As the VG major
- ii7Am7
- V7D7
- Imaj7Gmaj7
D7 is the chord that wants to resolve, so ending the loop on it hands straight back to the top.
D7 Chord: Guitar, Piano and Notes
The D7 chord is a dominant seventh chord built on the root note D. Its notes are D, F♯, A and C.
Transpose
Quality
Short answer
Dominant seventh chords sound tense and bluesy. The minor seventh on top of a major triad creates a pull toward a resolution, which is why this chord powers the blues and drives cadences in jazz and pop.
- Notes
- D · F♯ · A · C
- Formula
- 1 · 3 · 5 · ♭7
- Semitones
- 0 · 4 · 7 · 10
- Note
- D
- Quality
- Dominant 7
- Symbol
- D7
D7 on piano
4 notesView:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
To play D7 on piano, place your right hand with your thumb on D, index finger on F♯, middle finger on A and little finger on C. Press the keys together and listen for an even sound. On the keyboard F♯ is a black key and D, A and C are white. Practice moving in and out of the chord slowly, then bring in a metronome.
- D1
- F♯3
- A5
- C♭7
D7 on guitar
View:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
On guitar, D7 is commonly played with the voicing shown above. The fretted notes sit between frets 1 and 2. String 4 rings open. Don't play strings 6 and 5.
D · F♯ · A · C
Play D7 on the online piano
Free, in your browser: play with the mouse, your computer keyboard or a USB MIDI keyboard. No sign-up.
D7 chord notes
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | Note | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | D | |
| 3 | Major third | 4 | F♯(F#) | |
| 5 | Perfect fifth | 7 | A | |
| ♭7 | Minor seventh | 10 | C |
How to use the D7 chord
The D7 chord is built from a root, a major third, a perfect fifth and a minor seventh. Start at the root D and stack the intervals to get the whole chord: D, F♯, A and C. The same formula gives you the chord in any other key.
Blues, jazz, funk and rock'n'roll all run on dominant seventh chords. They typically act as the V7 resolving back to the tonic, or carry a twelve-bar blues from end to end.
In major keys D7 is the V7 in G major; in minor keys it's the VII7 in E minor and the V7 in G minor. As the V7 of G minor it takes its third, F♯, from the harmonic minor scale: the key's seventh degree, raised a half step.
How D7 differs from similar chords
D7 and Dmaj7 look alike on paper and sound opposite: the seventh of D7 is a whole step below the octave, the seventh of Dmaj7 only a half step. That minor seventh forms a tritone with the major third, the interval that makes D7 want to move on. Dmaj7 has no tritone, so it can rest.
Songs that use the D7 chord
These well-known tracks all play the D7 chord somewhere - they are not necessarily in that key.
- 1So WhatMiles Davis
- 2Autumn LeavesStandard
- 3On Green Dolphin StreetStandard
- 4Blue BossaKenny Dorham
- 5Girl from IpanemaJoao Gilberto
Where D7 is used
A dominant chord wants to resolve. Its home is the V of a major key - and the I of a blues, where the pull never lets up.
As the I of a bluesD major
The twelve-bar shape boiled down. The tonic is itself a dominant seventh, which is what makes it a blues.
As the V of a turnaroundG major
The turnaround at the end of a chorus: D7 is the chord that sends it round again.
Questions people ask
- What notes are in the D7 chord?
- The D7 chord contains D, F♯, A and C (D, F#, A and C in plain text).
- Is the D7 chord major or minor?
- D7 is a dominant seventh chord. Dominant seventh chords sound tense and bluesy. The minor seventh on top of a major triad creates a pull toward a resolution, which is why this chord powers the blues and drives cadences in jazz and pop.
- What key is the D7 chord in?
- In major keys D7 is the V7 in G major; in minor keys it's the VII7 in E minor and the V7 in G minor. As the V7 of G minor it takes its third, F♯, from the harmonic minor scale: the key's seventh degree, raised a half step.
- How do you play D7 on piano?
- Place your fingers on D, F♯, A and C and play them together. The root usually goes to the little finger of the left hand, the upper notes to the right. On the keyboard F♯ is a black key and D, A and C are white.
- How do you play D7 on guitar?
- Use the fingering in the diagram above. The fretted notes sit between frets 1 and 2. String 4 rings open. Don't play strings 6 and 5.
- What chords work well with D7?
- D7 pairs naturally with the chords in the related section: a perfect fifth up or down, the relative major or minor, and anything sharing two notes with it.