Seventh Chords

Non-dominant chords are diatonic seventh chords that do not possess dominant functionality.
These seventh chords often serve as preparation for dominant function harmonies. There are mainly three type of non-dominant chord types.

Maj Seventh

Maj Seventh Chord
Maj Seventh chord is described a non-dominant seventh chord type by theoriests. It is built by adding a major third above a major triad. Although it has been used commonly after 19th century music, in modern times it’s widely used in many music types.


Minor Seventh

Minor Seventh Chord
Minor Seventh chord is also a non-dominant seventh chord type. It is built by adding a minor third above a minor triad. Because of its strong dissonance, it’s widely used in many music types mostly in jazz and also in classical music.


Diminished Seventh

Diminished Minor Seventh Chord
Diminished Seventh is also a dominant seventh chord type. It is built by a minor third above a diminished triad. This chord type also known as rootless-dominant.


Suspended Chords

Suspended chords are deriven their origins basicly from fourth-based triads. They are commonly used to suspend a resolve, or prepare to another chord. There are mainly three kind of suspended chords.

  • Suspended Second
  • Suspended Fourth
  • Suspended Dominant Seventh

Suspended Second

Suspended Second Chord
This triad chord is built by adding a second and a perfect fifth above root note. It produce a tension to resolve for root note.


Suspended Fourth

Suspended Fourth Chord
This triad chord is built by adding a perfect fourth and perfect fifth above root note. It produce a tension to resolve for third note.


Dominant Seventh Suspended Fourth

Dominant Seventh

This chord is built by adding a perfect fourth, perfect fifth and minor seventh above root note. It produce a tension to resolve for third note of dominant seventh.