Dominant seventh chord

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Dominant seventh chord

A dominant seventh chord is a tetrad comprising a root, major third, fifth, and minor seventh.

The name of the chord derives from the dominant scale degree, which is the only degree of a diatonic scale on which it is found. However, in many musical genres, “dominant seventh chord” informally refers to any chord with this general structure, regardless of where it appears in the overall scale.

In temperaments

In meantone (including 12edo), on which traditional tonal harmony is built, the interval of a minor seventh represents 9/5~16/9, and the tritone between ~5/4 and ~9/5 represents 36/25~64/45~1024/729, all tempered together into a single chord:

• (Meantone) 1/1 ‒ 5/4 ‒ 3/2 ‒ 9/5, with steps 5/4, 6/5, 6/5.

This chord tempers together 36:45:54:64, 20:25:30:36, and 108:135:160:192, with a resulting intervallic odd limit of 25 due to the simplest interpretation of its tritone being ~36/25.

In starling temperament, which tempers out 126/125 and tempers together 9/5~25/14, the ~36/25 tritone is tempered together with ~10/7, making the chord an essentially tempered chord in the 9-odd-limit. However, note that in starling temperament the seventh of this chord does not also represent the ~16/9 seventh.

• (Starling) 1/1 ‒ 5/4 ‒ 3/2 ‒ 9/5

Similarly, in marvel temperament, which tempers out 225/224 and tempers together 16/9~25/14 (but not 9/5), the ~64/45 tritone is tempered together with ~10/7, again resulting in a 9-odd-limit essentially tempered chord:

• (Marvel) 1/1 ‒ 5/4 ‒ 3/2 ‒ 16/9

Septimal meantone, which is well-represented by the historically prevalent quarter-comma meantone), tempers together all three of these sevenths (9/5~16/9~25/14), so any of the above interpretations may be relevant for dominant seventh chords found in common-practice music. (→ Didymic chords #Dominant seventh chord)

In just intonation

In the 7-limit:

• 4:5:6:7, the harmonic seventh chord, is a concord in the 7-limit, often used as a tuning target in barbershop music.

In the 5-limit:

• 36:45:54:64 is found on the dominant scale degree (V or 3⁄2) of Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale (Zarlino), perhaps the most common 5-limit diatonic.

• 20:25:30:36, the major-minor seventh chord, combines a major third with the consonant seventh that would be found in a Ptolemaic minor seventh chord built on the same root. It is found rooted at the I (1⁄1) and IV (4⁄3) of the duodene.

• 108:135:160:192 is found on the dominant scale degree (V or 3⁄2) of a diatonic scale with the second degree tuned a comma lower than in Zarlino (10/9 instead of 9/8), such as in left-handed nicetone.

• 128:160:192:225, a 5-limit interpretation of an inversion of the Neapolitan or German sixth chord, is found rooted at the ♭II (16⁄15) and ♭VI (8⁄5) of the duodene. (225/128 is often considered an augmented sixth rather than a minor seventh, but in septimal meantone and marvel temperament this chord is tuned identically to 4:5:6:7, and in 12edo and its multiples it is tuned identically to 36:45:54:64 and 20:25:30:36.)

In the 3-limit:

• 576:729:864:1024 is found on the dominant scale degree (V or 3⁄2) of the Pythagorean diatonic scale.

See also

• Well Tuned Dominant Sevenths by Graham Breed