Sevenths
G♯ dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
G♯7 is the V7 chord in D♭ major. In minor keys: V7 in C♯ 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
There’s no open-string way to play G♯7 on guitar with the root in the bass, so the standard shape is a barre across the 4th fret (464544).
On piano, G♯7 has three black keys (G♯, D♯ and F♯) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual G♯7 shape is 1023, using three 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 A♭7–D♭7–E♭7 (the 12-bar blues in A♭ major) and D♯m7–G♯7–C♯maj7 (the jazz cadence in C♯ major).
Notice the B♯ in G♯7 (G♯ B♯ D♯ F♯): each note of the chord takes its own letter (G–B–D–F), so the major 3rd has to be written B♯ rather than C — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
