Beyond V7: the seventh chord on every scale degree — its quality, its preparation, its resolution, its inversions, and the chain of sevenths.
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Pause Culture · The chain of sevenths
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
Arcangelo Corelli, master of the Roman violin and father of the Baroque sonata, set the handling of dissonance for entire generations. His Sonatas and Concerti grossi overflow with…
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À retenir : A seventh is never a gratuitous effect: it is prepared, it is struck, then it descends to resolve. This discipline is what makes dissonance musical.
A seventh on every degree
Until now, the only seventh studied was the V7, the dominant seventh chord. But by stacking three thirds on any degree of the scale, we obtain a seventh chord. There are therefore seven of them (I7 to VII7), and they do not all have the same quality: it all depends on the intervals the scale makes available.
Seventh chords on each degree are all the seventh chords other than the V7. Each belongs to an interval species (major seventh, minor seventh, half-diminished seventh, diminished seventh) according to the degree on which it is built.
Click a degree to hear it and read its quality.
IM7
7e majeure
do – mi – sol – si
Degree I
IIm7
7e mineure
ré – fa – la – do
Degree II
IIIm7
7e mineure
mi – sol – si – ré
Degree III
IVM7
7e majeure
fa – la – do – mi
Degree IV
V7
7e de dominante
sol – si – ré – fa
Degree V
VIm7
7e mineure
la – do – mi – sol
Degree VI
VIIø7
7e mi-diminuée
si – ré – fa – la
Degree VII
In minor mode: the qualities change. The VII of the harmonic scale (with leading tone) gives a diminished seventh (VII°7) — a stack of three minor thirds, a color of intense tension — instead of the half-diminished seventh of major. The second degree becomes half-diminished (IIø7), and the VI a major seventh. Always check the quality against the scale of the actual key.