C7 — C dominant seventh chord
A major triad with a minor seventh added. The interval between the third and the seventh is a diminished fifth, which is unstable and wants to resolve inwards.
- 1 = C
- 3 = E
- 5 = G
- b7 = Bb
- Symbol
- C7
- Root
- C
- Quality
- Dominant seventh
- Family
- seventh
- Notes
- C E G Bb
- Degree formula
1 3 5 b7- Semitones from the root
0 4 7 10- Distinct pitch classes
- 4
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 4 semitones, 3 semitones, 3 semitones
- Notation
- Written 7. The chord on the fifth degree of a key, and the standard blues chord.
- Key
- C · C major / A minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 3 | E | 4 | Major third |
| 5 | G | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| b7 | Bb | 10 | Minor seventh |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | C | 1 | C – E – G – Bb | 0 4 7 10 |
| first inversion | E | 3 | E – G – Bb – C | 0 3 6 8 |
| second inversion | G | 5 | G – Bb – C – E | 0 3 5 9 |
| third inversion | Bb | b7 | Bb – C – E – G | 0 2 6 9 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8-7-8-9-8-8 | C E A# E G C | 1 3 b7 3 5 1 | C | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 8-10-8-9-8-8 | C G A# E G C | 1 5 b7 3 5 1 | C | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 8-7-5-5-5-6 | C E G C E A# | 1 3 5 1 3 b7 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 8-7-5-5-8-6 | C E G C G A# | 1 3 5 1 5 b7 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 8-7-8-5-8-6 | C E A# C G A# | 1 3 b7 1 5 b7 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 8-7-8-5-8-8 | C E A# C G C | 1 3 b7 1 5 1 | C | 3 | 6 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
- KeyEverything in C
- ScaleC mixolydian
- ChordF
- ChordC
- ChordC9
- ChordC7sus4
- ChordC7b5
- ScaleF major scale
Related
- KeyKey of C
- ScaleC mixolydian
- ChordF — Major
- ChordC — Major
- ChordC9 — Dominant ninth
- ChordC7sus4 — Dominant seventh suspended fourth
- ChordC7b5 — Dominant seventh flat five
- ScaleF major