Seventh Chords

Root position seventh chords are made with 4 notes stacked in thirds

Quality/Name Major 7th Minor 7th Dominant 7th Half Diminished

Diminished 7th
7th

Alt name Major-Major Minor-minor Major-minor Half Fully

(3rd/7th) (MM) (mm) (Mm) Diminished (ø) diminished (o)

Top 3rd M m m M m

Middle 3rd m M m m m

Bottom 3rd M m M m m

Triad Quality M m M d d

7th Quality M m m m d

Pop Symbol Cmaj7 Cm7 C7 Cø7 Co7

Roman I7, IV7 ii7 iii7, vi7 V7 viiø7 none

Numeral -
Major

Roman VI7 i7, iv7 V7 iiø7 viio7

Numeral - (III7 - see
Harmonic note below)
Minor

With chord names -

Minor refers to the 3rd of the chord
Major refers to the 7th of the chord.

Order of Diatonic 7th chords

Major Scale: M m m M Dom m ø

I7 Maj 7, ii7 mi 7 iii7 mi 7 IV7 Maj 7,V7 Dominant (Mm) 7, vi7 mi 7, viiø7 Half diminished 7

Harmonic Minor scale: m ø M* m Dom M o

i7 mi 7, iiø7 ø7, * III7 Maj 7 (*not commonly used, not including leading tone, no augmented chord
used as base for harmony in 18th century common practice), iv7 mi 7, V7 Dominant 7th, VI7
Major 7th, viio7 o7

Inversions
Root position - root in the bass
1st inversion - 3rd in the bass
2nd inversion - 5th in the bass
3rd inversion - 7th in the bass

Remember the bass is not alway the root, and vice versa.

Figured bass for 7th chord inversions

Root - 7
1st inversion - 6/5
2nd inversion - 4/3
3rd inversion 4/2

1st inversion - Root is a 3rd below bass

2nd Inversion - Root is a 5th below the bass
3rd Inversion - Root is a step above the bass

Remember to apply inversion symbols to Roman numerals

Inversion Hot Line
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