Constructing A 7th Chord
An extremely useful skill is how to construct a seventh chord using your right hand.
When you are jamming to traditional type music using the 1st 4th and 5th chords of a key , more often than not the 5th position should be played as a 7th chord therefore it is important for you to know how to play a 7th chord using your right hand.
Here we will focus on how to construct a seventh, chord which you will find is very widely in the type of jamming that we do. If you know what the notes are of the major scale in the key in which you are playing then chord constructing a seventh chord is not that difficult.
To play a major chord play the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes in the key in which you are playing simultaneously, therefore if you are in the key of “C” – the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the C scale are C, E, and G therefore if you play these 3 notes simultaneously you will have a “C”major chord. To construct a C 7th simply play the 3 notes of a C major chord and add the 7th note of the scale flattened ;which for the key of C will be Bb. Therefore the notes to the C 7th chord are C, E, G and Bb The same will hold true for any key in which you are playing. Consider the Key of “F” – The 1st 3rd and 5th notes of the F scale are F, A and C – therefore if you play these notes together you will have an F major chord. To this add the 7th note flattened and you will be adding an Eb. Therefore the notes in an F 7th chord are F, A, C, and Eb
In most cases when you are playing a song using chords 1, 4 and 5 go ahead and play the 5th position chord as a 7th. Therefore in the key of C the chords you will be playing are C, F and G 7th
That’s it for now. Practice constructing the seventh chords for the 5th position in each main key. Then go ahead and put on some music and see if you can play along using positions 1, 4 and a 7th chord for the 5th position. This will take some time and effort but the end result will definitely make you a better jammer. Happy jamming