Sevenths
A dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
A7 is the V7 chord in D major. In minor keys: V7 in D minor.
- Notes
- AC♯EG
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play A7
About the A dominant 7th chord
A7 is the V7 of D major and the home chord of a blues in A. It also appears as a secondary dominant leading into D in songs in G.
Playing it
On guitar, A7 is one of the friendlier shapes: x02020 needs just two fingers and lets the open strings ring. Don’t strum the low E string.
On piano, A7 has one black key (C♯) and three white keys.
On ukulele it takes a single finger (0100), which makes A7 one of the simplest chords on the instrument.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form C♯dim (C♯ E G) — so you can think of A7 as C♯dim with A added underneath.
Move a single note and A7 becomes a different chord: drop the G for A, raise G to G♯ for Amaj7, lower C♯ to C for Am7 and lower G to F♯ for A6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find A7 in common progressions such as A7–D7–E7 (the 12-bar blues in A major) and Em7–A7–Dmaj7 (the jazz cadence in D major).
