Introduction to Minor 7th Chords
With
Ollie WestonOllie Weston explains how the minor 7th chord - a jazz staple - is built, flattening the third and adding the seventh, using G minor as the example.
What's in the course
51 lessons (2h 9m) · 1 free
01. Introduction + leaving town demonstration
Free lesson3:02
02. The Blues Scale
2:48
03. Swing Quavers
1:42
04. Combing the Blues Scale and Swing Quavers
3:57
05. Playing through the Blues form using root notes
1:18
06. Writes Your Own Blues
0:59
07. Leaving Town Blues - Improvise
4:13
08. Improvisation recap
0:49
01. Introduction to Minor 7th Chords
You are here3:32
02. Dorian Scale Workout
1:40
03. Minor 7th Chord Lick
2:22
04. Minor Pentatonic Patterns
3:51
05. Minor Pentatonic Workout
1:52
06. Pentatonic vs Blues Scale
1:59
07. So Far so Good - Introduction
1:09
08. So Far so Good - Head
1:37
09. Minor Chord Extensions
2:45
10. Rhythmic Ideas
2:13
11. So Far so Good - Performance with Solo
3:50
01. Introduction to Modes
6:09
02. Diatonic Modes Exercise
4:04
03. Modes with a Static Root
1:58
04. Modes with Static Root Exercise
1:06
05. Modes with Static Root Recap
0:34
06. Phrase Exercise for Modes
1:07
07. Phrase Exercise for Modes (Demonstration)
1:29
08. Song Examples
1:56
09. First Impresssions - Chords and Harmony
4:06
10. First Impresssions - Performance
4:06
11. First Impresssions - Introduction and Analysis
3:30
Lesson transcript
Introduction to the Minor Seventh Chord
In this lesson, I'm going to introduce the minor seventh chord, which is another staple of the jazz repertoire and obviously deals with the minor tonality.
G Major Modification
In G major, to make it sound minor, I'm going to change my third:
- Instead of B natural (my major third), I'm going to flatten that by a semitone, like I've done in the blues before.
To build a chord of G minor, we can do exactly the same thing as we've done with major chords: root, third, fifth.
Adding the Seventh
Since we're playing jazz, we're going to put the seventh on as well.
- Our chord tones of a G major 7 chord would be:
- G
- B
- D
- F sharp
Changing to A Minor 7 Chord
To change to an A minor 7 chord, I need to change two notes:
-
The third: For it to qualify as minor, it must have a B flat.
- So it will sound like this:
"A minor major seven chord."
It's a kind of hybrid, I guess. It's got a minor third, but a major seven.
- Against the piano, it will sound like this. You hear that chord a lot in suspense films; it has a very unique character of its own.
Flattening the Seventh
To make a minor seventh for jazz, I also want to flatten my seventh:
-
My F sharp is going to become an F natural.
-
So against the piano chord, it'll sound like this.
Scale Components
In exactly the same way as major chords, I have chord tones:
- Root
- Third
- Fifth
- Seventh
- And in between, passing tones:
- A second (which is A in this case)
- A fourth (which is C in this case)
- A sixth (which is E natural in this case)
The Dorian Mode
The whole scale is going to sound like this.
- This scale I've ended up with is a variation on a minor scale called A mode, specifically Dorian mode.
You might have learned about harmonic minor scales and melodic minor scales. All these will come up in jazz.
However, for this example and for static minor seven chords, I'm going to play this Dorian scale, which again sounds like this.
51 lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Since graduating from the Leeds College of Music (BA Hons) and the Guildhall School of Music (Post Graduate Diploma in Performance), Ollie has built a busy and varied career in music. As a saxophonist he has performed in live and studio settings with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Tim Minchin, Bonobo, Frank Turner, the London Jazz Orchestra, the Hackney Colliery Band, the Ambient Jazz Ensemble and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He is also the co-leader of the jazz quartet 'Time Is Of The Essence', and composes and arranges material for this and other ensembles.
Ollie is active in music education, currently as course leader for the jazz department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (junior school), where he runs jazz ensembles, big band and theory classes. He has written a series of 'Exploring Jazz' books for Schott Music that are published worldwide and feature on exam syllabuses in the UK. Ollie has also run workshops for Oxford University, Pro Corda Strings and BABSWE, as well as the Guildhall School of Music summer schools.
In his Exploring Jazz Saxophone courses, Ollie takes you from getting started right through to soloing confidently over songs and chord sequences, building the improvising skills that put a real jazz player's vocabulary at your fingertips.
