The dominant 7th chords are some of the most popular chords in jazz and blues music. They are also widely used in all other genres. Learning these chords is absolutely necessary regardless of which genre or style you play.
Taught by David Anthony in Basic Guitar with David Anthony seriesLength: 32:00Difficulty: 2.5 of 5
1. Fret Indicator - Since the chord diagram only shows a portion of the fretboard, a fret indicator is used to indicate exactly where on the neck the chord is to be played.Chapter 4: (4:53) The A7 Chord The “open” A7 chord is the easiest of the dominant chords. Be sure to master this one before moving on to the other chords in this lesson. A7 is a great chord to practice to observe left-hand technique. When playing any chord, you should be playing on the very tips of your fingers. Do not flatten/straighten any of your knuckles. Your left hand should look like a claw when playing guitar.
2. Fingering Indicator - At the top of the diagram, the Fingering Indicator can be found. If there is an “X” in the indicator, the designated string is not to be strummed, or muted by the left hand. If a string is marked with an “O”, it is to be played open. Otherwise, the numbers in the indicator represent the left hand fretting fingers to be used.
3. Note Indicator - This component, usually consisting of a solid black circle, indicates the location (fret number and string) where the left hand plays.
6th string: third fret, third fingerBoth chord shapes should be learned to provide you with more options. Chapter 11: (2:46) Final Thoughts After completing this lesson you have mastered all of the “open” dominant 7th chords. In the lessons to come, the minor 7th and major 7th chords will be discussed.
5th string: muted
4th string: open
3rd string: open
2nd string: open
1st string: 1st fret, 1st finger

David Anthony is an acoustic guitar aficionado. In this series you will learn basic concepts that are essential to playing any style of guitar music.
About David Anthony
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David Anthony was born on November 9th, 1982, in the small town of Mount Hope, NY. As a child he absorbed the church flavored musical environment that his parents provided. With this influence he realized at a young age that music would not simply be a passive experience for him. It was not until the age of 15 that he decided to string up his first guitar. Relying solely on his father for his foundational chord knowledge, he quickly became enamored with the possibility of endless melodic structures, and the goal of becoming a fantastic player himself.
His early shredder influences came from Kirk Hammet of Metallica. During his first few years of guitar playing, he developed a very workable knowledge of pentatonic, major and minor scales.
Over the years his musical interests swayed from rock to standards, from jazz to classical, and a strong love of the art of flamenco guitar; Spanish finger style. It was not until the age of 18
that he decided to surround himself entirely with the music of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. This influential exclusivity enabled him to learn more about thinking outside of the musical box. In
one year he had learned than in the prior 3 years. Picking up multiple ways to structure melodies, create chords and use different modes, his writing and improvisational abilities grew exponentially.
In his senior year of high school, he was responsible for the development of the first Musical Appreciation class in the schools history, and had aided the instructor in the teaching of those classes.
After high school, his focus started to rest mainly in writing. With this he realized that he would need additional, abstract influences to develop a unique style of writing. After a couple more
years of playing in a small band, and writing some decent material, he greeted 2004 with a move to Nashville, TN. There he found the exact influence that would change his opinion of the guitar forever.
Attempting to weed out a strong foundation in shredding and solo techniques, he began learning finger style guitar, and quickly realized the options that his door would open for him.
As he picked up more complex chord structures and jazz scales, his style became a passion for him that continues to drive him and push him to learn more. He feels strongly about the connection
between musical input and the music you write. He notes that his subconscious pool of influence, developed from the music he listens to, is almost directly responsible for the type of music that
he writes. He adamantly believes that in order to create a unique, soulful style, the pool must remain unpolluted by substandard music. What's that mean? As David puts it, "If you don't want to play
crap, don't listen to crap."
David currently teaches Jazz guitar in Fort Collins, Colorado, with plans to move back to Nashville in the spring to pursue a career in writing.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.in theory what principle is used to create the dominant 7th chord?
On the G7th in the supplemental content the 4th finger on the B string is not shown, but yet it is shown in the video? I'm a little confused as to which chart I should go by? I've seen a few like this come to think of it actually. I just want to know what I should be going by the teacher or the content?
It can be played either way. Technically you would probably want to play it the way in the supplemental content because it is easier, but you can play it however you like :) Remember, one of the most important lessons for guitar is that there are multiple variations of each chord and none are necessarily wrong or right.
Oh ok awesome. Thanks for the response, that explains a lot for me.
Most all your lessons require me turning up my volume everytime you speak or turning down my volume when you strum . Consider turning down your amp or speaking louder so volume level can stay the same for the entire lesson, thanks
That's really just because of the microphones we used a very, very long time ago when this was filmed. It won't happen in new lessons.
I like this bluesy style of guitar. However, I think Davd is tuned down a half-step here. I tuned my guitar with the online tuner and he is still down a half-step!
ok but think about it. with an online tuner u still have to use your ear for the most part, whereas maybe he used an electric tuner, which gets it bang on...so the person who uses the online tuner is most likely to be off IMO
yeah dude, he isn't down a half step though, i tried that he is just out of tune.
pretty sure he's playing drop D
Why did you give us the finger in the E7 portion =[
Hahaha, that's funny.
how do u get the perfect E sound on ur guitar?
how do u get the perfect E sound on ur guitar?