"Harmonizing 7th Chords from Major Scales"
-Drew Peterson
This lesson is also more of a chord theory lesson than a harmonization lesson, as
four part dominant harmonies are generally as bit much for rock guitar (Doesn't mean you
can't do it, just means you have to be a bit careful to not sound like you're being
pedantic). however, knowing dominant harmonies is crucial if you wish to write chord
progressions that rely heavily on dominant chord voicings that follow a single key center;
just as it's important to know which chords have a major or minor third, it's important to
know which chords have a major or minor 7th.
First, harmonize a major scale into triads. Once again, we'll start in the key of
C for conveniance (there are no sharps or flats in the key of C, making it slightly easier
to conceptualize). This voicing that we're harmonizing is one of the "odder" triad voicings
and may seem a bit anti-intuitive at first, but it'll make things a bit easier later on.
|-------------------------------------------------|
|----5----6----8----10----12----13----15----17----|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|----5----7----9----10----12----14----15----17----|
|----3----5----7----8-----10----12----14----15----|
|-------------------------------------------------|
Now, play a line of diatonic 7ths; since B is the 7th degree in the key of C, play a
line from B to B like this;
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|----4----5----7----9----10----12----14----16----|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
Now, play them together. Since the B is the 7th of of a C chord, and you're
ascending diatonically in the same key for both the triads and the 7ths, each 7th with be
the appropriate diatonic 7th for that given chord. The end result should look like this;
Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bdim Cmaj7
|--------------------------------------------------------|
|----5-----6-----8-----10-----12-----13-----15-----17----|
|----4-----5-----7-----9------10-----12-----14-----16----|
|----5-----7-----9-----10-----12-----14-----15-----17----|
|----3-----5-----7-----8------10-----12-----14-----15----|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
Notice that all the major chords have major 7ths, except for the chord built on the
5th degree of the scale (G in this question), which has a minor 7th, and that all of the
minor chords have minor 7ths, including the diminished chord.
As always, the more positions you can do this in, the better you'll be. Try a few of
these; (hint- it's easier to arpeggate a lot of these, unless you're good at finger-picking.
and even then, some of the fingerings are pretty tricky)
|---3-------3---3---7--------------|
|-----------1---5---8---------8----|
|---4---4---3---4---9----9----9----|
|---2---2---2---5---10---9----9----|
|---3---3----------------10---10---|
|-------3----------------8---------|
You ought to reconize many of these as parts of 7th voicings you already know. Once
again, the fun doesn't stop with just harmonizing them. for example, play the series of
arpeggios below, based on the voicing we harmonized with an added 5th and octave;
|---------3-8---------5-10---------7-12-----------8-13-|
|-------5-----------6------------8-------------10------|
|-----4-----------5------------7-------------9---------|
|---5-----------7------------9------------10-----------|
|-3-----------5------------7------------8--------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------10-15-------------12-17-------------13-18~-|
|----------12----------------13----------------15--------|
|-------10----------------12----------------14-----------|
|----12----------------14----------------15--------------|
|-10----------------12----------------14-----------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
Also, you can use these voicongs to outline progressions- take the Bdim-Cmaj7-G7-C
progression below;
|---------------3-------------------|
|-------3-----1---------3-------1---|
|-----2-----3---------0-------0-----|
|---3-----2---------3-------2-------|
|-2---------------2-------3---------|
|-----------------------------------|
Some very cool dissonances in there that resolve nicely through step and half-step
shifts.
Also, we can build more complex dominant chords in this manner. For example, if you
add a 9th to all these voicings, you get a 9th chord- root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th. For
example, try this, the 9th degree is on the high E string; (play the roots with your thumb
if you can, if not, treat the root as imaginary- have the bass player cover it or something)
Cmaj9 Dm9 Em(b9) Fmaj9 G9 Am9 Bdim(b9) Cmaj9
|----10----12----13----15----17----19----20----22---|
|----8-----10----12----13----15----17----18----20---|
|----9-----10----12----14----16----17----18----21---|
|----9-----10----12----14----15----17----19----21---|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---(8)---(10)--(12)--(13)--(15)--(17)--(19)--(20)--|
You can play with these in an almost infinite number of ways, so have fun with these
and be creative. And because these are diatonically derrived from a C major scale, you can
replace any of these dominant chords for one of the normal C diatonic triads in a chord
progression without going out of key; you can spice up a simple C-F-Am-G progression with
something like this:
C Fmaj9 Am7 G7
|-8-----15----5----3----|
|-8-----13----5----3----|
|-9-----14----5----4----|
|-10----14----5----3----|
|-10----------7----5----|
|-8-----13----5----3----|
Enjoy!