Help V7th chords are killing me


BammBamm22
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Joined: 05/10/11
Posts: 29
BammBamm22
Registered User
Joined: 05/10/11
Posts: 29
07/31/2011 1:47 pm
Hello i am working on some of the lessons that involve adding Major 3rds and minor 3rds to perfect 5ths to get different chord scales with all the differerent keys. the C major scale is very simle becuse there is no flats or sharps, but when i try to go to a differerent scale/key i get confused when it comes to adding the dominant 7. i have watched all the videos on scales and triads and adding 3rds but im still lost. the question i have for you is i heard they call this 7 note a flat 7th. So if i take the scale chords in the key of D, the primary chords I IV V would be D-F#-A. i then take the V chord which is the A. The part that i get lost in is... do i continue to use the notes in the key of D to get my V7th, or since the V chord is an A, do i now use the the key of A (A major scale) to get my flat 7th. in the key of A the 7th is a G# and when i flaten it it now becomes a G. is that correct or is there a simpler way. thanks BBg
# 1
hunter1801
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Joined: 01/27/05
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hunter1801
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07/31/2011 11:39 pm
Did you really need to post the same thread in 2 different places.....
# 2
BammBamm22
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Joined: 05/10/11
Posts: 29
BammBamm22
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Joined: 05/10/11
Posts: 29
08/01/2011 3:48 am
Yes Hunter1801, I did feel the need to post this in the spots i did ...., That's how dedicated i am about learning music. After 48 years of doing what I do for a living, I learned one thing, go big or go home. Sorry you still think inside the box.

I figured this is a forum, so I left a question in the most common spots people would look. I left one for the general viewer and one for the specific instructor that I have been following, and one here for true music theory experts.

By Chance do you have the correct formula I need for my dilemma?
# 3
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
08/01/2011 2:19 pm
Originally Posted by: BammBamm22but when i try to go to a differerent scale/key i get confused when it comes to adding the dominant 7 ...

I covered Triadic Harmony (building chords from the notes of a scale) in depth in this music theory tutorial:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=495

I covered major 7th, minor 7th & dominant 7th chords in these tutorials:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=501
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=479
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=499

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=513
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=961

I cover all this in depth in my instructor forum also!
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 4
BammBamm22
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Joined: 05/10/11
Posts: 29
BammBamm22
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Joined: 05/10/11
Posts: 29
08/01/2011 4:17 pm
CS, Thank you very much! This is what i was looking for. :)
# 5
gdengelbrecht
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Joined: 07/07/09
Posts: 34
gdengelbrecht
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Joined: 07/07/09
Posts: 34
04/01/2012 10:31 pm
Originally Posted by: BammBamm22Hello i am working on some of the lessons that involve adding Major 3rds and minor 3rds to perfect 5ths to get different chord scales with all the differerent keys. the C major scale is very simle becuse there is no flats or sharps, but when i try to go to a differerent scale/key i get confused when it comes to adding the dominant 7. i have watched all the videos on scales and triads and adding 3rds but im still lost. the question i have for you is i heard they call this 7 note a flat 7th. So if i take the scale chords in the key of D, the primary chords I IV V would be D-F#-A. i then take the V chord which is the A. The part that i get lost in is... do i continue to use the notes in the key of D to get my V7th, or since the V chord is an A, do i now use the the key of A (A major scale) to get my flat 7th. in the key of A the 7th is a G# and when i flaten it it now becomes a G. is that correct or is there a simpler way. thanks BBg

The I, IV and V(7) chords are D, G and A(7). You may use A or A7 because both are considered to be "dominant" chords.

The "7th" note added to the A Major is the note "G". This means you stay in the key of D while the V(7) chord is being played.

The way you arrive at the "7th" note that is added to the V chord is by going up in the A Major scale to the 7th step and flattening it from G# to G like you said. This gives the chord (V7) the "dominant" function...the flat 7th.

Hope this helps
# 6
john of MT
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Joined: 10/08/09
Posts: 1,525
john of MT
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Joined: 10/08/09
Posts: 1,525
04/02/2012 2:27 am
Originally Posted by: BammBamm22Yes Hunter1801, I did feel the need to post this in the spots i did ...., That's how dedicated i am about learning music. After 48 years of doing what I do for a living, I learned one thing, go big or go home. Sorry you still think inside the box.

I figured this is a forum, so I left a question in the most common spots people would look. I left one for the general viewer and one for the specific instructor that I have been following, and one here for true music theory experts.

By Chance do you have the correct formula I need for my dilemma?


Don't sweat it. Hunter did the same thing about this time last year... :)
"It takes a lot of devotion and work, or maybe I should say play, because if you love it, that's what it amounts to. I haven't found any shortcuts, and I've been looking for a long time."
-- Chet Atkins
# 7

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