A seventh chord is a triad that you add the seventh note to. A dominant seventh chord is a major triad with a minor seventh. A major seventh chord is a major triad with a major seventh. A minor seventh is a minor triad with a minor seventh. There are several others that we will not get into at this time.

When you play a dominant seventh chord before going back to the root chord, it creates tension and release sound that is very satisfying.

Seventh ChordCharacterIntervalsExample Chord
Major SeventhHappy1-3-5-7Cmaj7 – C E G B
Minor SeventhSad1-b3-5-b7Cm7 – C Eb G Bb
Dominant SeventhUnstable & Tense1-3-5-b7C7 – C E G Bb
Minor/Major SeventhMysterious & Tense1-b3-5-7Cm/Maj7 – C Eb G B
Minor Seventh Flat 5Dark & Tense1-b3-b5-b7Cm7b5 – C Eb Gb Bb
Diminished SeventhDark & Tense1-b3-b5-*7Cdim7 – C Eb G A
Augmented SeventhUnsettled1-3-#5-b7Caug7 – C E G# Bb

There are several seventh chord shapes that are portable and can be played anywhere on the neck.

Portable Seventh chord with the root notes on the 5th and 2nd strings

Portable Seventh chord with the root note on the 4th string

Portable Minor Seventh chord with the root note on the 5th string

Portable Minor Seventh chord with the root notes on the 6th and 1st strings

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B Major Pentatonic Scale

The notes of the B Major Pentatonic Scale are B, C#, D#, F#, and G#.  B Major Pentatonic Scale – All Across the Neck B Major Pentatonic Scale – Pattern

Suspended Chords

Suspended chords are often just referred to as Sus chords. There are two basic sus chords the Sus4 and Sus2. Sus4 means that the perfect 4th replaces the 3rd of

Alternate Tunings

A Standard A D G C E A A# A# D# G# C# F A# A#maj7 A# F A# D A D Admiral C G D G B C Asus2