F7 Chord

This article on the G7 chord will introduce you to its music theory, note patterns on the fretboard, open, movable, and barre patterns, piano note layouts, inversions, fingering, associated scales, etc.

Read the complete article below to learn all about playing the F7 chord!

Music Theory, Notes & Intervals Of The F7 Chord

A dominant 7th chord contains the notes at scale degrees [5, 7, 2, and 4] of its major scale. The chord is formed by stacking intervals of M3 – m3 – m3 over the root note. Hence the intervals of the other three notes are M3 – P5 – m7 from the root. Notice that the chord has a minor seventh as against a major seventh in any major seventh chord.

The F Dominant seventh Chord naturally occurs in Bb major scale and carries the four notes [F A C Eb]

  • F – Root Note
  • A – Major third,
  • C – Perfect Fifth,
  • Eb – minor seventh

F7 Chord Scales

The F7 chord is formed naturally in the following scales.

  1. Bb Major Scale and its modes.
  2. C Melodic Minor Scale and its modes.
  3. Bb Melodic Minor scale and its modes.
  4. Bb Harmonic Minor scale and its modes.
  5. Bb Harmonic Major scale and its modes.

How To Play The G7 Chord

You will learn the various positions of the F7 chords and their inversions on the guitar fretboard and the piano in the upcoming sections.

Chord Notes Along All The Fretboard

The below diagram shows the chord tones (F, A, C, and Eb) spread over the entire fretboard to give you visual clues on the possible ways to play the chord. The root notes are shown in orange.

F7 Chord Tones Up to 14 Fret

F Dominant Seventh Chord – Guitar Chord Shapes And Fingerings

You will be able to learn various ways to play the F7 guitar chord, which includes the open, movable, barre shapes and the inversion. In addition to the positions of these chords, you can also observe the preferred fingerings from the chord diagrams shown below.

The black circle on the top of the chord diagrams indicates the fret number to play on different strings, and the red circles show the recommended fingerings.

Here

  • 1 – Index Finger,
  • 2 – Middle Finger,
  • 3 – Ring finger,
  • 4 – Little Finger.

Strings marked ‘O’ are to be played open, while those marked ‘X’ are to be skipped or muted.

Open Position

There is only one recommended open position shown in the chord diagram below.

  1. O1 has the chord construction – (1 – 0 – 1 – x – 1 – x) and contains all the notes (1, 3, b7, and 5) of the chord.

O1

F7 Chord Open O1

Movable Positions

There are ten recommended movable positions for the chord, shown in the diagrams M1 to M10 below.

  1. M1 – Construction – (1 – x – 1 – 2 – x – x). Notes – (1, b7, and 3). This is the most common voicing at the first fret position.
  2. M2 – Construction – (x – x – 3 – 2 – 4 – 1). Notes – (1, 3, b7, and 1). This is easier to play for those who are not comfortable with the Barre options.
  3. M3 – Construction – (1 – x – 1 – 2 – 1 – x). Notes – (1, b7, 3, and 5).
  4. M4 – Construction – (x – x – x – 5 – 4 – 5). Notes – (5, b7, and 3). This is a rootless voicing.
  5. M5 – Construction – (5 – x – 3 – 5 – 4 – x). Notes – (3, 1, 5, and b7). A is the bass note for this voicing.
  6. M6 – Construction – (x – x – 3 – 5 – 4 – 5). Notes – (1, 5, b7, and 3). This is the open D7 shape.
  7. M7 – Construction – (x – x – 7 – 8 – 6 – 8). Notes – (3, b7, 1, and 5).
  8. M8 – Construction – (x – 8 – 7 – 8 – x – x). Notes – (1, 3, and b7). Based on Open B7 chord.
  9. M9 – Construction – (x – 8 – 7 – 8 – 6 – x). Notes – (1, 3, b7, and 1). Based on Open C7 chord.
  10. M10 – Construction – (x – 8 – 7 – 8 – x – 8). Notes – (1, 3, b7, and 5). Based on Open B7 chord.

M1

F7 Chord Movable M1

M2

F7 Chord Movable M2

M3

F7 Chord Movable M3

M4

F7 Chord Movable M4

M5

F7 Chord Movable M5

M6

F7 Chord Movable M6

M7

F7 Chord Movable M7

M8

F7 Chord Movable M8

M9

F7 Chord Movable M9

M10

F7 Chord Movable M10

Barre Chords

Six Barre Chord shapes are shown below.

  1. B1 – This is a common voicing for the F7 chord.
  2. B2 – This is a difficult voicing, not often used.
  3. B3 – With all notes at the first position.
  4. B4 – The 3rd of the chord is omitted.
  5. B5 and B6 – At the 8th and 10th position of the fretboard.

B1

F7 Chord Barre B1

B2

F7 Chord Barre B2

B3

F7 Chord Barre B3

B4

F7 Chord Barre B4

B5

F7 Chord Barre B5

B6

F7 Chord Barre B6

Chord Diagrams – F7 Chord Inversions

The three chord inversions of the F7 chord are.

  1. First Inversion F7/A with notes [A C Eb F]. The Bass note is A.
  2. Second Inversion F7/C with notes [C Eb F A]. The lowest note is C.
  3. Third Inversion F7/Eb with notes [Eb F A C]. The Bass note is Eb.

I1

F7 Chord I1

I2

F7 Chord I2

I3

F7 Chord I3

F7 Chord With Keyboard Diagram.

The keyboard diagram for the F7 chord in the root position is shown below, with the notes marked by red circles.

F7 Chord on Piano Keyboard

The fingering pattern left hand is 5 – 3 – 2 – 1, where 5 is the little finger, and 1 is the thumb.

The right-hand fingering pattern is 1 – 2 – 3 – 5. The finger numbers are the same for both hands.

First Inversion

The keyboard diagram for the F7/A, the first inversion, is shown below.

F7 Chord First Inversion on Piano Keyboard

Fingering Arrangement

  • Right Hand – 1 – 2 – 4 – 5.
  • Left Hand – 5 – 3 – 2 – 1

Second Inversion

The keyboard diagram for the F7/C, the second inversion, is shown below.

F7 Chord Second Inversion on Piano Keyboard

Fingering Arrangement

  • Right Hand – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5.
  • Left Hand – 5 – 3 – 2 – 1

Third Inversion

The keyboard diagram for the F7/Eb, the third inversion, is.

F7 Chord Third Inversion on Piano Keyboard

Fingering Arrangement

  • Right Hand – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5.
  • Left Hand – 5 – 4 – 2 – 1

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