Who Else Is Interested In Learning The Shortcut To Playing Seventh Chords In The Major Key

If you’re interested in knowing the shortcut to learning seventh chords in the major key this lesson is for you.

A lot of beginners find triads boring after playing them for a while and that’s the beginning of the quest for more sophisticated chords.

After triads are seventh chords and they  sound a lot more sophisticated than triads because of the number of voices (four voices) and the seventh interval they encompass.

I’ll be taking you by the hand in the next segment and showing you step by step how you can shortcut your way to playing seventh chords in the major key.

The Shortcut To Learning Seventh Chords In The Major Key

Using the major scale of any major key as a reference, you can form seventh chords using the shortcut I’m about to show you.

But before we go any further, suffice it to say that this shortcut is for musicians who are already familiar with the triads in the major key. So, if you’re yet to master the triads in the key, then seventh chords are definitely not for you.

All examples will be given in the key of C major:

…where the following triads are scale tone chords (aka – “diatonic chords”):

C major triad (the 1-chord):

D minor triad (the 2-chord):

E minor triad (the 3-chord):

F major triad (the 4-chord):

G major triad (the 5-chord):

A minor triad (the 6-chord):

B diminished triad (the 7-chord):

“Can You Play The Descending Major Scale?”

On of the things that would help you shortcut your way from triads to seventh chords is the descending major scale in any key your in.

In the key of C major:

…here’s the descending C major scale:

C:

B:

A:

G:

F:

E:

D:

C:

If you can play the descending C major scale, you can shortcut your way from triads to seventh chords. As simple as it sounds, it’s true and I’ll be showing you how this works.

How To Form A Seventh Chord From Any Given Triad

Given the 1-chord in the key of C major (which is the C major triad):

…you can form a seventh chord by lowering the root of the chord by one scale step in the key.

Attention: This is where your knowledge of the C major scale (in descending form) comes into play.

Lowering the root of the C major triad:

…which is C:

…by one scale step (to B):

…produces the second inversion of the E minor triad:

…which produces the C major seventh chord when played over C in the bass:

So, instead of playing the C major triad:

…you can shortcut your way to the corresponding seventh chord by lowering the root on the right hand by one scale step from C to B:

From C:

…to B:

…produces the C major seventh chord:

“Let’s Derive The Seventh Chord For The 2-chord…”

The root of the D minor triad:

…is D:

Lowering D:

…by one scale step as if we’re playing the descending in the C major scale from D to C:

…produces the second inversion of the F major triad:

…and over D on the bass:

…that’s the D minor seventh chord:

So, instead of playing the D minor triad:

…lowering the root on the right hand by one scale step from D to C:

From D:

…to C:

…produces the D minor seventh chord (the 2-chord in the key of C major):

“Following The Same Procedure, You Can Derive The Rest Of The Chords…”

Instead of the E minor triad:

…you can lower the root (which is E):

…by one scale step (to D):

…to form the E minor seventh chord:

Instead of the F major triad:

…you have the F major seventh chord:

…by lowering the root (which is F):

…by one scale step (to E):

By lowering the root of each of the chords by one scale step, you can shortcut your way to all the corresponding seventh chords in the major key.

Final Words

Now that you’ve learned this shortcut in the key of C major, I’ll want you to derive the rest of the chords and most importantly, take the procedures to other major keys.

If you can always lower the root of the right hand chord by a scale step (as if you’re playing the descending major scale), you can always cheat your way through to playing every seventh chord in the major key.

See you in the next lesson.

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Chuku Onyemachi

Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group

Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.

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