BLUES CHORDS
Blues is a very wide genre of music containg tens of thousands of songs, so it's possible to find any type of chord within the blues 'lexicon'. However, there is one chord type that is VERY common, and can be thought of as the defining sound of the blues: the Dominant 7th Chord!
HOW TO PLAY ANY DOMINANT 7th CHORD ON THE PIANO
In the previous lesson, we looked at the C major scale, and identified each degree of the scale by numbering them from 1 to 7.
We can make a C major triad (three note chord) by taking the notes 1, 3 and 5 of that scale. In the case of C, that would be notes C, E and G.
If we add the 7th note of the scale to that chord (B) we get a C Major 7th chord (C, E,G and B). This chord is written as Cmaj7, and is often described as sounding 'happy' or 'sweet', but it doesn't sound very 'bluesy'.
To make the Dominant 7th chord, we flatten the 7th note by one semitone (1, 3, 5, b7). Try playing this chord - C,E, G, Bb. Suddenly the chord is full of tension! This chord is usually referred to as C7
If you know your major scales, you can use the 1,3,5,b7 rule to make Dominant 7th chords in any key.
COMMON DOMINANT 7th CHORDS ON THE GUITAR
