Sevenths
F dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
F7 is the V7 chord in B♭ major. In minor keys: V7 in B♭ minor.
- Notes
- FACE♭
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play F7
About the F dominant 7th chord
F7 is the V7 of B♭ and the home chord of a blues in F, a favorite key at jazz jams.
Playing it
On guitar, F7 is most often played as a barre chord across the 1st fret (131211).
On piano, F7 has one black key (E♭) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual F7 shape is 2310, using three fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Adim (A C E♭) — so you can think of F7 as Adim with F added underneath.
Move a single note and F7 becomes a different chord: drop the E♭ for F, raise E♭ to E for Fmaj7, lower A to A♭ for Fm7 and lower E♭ to D for F6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find F7 in common progressions such as F7–B♭7–C7 (the 12-bar blues in F major) and Cm7–F7–B♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in B♭ major).
