Dominant seventh chord

Template:Short description Template:Infobox chord

In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord,Template:Efn is a seventh chord composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh; thus it is a major triad together with a minor seventh. It is often denoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7".<ref>Bruce Benward & Marilyn Nadine Saker (2003). Music in Theory and Practice, seventh edition (Boston: McGraw-Hill), vol. 1: p. 77. Template:ISBN.</ref> In most Template:Fact cases, dominant seventh chord are built on the fifth degree of the major scale. An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G⁷, having pitches G–B–D–F:

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c {

  \clef treble 
  \time 4/4
  \key c \major
  <g b d f>1

} } </score>

The leading note and the subdominant note combined form a diminished fifth, also known as a tritone. The clashing sound produced by playing these two notes together gives the dominant seventh chord its dissonant quality (i.e. its harmonic instability).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Dominant seventh chords are often built on the fifth scale degree (or dominant) of a key. For instance, in the C major scale, G is the fifth note of the scale, and the seventh chord built on G is the dominant seventh chord, G⁷ (shown above). In this chord, F is a minor seventh above G. In Roman numeral analysis, G⁷ would be represented as V⁷ in the key of C major.

This chord also occurs on the seventh degree of any natural minor scale (e.g., G7 in A minor).

The dominant seventh is perhaps the most important of the seventh chords. It was the first seventh chord to appear regularly in classical music. The V⁷ chord is found almost as often as the V, the dominant triad,<ref>Benward & Saker (2003), vol. 1: p. 199.</ref> and typically functions to drive the piece strongly toward a resolution to the tonic of the key.

A dominant seventh chord can be represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 7, 10} relative to the dominant.

HistoryEdit

The majority of Renaissance composers conceived of harmony in terms of intervals rather than chords, "however, certain dissonant sonorities suggest that the dominant seventh chord occurred with some frequency."<ref name="BS201" /> Monteverdi (usually credited as the first to use the V⁷ chord without preparation<ref>Goldman (1965), p. 39.</ref>) and other early Baroque composers begin to treat the V⁷ as a chord as part of the introduction of functional harmony.

An excerpt from Monteverdi's "Lasciatemi Morire", Lamento d'Arianna (1608) is shown below. In it, a dominant seventh chord (in red) is handled conservatively, "prepared and resolved as a suspension, clearly indicating its dissonant status."<ref name="BS201">Benward & Saker (2003), vol. 1: p. 201.</ref>

   { 
     \override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t
     \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8)
   << \new StaffGroup <<
       \new Staff <<
           \new Voice \relative c {
               \clef treble \time 4/4 \key c \major
               \voiceOne d2 r4 f, \once \override NoteHead.color = #red e1 fis2
               }
           \new Voice \relative c {
               \clef treble \time 4/4 \key c \major
               \voiceTwo bes2 d, \once \override NoteHead.color = #red cis4 d2 cis4 d1
               }
           >>
       \new Staff <<
           \new Voice \relative c {
               \clef treble \time 4/4 \key c \major
               \stemUp g2 r4 bes, \once \override NoteHead.color = #red a1 a
               }
           >>
       \new Staff <<
           \new Voice \relative c' {
               \clef bass \time 4/4 \key c \major
               \voiceOne bes4 a g2~ \once \override NoteHead.color = #red g4 f e2 d
               }
           \new Voice \relative c {
               \clef bass \time 4/4 \key c \major
               \voiceTwo g1 \once \override NoteHead.color = #red a d
               }
           >>
   >>

>> } </score>

The V⁷ was in constant use during the Classical period, with similar treatment to that of the Baroque. In the Romantic period, freer voice-leading was gradually developed, leading to the waning of functional use in the post-Romantic and Impressionistic periods including more dissonant dominant chords through higher extensions and lessened use of the major minor chord's dominant function. Twentieth-century classical music either consciously used functional harmony or was entirely free of V⁷ chords while jazz and popular musics continued to use functional harmony including V⁷ chords.<ref name="BS201" />

An excerpt from Chopin's Mazurka in F minor (1849), Op. 68, No. 4, mm. 1–4 is shown below with dominant sevenths in red: "the seventh factor had by this time achieved nearly consonant status."<ref name="BS201" />

   {
     \new PianoStaff <<
       \new Staff <<
           \new Voice \relative c {
               \clef treble \key f \minor \time 3/4
               \override DynamicLineSpanner.staff-padding = #2
               c4~(_\markup { \italic "sotto voce" } c8[ des] des[ c]
               b\trill ais \once \override NoteHead.color = #red b4\< g')\!
               bes,!~( \once \override NoteHead.color = #red bes8[ c] c[ bes]
               a8\trill gis \once \override NoteHead.color = #red a4\< f')\!
               }
           >>
       \new Staff <<
           \new Voice \relative c' {
               \clef bass \key f \minor \time 3/4
               r4 <aes c f> <aes c f> 
               r \once \override NoteHead.color = #red <g d' f> <g des' f> 
               r \once \override NoteHead.color = #red <ges des' fes> <ges c es> 
               r \once \override NoteHead.color = #red <f c' es> <f ces' es>
               }
           >>
   >> }

</score>

UseEdit

InversionsEdit

Inversion	Bottom note	Roman numerals	Macro analysis
Root position	root: 5	V7	in C: G7
First	3rd: 7	VTemplate:Su	in C: GTemplate:Su
Second	5th: 2	VTemplate:Su	in C: GTemplate:Su
Third	7th: 4	VTemplate:Su or V²	in C: GTemplate:Su or G²

File:Inversions of the Dominant Seventh Chord 01.wav

Inversions of the Dominant Seventh Chord

File:Inversions of the Dominant Seventh Chord 02.png

Inversions of the Dominant Seventh Chord

The opening bars of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C, K545 features dominant seventh chords in both second and first inversions:

File:Mozart Piano Sonata in C , K545 opening bars 01.wav

Mozart Piano Sonata in C , K545 opening bars

File:Mozart Piano Sonata in C , K545 opening bars 02.png

Mozart Piano Sonata in C , K545 opening bars 02

The concluding cadence of the same movement features the chord in root position:

File:Mozart Piano Sonata in C, K545, end of first movement 01.wav

Mozart Piano Sonata in C, K545, end of first movement

File:Mozart Piano Sonata in C, K545, end of first movement 02.png

Mozart Piano Sonata in C, K545, end of first movement 02

A striking use of inversions of the dominant seventh can be found in this passage from the first movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 127. Here, the second and third inversions contribute to the "magnificently rich harmony" <ref>Radcliffe, P. (1965, p. 99) Beethoven's String Quartets. London, Hutchinson.</ref>:

File:Beethoven Quartet Op. 127 first movement, bars 135-9.wav

Beethoven Quartet Op. 127 first movement, bars 135–139

File:Beethoven Quartet Op. 127 first movement, bars 135-10.png

Beethoven Quartet Op. 127 first movement, bars 135–139

FunctionEdit

Template:Image frame The function of the dominant seventh chord is to resolve to the tonic note or chord.

Template:Quote

This dominant seventh chord is useful to composers because it contains both a major triad and the interval of a tritone. The major triad confers a very "strong" sound. The tritone is created by the co-occurrence of the fourth degree and seventh degree (e.g., in the G⁷ chord, the interval between B and F is a tritone).

In a diatonic context, the third of the chord is the leading-tone of the scale, which has a strong tendency to pull towards the tonic of the key (e.g., in C, the third of G⁷, B, is the leading tone of the key of C). The seventh of the chord acts as an upper leading-tone to the third of the scale (in C: the seventh of G⁷, F, is a half-step above and leads down to E).<ref name="Goldman" /> This, in combination with the strength of root movement by fifth, and the natural resolution of the dominant triad to the tonic triad (e.g., from GBD to CEG in the key of C major), creates a resolution with which to end a piece or a section, often in a cadence.

  \new PianoStaff <<
     \new Staff <<
        \relative c' {
            \voiceOne \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            <f g d'>1 <e g c> 
            }
           >>
    \new Staff <<
        \new Voice \relative c' {
            \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
            b_\markup { \concat { "V" \combine \raise #1 \small 6 \lower #1 \small 5 \hspace #6 "I" } } c \bar "||"
            }
        >>
   >>

</score>

Because of this original usage, it also quickly became an easy way to trick the listener's ear with a deceptive cadence. The dominant seventh may work as part of a circle progression, preceded by the supertonic chord, ii.

A non-diatonic dominant seventh chord (sometimes called a chromatic seventh) can be borrowed from another key, and this can provide a way for the composer to modulate to that other key. This technique is extremely common, particularly since the Classical period, and it has led to further innovative uses of the dominant seventh chord such as secondary dominant (V⁷/V, shown below), extended dominant (V⁷/V/V), and substitute dominant (Template:MusicV⁷/V) chords.

<score sound="1"> {

 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/4)
  \new PianoStaff <<
     \new Staff <<
        \new voice \relative c {
            \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            \voiceOne c2  b c1
            }
        \new voice \relative c {
            \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            \voiceTwo a2  g g1
            }
           >>
    \new Staff <<
        \new voice \relative c' {
            \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
            \voiceOne d2 d e1
            }
        \new voice \relative c {
            \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
            \voiceTwo fis2_\markup { \translate #'(-2 . 0) { \concat { "V" \combine \raise #1 \small 6 \lower #1 \small 5 "/V" \hspace #3 "V" \hspace #7 "I" } } } g c,1 \bar "||"
            }
        >>
   >>

} </score>

Voice leadingEdit

For common practice voice leading or "strict resolution" of the dominant seventh chord:<ref name="Techniques"/>

In the V⁷–I resolution, the dominant, leading note, and supertonic resolve to the tonic, whereas the subdominant resolves to the mediant.
<score sound="1">

  \new PianoStaff <<
     \new Staff <<
        \relative c' {
            \voiceOne \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            <f b d>1 <e c' c> 
            }
           >>
    \new Staff <<
        \new Voice \relative c' {
            \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
            g_\markup { \concat { "V" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #6 "I" } } c \bar "||"
            }
        >>
   >>

</score>

In the other resolutions, the dominant remains stationary, the leading note and supertonic resolve to the tonic, and the subdominant resolves to the mediant.
<score sound="1">

  \new PianoStaff <<
     \new Staff <<
        \relative c' {
            \voiceOne \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            <f g>1 <e g> 
            }
           >>
    \new Staff <<
        \new Voice \relative c' {
            \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
            <g b>_\markup { \concat { "V" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #6 "I" } } <c, c'> \bar "||"
            }
        >>
   >>

</score>

All four tones may be present, though the root may be doubled and the fifth omitted.<ref name="Techniques">Benjamin, Horvit, and Nelson (2008). Techniques and Materials of Music, pp. 46–47. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="B&S 200s">Benward & Saker (2003), vol. 1: pp. 202–204.</ref><ref name="B&S 343">Benward & Saker (2008), vol. 2: p. 343</ref>
The diminished fifth (if the seventh is above the third, as in the first measure below) resolves inwards while the augmented fourth (if the seventh is below the third, as in the second measure below) resolves outward. This means that the seventh resolves stepwise downwards<ref name="B&S 200s"/><ref name="B&S 343"/> while the third resolves upwards to the tonic<ref name="Techniques"/> though in such cases the root of the tonic chord may need to be tripled.<ref name="B&S 200s"/>
<score sound="1">

     \new Staff <<
        \new Voice \relative c {
            \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            \stemUp f2 e b c 
            }
        \new Voice \relative c {
            \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
            \stemDown b2 c \bar "||" f, e \bar "||"
            }
           >>

</score>

The root of the V⁷, when in the bass, resolves to the root of the I, in the bass.<ref name="Techniques"/>
In an incomplete V⁷, with a missing fifth, the doubled root remains stationary.<ref name="Techniques"/>
The "free resolution of the seventh" features the seventh in an inner voice moving stepwise upwards to the fifth of I<ref name="Techniques"/>

According to Heinrich Schenker, "The dissonance is always passing, never a chord member (Zusammenklang),'"<ref>Schenker, Heinrich. Jahrbuch II, p. 24 cited in Jonas, Oswald (1982). Introduction to the Theory of Heinrich Schenker (1934: Das Wesen des musikalischen Kunstwerks: Eine Einführung in Die Lehre Heinrich Schenkers), p. 20. Translator: John Rothgeb. Template:ISBN.</ref> and often (though by no means always) the voice leading suggests either a passing note:

8 7 3

5 5 1Template:Explanation needed

or resolution of a (hypothetical) suspension:

(8) 7 3

(4) 5 1

In blues progressionsEdit

In rock and popular music songs following the blues progression, the IV and V chords are "almost always" dominant seventh chords (sometimes with extensions) with the tonic chord most often being a major triad. Examples include Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" and Buster Brown's "Fanny Mae", while in Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." and Loggins and Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" the tonic chord is also a dominant seventh.<ref name="Stephenson">Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis, p. 82. Template:ISBN.</ref> Used mostly in the first fifteen years of the rock era and now sounding somewhat "retrospective" (e.g., Oasis' "Roll With It"), other examples of tonic dominant seventh chords include Little Richard's "Lucille", The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There", Nilsson's "Coconut", Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", and The Drifters' "On Broadway".<ref name="Stephenson" /> Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" uses the dominant seventh on I, IV, and V.<ref>Stephenson (2002), p. 75.</ref>

Related chordsEdit

The dominant seventh is enharmonically equivalent to the German sixth. For example, the German sixth ATemplate:Music–C–ETemplate:Music–FTemplate:Music (which typically resolves to G) is equivalent to the dominant seventh ATemplate:Music–C–ETemplate:Music–GTemplate:Music (which typically resolves to DTemplate:Music):

   {
     \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
     \new PianoStaff <<
       \new Staff <<
           \relative c' {
               \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
               \textLengthOn
               <es fis>1^\markup { \small "German 6th" }
               <es ges>^\markup {\small "Dominant 7th" }
               }
           >>
       \new Staff <<
           \relative c' {
               \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
               <aes c>1 \bar "||"
               <aes c> \bar "||"
               }
           >>
   >> }

</score>

File:Harmonic seventh chord just on C.png

Just harmonic seventh chord on C. 7th: 968.826 cents, a septimal quarter tone lower than BTemplate:Music.File:Harmonic seventh chord just on C.mid

The dominant seventh chord is frequently used to approximate a harmonic seventh chord, which is one possible just tuning, in the ratios 4:5:6:7<ref name="Benitez">Benitez, J. M. (1988). Contemporary Music Review: Listening 2, p. 34. Template:ISBN. Cites Euler (1764).</ref> {{#if:Harmonic seventh on C.mid|{{#ifexist:Media:Harmonic seventh on C.mid|<phonos file="Harmonic seventh on C.mid">Play</phonos>|{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Harmonic seventh on C.mid" not found}}Template:Category handler}}}}, for the dominant seventh. Others include 20:25:30:36 {{#if:Just dominant seventh chord on C.mid|{{#ifexist:Media:Just dominant seventh chord on C.mid|<phonos file="Just dominant seventh chord on C.mid">Play</phonos>|{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Just dominant seventh chord on C.mid" not found}}Template:Category handler}}}}, found on I, and 36:45:54:64, found on V, used in 5-limit just tunings and scales.<ref name="Wright">Wright, David (2009). Mathematics and Music, pp. 140–141. Template:ISBN.</ref>

Today, the dominant seventh chord enjoys particular prominence in the music of barbershop quartets, with the Barbershop Harmony Society describing the chord as the "signature" of the barbershop sound. A song may use the chord type (built on any scale degree, not just Template:Music), for up to 30 percent of its duration.<ref>Rose, Amy (February 2, 2017). "Intro to Barbershop: What is Barbershop?", BarberShop.org.</ref> As barbershop singers strive to harmonize in just intonation to maximize the audibility of harmonic overtones, the practical sonority of the chord tends to be that of a harmonic seventh chord. This chord type has become so ingrained into the fabric of the artform that it is often referred to as the "barbershop seventh chord" by those who practice it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

TuningEdit

Chord	Notation	Seventh	Ratios
Tonic seventh chord	C E G Template:Nowrap	Minor seventh	20:25:30:36<ref name="Shirlaw">Shirlaw, Matthew (1900). The Theory of Harmony, p. 86. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="Wright"/>
Harmonic seventh chord	G B D Template:Nowrap	Harmonic seventh	4:5:6:7<ref name="Benitez"/>
German sixth chord	Template:Nowrap C Template:Nowrap Template:Nowrap Template:Music	Harmonic seventh	4:5:6:7
Dominant seventh chord	G B D F	Pythagorean minor seventh	36:45:54:64<ref name="Wright"/>