.
Coming up next on the Apsolute RecAP Music Theory Edition: Dictations
Today’s Question of the day is about seventh chords.
Question: What are the pitches of an E augmented minor seventh chord?