The 7th Chord Family (Part 2)

In this Lesson, we will examine the rest of chords in the 7^th chord family

1. Dominant 7^th chord
2. Diminished 7^th chord
3. Half Diminished 7^th chord (or minor 7^th flat 5 chord)

Dominant 7^th chord

The Dominant 7^th chord consists of a Major triad plus a minor 7^th interval

Structure: 1+3+5+b7

The G Dominant 7^th chord for instance is a G Major Triad (GBD) plus F (minor 7^th or flat 7)

It is worthy to note that the minor 7^th is a minor 3^rd (a whole and half steps) interval from the 5^th.

Try and spell out the notes of a D Dom7 chord.

Diminished 7^th Chord

A Diminished 7^th chord consists of 4 notes all having intervals of minor 3rds.

Structure: 1+b3+b5+bb7(double flat 7)

We can also say it is a diminished triad plus a note that’s is a minor 3^rd away from the b5 (flat 5)

For instance, a B diminished triad (BDF) plus note “Ab” is a B diminished 7^th chord.

Let’s see if you can get G Diminished 7^th chord.

Note: It’s also worthy to note the crazy note spellings of the diminished 7^th chords because it has double flats most of the times. But don’t worry as a reference for all Diminished 7^th chords is provided at the end of this lesson.

Half Diminished 7^th Chord

Add a minor 7^th note to a Diminished triad and you’ve got yourself the Half-diminished 7^th chord.

The Half-Diminished 7^th Chord is also known as minor 7^th chord with a flat 5 because of its structure.

Structure: 1+b3+b5+b7

Hence if you were to derive a B half-diminished 7^th chord, play a B diminished triad plus an extra note which is a Major 3^rd (2 whole steps) away from the flat 5 (b5).

BDF (B diminished triad) + A (minor 7^th note) = BDFA (B half diminished 7^th chord)

You can give yourself a challenge to create the F half diminished 7^th chord