How to Play 7th Chords in Jazz Guitar

Video Transcript

Hello! My name is Dustin, and I am going to talk about 7th chords. We are limited as to how much theory we can get into in such a short video, but I can teach you a little bit about the types of chords used in jazz. The main type of chord used in jazz is the 7th chord. The 7th chord goes beyond the simple triad and includes the 7th scale degree, which gives the chord a little bit more color. I will show an easy system to building your 7th chords based on a C root, and you can apply this system to all the different keys and find your 7th chords easily that way. So start with the C major scale and count up 7 degrees, on the 8th degree this scale just starts over on 1…now to build a major 7th chord you want to include the 1, the 3, the 5 and the 7th scale degrees, so find these within your scale… put them in any order you want… and now you have a major 7th chords wherever you want, just put those notes in whatever order up and down the neck. Now for a minor 7th chord you want to use the 1 the flatted or lowered 3rd degree, the 5 and the flatted or lowered 7th degree, so find those notes within your C major scale… put those in whatever order you want, and you have a C minor 7th chord and the last type of 7th chord is the dominant 7th chord, which includes the 1, the 3, the 5 and the flatted or lowered 7th scale degree. So find these notes within your scale… put them together in whatever order you want… and now you have a C dominant 7th chord wherever you want. So practice this system in all the keys, and you will easily have your hands full of 7th chords up and down the neck.

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