Die Dur-Tonleiter

Introduction to Major Seventh Chords in Jazz

In this lesson, I'm going to introduce one of the most common chord types in jazz: the major seventh. This chord accompanies a major scale and is often used at the end of pieces.

Chord Context in G Major

Let's discuss this in the context of the G major scale:

• G is 1
• A is 2
• B is 3
• C is 4
• D is 5
• E is 6
• F# (because we're in G major) is 7
• Back to the root: G

Sounding the Chord

It will sound like this, but since we're in jazz, I'll play it swung.

To create a chord, we're going to focus on certain notes of the scale. If we tried to play all those notes at once, it would sound a little clashy and too many notes too close together.

Making a Triad

So, I'm going to focus on the root, third, and fifth to make what's called a triad.

If you've ever played an arpeggio, that's what you would play. It would sound like this:

[Insert Sound Example Here]

As I mentioned, we can't play more than one note at a time on a saxophone, but on a piano, a triad of G major played all together would sound like this:

[Insert Sound Example Here]

This is a very familiar sound found in tons of music, from Bach to the Beatles. Many artists have utilized major triads to outline major keys.

Adding Color to Chords

Jazz musicians like to add extra color and detail to their chords. The first step in doing that is to add a seventh on the top.

So, I'm going to add my seventh note, which is F#, to the top of the chord, creating what we call G Major 7. It will sound like this:

[Insert Sound Example Here]

The Sound of G Major 7

It's a lovely, warm, soft-sounding chord that appears very often in jazz.

To clarify, we're playing the root, third, fifth, and the seventh of our G major scale to make a G major 7 chord.

Chord Tones and Passing Tones

I'm going to refer to these as the chord tones, because they're the notes that your chordal instrument (your piano, guitar, or even vibraphone, if you have one in your band) would play as a chord of G Major 7.

The notes in between:

• A (the second)
• C (the fourth)
• E (the sixth)

I will call these passing tones.

These passing tones are also really, really useful for creating major melodies and major solos.