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Keys and seventh chords

Which seventh chords can you make using a major or minor scale? In othe words, which seventh chords belong to a major or minor key? In the following, we will ise the key of F major and D minor as example.

As reminder, The key of F major and D minor are related: they are built using the same tones:

F major: F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F

D minor: D - E - F - G - A - Bb - C - D

Also as reminder, the chord that is build on the first tone of a scale is indicated with a Roman I, the second with a Roman II, etc.

Chords in the major scale

First let's look at F major: the chords in the major scale.

I - F major 7th

II - G minor 7th

III - A minor 7th

IV - Bb major 7th

V - C (dominant) 7th

VI - D minor 7th

VII - E half diminished

Recap major chords

For any major scale - and that also means "any major key", the 7th chords are as followed:

I. maj7
ii. min7
iii. min7
IV. maj7
V. 7
vi. min7
vii. half diminished

And this is how they sound:

Chords in the minor scale

As we saw in the section about triads, a minor scale contains the same chords as the equivalent major scale. In the minor scale, the chords are of the following type:

I. min7
ii. half diminished
iii. maj7
IV. min7
V. min7
vi. maj7
vii. 7

As Example in D minor, that results in the following chords:

I. D minor 7
II. E half diminished
III. F major7
IV. G minor 7
V. A minor 7
VI. Bb major 7
VII. C 7

This is how they sound:

On the next page we will look at two common other chords with four tones: the 6 and minor 6 chord.

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