Sevenths
G♭ dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
G♭7 is the V7 chord in B major. In minor keys: V7 in B minor.
- Notes
- G♭B♭D♭F♭
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play G♭7
About the G♭ dominant 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, G♭7 has an open-position shape, 242320, using three fingers alongside the open strings.
On piano, G♭7 has three black keys (G♭, B♭ and D♭) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual G♭7 shape is 3424, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form B♭dim (B♭ D♭ F♭) — so you can think of G♭7 as B♭dim with G♭ added underneath.
Move a single note and G♭7 becomes a different chord: drop the F♭ for G♭, raise F♭ to F for G♭maj7, lower B♭ to B𝄫 for G♭m7 and lower F♭ to E♭ for G♭6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find G♭7 in common progressions such as F♯7–B7–C♯7 (the 12-bar blues in F♯ major) and C♯m7–F♯7–Bmaj7 (the jazz cadence in B major).
Notice the F♭ in G♭7 (G♭ B♭ D♭ F♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (G–B–D–F), so the minor 7th has to be written F♭ rather than E — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
