{"id":14251,"date":"2016-08-18T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T08:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=14251"},"modified":"2024-10-07T17:34:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T01:34:06","slug":"lesson-on-two-unstable-major-seventh-chords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/lesson-on-two-unstable-major-seventh-chords\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson On Two Unstable Major Seventh Chords And How They Can Be Used In The Formation Of Dominant Chords"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this lesson, we’ll be taking a look at two unstable major seventh chords and how they can be used in the formation of dominant chords.<\/p>\n

Dominant chords are chords of the fifth degree of the scale and are next in importance to the chord of the first degree, which is known to music scholars as the tonic chord<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Secondly, dominant chords enhance the features of the concept of tonality, which is the establishment of a particular tone as the tonal center or key center or what musicians regularly call ‘key’. <\/em><\/p>\n

Believe it or not, most songs end on the chord of the first degree<\/a> (the tonic chord), and this is usually preceded by the chord of the fifth degree (aka – “the dominant chord”.<\/p>\n

In this lesson, we’ll be learning how to form dominant chords with unstable major seventh chords. But before we go into all of that, let’s do a review on seventh chords.<\/p>\n

“What Is A Seventh Chord?”<\/em><\/h2>\n

A seventh chord is basically a chord that encompasses seven degrees of the scale. Pursuant to traditional principles of chord formation, a chord is formed by the relationship of the notes of a scale in third intervals<\/a> (aka – “tertian harmony<\/a>“.)<\/p>\n

When chords are formed by stacking thirds together, this produces the tertian harmony and here’s how it works…<\/p>\n

We’ll be using the C major scale:
\n<\/p>\n

…which is a traditional scale<\/a> of the key of C major.<\/p>\n

Starting from C:
\n<\/p>\n

…which is the tonic or the first degree, we can form the seventh chord by stacking notes in thirds.<\/p>\n

A third from C:
\n
\n…is E:
\n
\nA third from C-E:
\n
\n…is G:
\n
\nA third from C-E-G:
\n
\n…is B:
\n
\nSo all together, C-E-G-B:
\n
\n…is a seventh chord because it encompasses seven degrees of the C major scale:
\n
\nFrom C to B:
\n
\nNow depending on the scale you are using, you can also come up with a variety of seventh chords – minor seventh<\/a>, dominant seventh<\/a>, diminished seventh<\/a>, half-diminished seventh<\/a> and so on.<\/p>\n

To take you a step further into today’s lesson, let’s take a look at unstable major seventh chords.<\/p>\n

Unstable Major Seventh Chords<\/h2>\n

The major seventh chord is a chord formed by a relationship between the first, third, fifth, and seventh tones of the C natural major scale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Submission: <\/strong>I’m aware that there are other scales [and modes] that can produce the major seventh chord, however, we are sticking to the natural major scale for the sake of simplicity.<\/p>\n

The C major seventh chord:
\n
\n…consists of the following intervals…<\/p>\n

C-E:
\n
\n…the major third<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

C-G:
\n
\n…the perfect fifth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

C-B:
\n
\n…the major seventh<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So all together, the major seventh chord can be broken down to three intervallic constituents…<\/p>\n

The major third:
\n
\n…the perfect fifth:
\n
\n…and the major seventh.
\n
\nTwo of these intervallic constituents (the major third and major seventh), contributes to the major quality<\/strong> of the major seventh chord. While the perfect fifth interval contributes to the stability<\/strong> of the chord.<\/p>\n

As it were, the major seventh chord is a stable chord because of the perfect fifth interval that is musically, scientifically and acoustically stable.<\/p>\n

However, you can make the major seventh chord to be unstable by raising or lowering the fifth interval. Raising or lowering a perfect fifth interval, produces augmented and diminished intervals respectively, which are considered to be dissonant and harsh.<\/p>\n

“That’s The Idea”<\/em><\/p>\n

Our goal is to make the major seventh chord unstable, dissonant, and harsh, so that it can have the tendency to resolve to a stable chord. The easiest way to achieve this is by substituting the perfect fifth interval with other dissonant fifth intervals like the augmented and diminished fifth intervals.<\/p>\n

In the C major seventh chord:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…raising the fifth tone (G):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…by a half step (to G#):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…produces the Cmaj7#5 (aka – “C augmented major seventh<\/a>“):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…which is an unstable variant of the major seventh chord.<\/p>\n

Conversely, lowering the fifth interval by a half step:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…produces the Cmaj7b5 chord:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Altogether, there are two variants of unstable major seventh chords…<\/p>\n

The maj7#5:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

…and the maj7b5:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Time will fail me to go into the scales that can produce these chords (aka – “underlying scales”) and that’s because our focus in this lesson is on the formation of dominant chords using these unstable major seventh chords.<\/p>\n

The Formation Of Dominant Chords Using Unstable Major Seventh Chords<\/h2>\n

In addition to what we learned in the beginning of this lesson, I’ll want to say that dominant chords are a dissonant class of chords. The term dissonant is used to describe a disagreeable combination of notes that sounds harsh and unpleasant.<\/p>\n

For instance, on the fifth degree of the C major scale:
\n
\n…which is its dominant (G):
\n…the formation of a seventh chord in thirds using the C major scale:
\n
\n…produces a G dominant chord:
\n
\nA third from G:
\n
\n…is B:
\n
\nA third from G-B:
\n
\n…is D:
\n<\/p>\n

A third from G-B-D:
\n
\n…is F:
\n
\nSo G-B-D-F:
\n
\n…is the G dominant seventh chord, which encompasses seven degrees of the C major scale:
\n
\n…from G:
\n
\n…to F:
\n
\nWhat makes this seventh chord dissonant is the interval between the third (B):
\n
\n…and the seventh tone (F):
\n
\n…which is a diminished fifth.<\/p>\n

The beauty of dominant seventh chords lies in their dissonance, which makes them sound tensed up, harsh, and have a tendency to resolve to stable chords like the major and minor chords.<\/p>\n

We’ll be using the two unstable major seventh chords we covered in the last segment…<\/p>\n