Open 7th Chords

On the G7 do you mute the 5th string if not putting the second finger down?

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If you mean the note B on the A string, then it’s completely optional since we already play that note on the open B string. It’s a personal preference. I like to mute it so the chord sounds less muddy in the bass.

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Creep by STP has a C to B7 transition in the verses. It may not be a C7, but since the C and C7 shape are so similar, it’s still good practice. Also, it’s really cool coming across these ā€œbluesā€ grips in 90s alternative songs!

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Had a question regarding couple of chord changes that are suggested for practice, B7 to A7 and C7 to D7. In the B major scale we don’t have an A major chord, and in the A major scale we have a Bm chord not a B major chord. So would we ever have a B7 to A7 transiton in songs? Similarly in the D major scale we don’t have a C major chord and in C major scale we have an Dm chord not a D major chord. So would we ever have a C7 to D7 change. The changes do sound good when i play them however it seems to be different from what the theory says. Just getting started with justin’s music theory course, so apologies if this is a stupid question.

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C# minor scale features a Major A(VI) and B(VII) and E minor features a Major C and D again VI and VII so yes its possible, as these can be played as dominant 7ths. All shown on the Circle of Fifths. :sunglasses:

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@bvvarma
In the key of E the A and B are the IV and V and in the key of G the C and D are the IV and V two of the most common keys in music. So any time you’re using 7th chords in these 2 keys you’ll be making these changes

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Thank you so much @TheMadman_tobyjenner and @stitch for the quick response and explanation. I realize the mistake i was making.

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@bvvarma
Vivek.
It is crucial to understand that no key has more than one dominant 7 chord in it occuring naturally, diatonically.
First an important distinction. Keys contain chords. Scales contain notes. We can label the notes within scales as scale degrees using numbers.
When a scale degree is used as the root note of a triad chord and the chord is built from the notes of the scale by stacking thirds (count one & miss one etc.), it is a diatonic chord. When the process of stacking thirds goes one more step beyond a 3-note triad, the chords become 7ths.
There are seven in every key.
Their order is as follows (scale degree then chord as a Roman numeral then chord type)

1 = I = Major 7
2 = ii = minor 7
3 = iii = minor 7
4 = IV = Major 7
5 = V = Dominant 7
6 = vi = minor 7
7 = vii = diminished 7

There is only ever one Dominant 7 chord that belongs in a key.

However … very important …

Blues music breaks rules and leans heavily on using all Dominant 7 chords. Strictly speaking, it uses chords that are not in the same key. But that is the blues. Ignore what the theory says for a while.
A simple blues 12-bar often uses the I7 the IV7 and the V7.
For example, we would say that a blues in A uses A7 and D7 and E7. They are the I7, the IV7 and the V7 respectively.

But that is wrong theoretically. In the key of A only the V chord should be Dominant 7 (E7). The I and IV should be A Major 7 and D Major 7. But in a blues context that just does not sound like the blues at all.
In blues you use Dominant 7ths.
That means you will often be playing two Dominant 7 chords one whole tone apart.

E7 and D7

C7 and D7

G7 and A7

A7 and B7

Etc.

These would be the IV and V chords.

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Thanks you very much @Richard_close2u for that very detailed explanation. This is something i hadn’t realized. Your explanation was so so helpful.

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Us & Them - d7 to g7 thank you for this lesson!

Hi everyone,

I would like some advice on how to practice the 4-finger E7 chord (the one that is E major plus the pinky on the B string). I’ve been practising all the other dominant 7th chords for some time now, and can do the usual 60 changes per min, but I still can’t figure out the E7.

The problem is, my pinky seems to be ā€œbentā€, i.e. when I extend and flex my pinky, it does so towards the centre of my palm, instead of being parallel to my other fingers. This is a picture of me fingering the E7; while I am just barely able to strum the E7, it feels extremely unnatural, and there’s a lot of tension in my fingers and wrist just to get the pinky into that awkward position.

I would appreciate any suggestions / exercises / practice tips :slight_smile:

Try rotating your hand towards your pinky. You may have to move your thumb down and towards your middle fingers

Hi @stitch, thanks for your suggestion. I’ve tried it in various ways over the past 2 days. Just to clarify, by ā€œrotatingā€ do you mean something like this? (I’m not putting the pinky down in the pic cause I can’t reach the B string yet.)

Barny the opposite direction, your thumb has moved further to the left and will inhibit both ring and pinkie reaching the frets, try placing the thumb opposite the middle finger ie move it about 2 inches to the right.

Hi Justin,
I couldn’t quite figure out that B7 you pulled off!! In bar B major, on the G string, can replacing the root from the 4th fret with ā€œAā€ from the 2nd fret be derived as B7?

Thank you for your time!!!

@SteveL-G99 Great find and observation. I’m nearing the end of grade 3, and enrolled in BLIM 4. I had today to review some material for blues from grade 2, and revisited this video about 7th chords. When I tried learning Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding, I had a heck of a time going from the G to a B7. Today, watching the video, I wondered why I had no difficulty playing a B7 in Sweet Home Chicago, as it was, to me anyway, a simple D7 chord shape moved up a couple of frets. Then I saw the diagram again, and noticed the D7 shape with the little finger on the F# note on string 1. Before I was going from G, always finding myself trying to land that little finger first, and then going up. I had trouble putting down all the fingers at once for this chord. After today, I saw what you wrote about here in Justin’s diagrams on the video this time, and went from G to the B7 again, putting the little finger down last instead of first. Brilliant deduction! I wish I’d have read this before. When I put the D7 shape down, the little finger just followed now. Eureka! Thanks for posting this.

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Hi Jim and thanks for the kind words. Eureka is what I said when I saw Justin’s suggestion, which is why I took the time to diagram what I had found. It’s hard to believe that it has helped someone else more than 3 years later. It has been so long that I had forgotten my own post :slight_smile:

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Feels like home tuning back to standard after shredding Basket Case last 4 days :slight_smile:
E7, A7 and D7 I already knew from playing All Your Love in Grade 1

C7 is the harderst for me so far. When doing it a lot, the outside of my palm gets sore from tension in the 4th finger. Surprisingly, B7 is way easier, I think of this shape as a shilfted D7 with 4th finger on top. I’ve been practicing them for 4 days now, totally doable