Invite to the most recent installment of Chord by Chord, a series designed to develop your understanding of consistency and the fretboard. In the previous two lessons, I revealed you D7 and G7 chords at different places on the fretboard, and this time I’ll likewise break down C7.
The Work
To construct a C7 chord, take a C major triad (Example 1) and add the flatted seventh, Bb (Example 2). Example 3 demonstrates how to derive a C7 chord from an open-C shape– all you have to do is add your 4th finger to string 3, fret 3. Remember that you do not need to play all five strings. For instance, just the bottom three notes of the C7 chord will get you a tight, jazzy noise.
The next number of examples are based on barre chord shapes in the 3rd position. First attempt Example 4a and then play Example 4b, which shows a less typical variation with the flatted seventh contributed to string 1. By the way, the barre chords you have actually learned up until now are all moveable– that is, you can take the very same shape and play it anywhere on the fretboard for 12 various chords. For instance, if you shift the chords in Examples 4a and 4b up 2 worries, you’ll have D and D7 chords; move the shapes up to the tenth fret for G and G7.
Example 5a gives you some more barre chords, this time in eighth position, and Example 5b is basically the exact same, but on the C7 chord, the fourth finger is contributed to string 2, fret 11. These shapes are also portable; for circumstances, play them at the third fret for G and G7 chords, the 5th fret for A and A7, and so on
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The Result You must now understand how to construct a C7 chord and how to develop one from different C-major shapes to C7, as well as how to do exact same with D7 and G7. A song that takes place to make great use of the C7 chord is “Happy Birthday to You” in the secret of C. See you next time, when I’ll show a brand-new seventh chord type– the significant seventh.
