Keyboard harmony: The dominant 7th chord chain

By William Ramsay and Martin Lillich

The dominant 7th chord chain

The first progression we will look at is the dominant seventh chord chain. The dominant seventh is the chord with the most possible variations in functional harmony. It has a rich sound because of the interval between the 3 and the 7 which is a diminished 5th or augmented 4th. This interval was called the “diabolus in musica” (the devil in music) by the mediaeval church and it was avoided for a long time because it was regarded as dissonant. It is a very versatile interval which plays a crucial role in establishing tonality and one of the key intervals in modern harmony these days.

In the 1 – 3 – 7 position the interval between the 3 and the 7 is a diminished 5th

In C7 the notes from the third would be:

E         F          G         A         Bb

1         2          3          4         b5

In the 1 – 7 – 3 position the interval between the 7 and the 3 is an augmented 4th.

Bb       C         D         E

1          2         3        +4

The dominant seventh chain allows you to practice playing in descending half steps. Each new pair of interval as you move downwards creates a new tritone.

TIP: When practicing these exercises, always start with the bass line first. It is the hardest to play. Once you have mastered it, practice the right hand until you have mastered it too. Finally play both hands together. It is a good idea to use a metronome set at a slow speed. These exercises are not about speed but accuracy. You should concentrate on seeing the chords and memorising the hand shapes. If you are making mistakes, slow the speed down until you can play it correctly.

The dominant 7th chord chain starting on C7 using the 1 – 3 – 7 position

In this exercise we start on C7 in the 1 – 3 – 7 position and move in half steps through all 12 chords before landing on C7 at the end. As you can see the 3rds and 7ths alternate as we descend (full notation attached in PDF at the end of this article).

The dominant 7th Chord Chain starting on C7 using the 1 – 7 – 3 position

By starting in the 1 – 7 – 3 the order is reversed (full notation attached in PDF at the end of this article).

The dominant 7th Chord chain starting on B7 using the 1 – 3 – 7 position

Starting on B7 you can repeat the progression starting in the 1 – 3 – 7 position (full notation attached in PDF at the end of this article).

The dominant 7th chord chain starting on B7 using the 1 – 7 – 3 position

Finally you can start on B7 in the 1 – 7 – 3 position to complete the exercise (full notation attached in PDF at the end of this article).

The tutorials shown here were designed for the Professional Training Programme developed by the Global Music Academy in Berlin, Germany, for use in Music Academies in Africa. The videos were made possible through a grant from the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union and Goethe-Institut, who funded the East African Global Music Campus (EAGMC), which took place in 2017-18 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with participants from Music Schools and Academies in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. These tutorials form part of the first year module of the keyboard harmony programme.