We’re pretty sure nearly all of TG’s readers could quickly play a few 7th chords - say... Am7, D7 or Cmaj7. These are easy chords that beginners might play in the open position, and more advanced players might tackle as barre chords or in open tunings.
So why, you may ask, would we go to the trouble of writing a lesson if it’s all so easy? Well, although the shapes can be easy to play, there’s still a lot of music to be made from these chords. And understanding how they’re built and the sounds they’ll help you create is a great springboard for your songwriting and riff ideas.
What follows is a quick look at four different kinds of 7th chord, all presented with a D root note. They’re similar shapes, with each chord having just one different note to its predecessor. It’ll help if you know the notes of the D major scale (D E F# G A B C#) - so try to map those out in the open position on your guitar. It’s also useful to give each note a number (1 2 3 4 5 6 7), because this is a core part of music theory. Grab your guitar and let’s get started!