Sevenths
A♯ dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
A♯7 is the V7 chord in E♭ major. In minor keys: V7 in E♭ minor.
- Notes
- A♯C𝄪E♯G♯
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play A♯7
About the A♯ dominant 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, A♯7 is most often played as a barre chord across the 1st fret (x13131).
On piano, A♯7 has two black keys (A♯ and G♯) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual A♯7 shape is 1211, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form C𝄪dim (C𝄪 E♯ G♯) — so you can think of A♯7 as C𝄪dim with A♯ added underneath.
Move a single note and A♯7 becomes a different chord: drop the G♯ for A♯, raise G♯ to G𝄪 for A♯maj7, lower C𝄪 to C♯ for A♯m7 and lower G♯ to F𝄪 for A♯6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find A♯7 in common progressions such as B♭7–E♭7–F7 (the 12-bar blues in B♭ major) and Fm7–B♭7–E♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in E♭ major).
Notice the C𝄪 in A♯7 (A♯ C𝄪 E♯ G♯): each note of the chord takes its own letter (A–C–E–G), so the major 3rd has to be written C𝄪 rather than D — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
