7th chords Guitar Basics: A Quick 5-Minute Guide

This is an easy, but detailed 7th chords guitar tutorial.

In this tutorial you’ll learn:

The definition of a 7th chord
The different types of 7th chords
How to play 7th chords using various shapes across the fretboard

Let’s dive in and play!

What is a 7th chord?

A seventh chord is made up of four notes:

the root (or 1st)
a third (or 3rd, which can be major or minor)
a fifth (or 5th, which can be perfect or flat)
a seventh (or 7th, which can be major or flat)

You can also think of it as a basic triad with an added seventh note on top.

Types of 7th chords

There are 5 types of 7th chords, and they are:

Major 7th (or “Maj7“)
Dominant 7th (or “7“)
Minor 7 (or “Min7“)
Minor 7b5 (or “Min7b5“)
Diminished 7 (or “Dim7“)

7th chords guitar chord formulas

Here are the chord formulas for each type of 7th chord. Each one has an associated fretboard diagram showing how to apply the shape using the root note “C” at the 8th fret of the low E string.

Major 7

Chord formula: 1-3-5-7

Think of the major 7th chord like a major triad plus the major 7th. (1 – 3 – 5 + 7)

This gives us the notes C-E-G-B for the Cmaj7 chord.

C major 7th chord guitar fretboard diagram

Dominant 7

Chord formula: 1-3-5-b7

Think of the dominant 7th chord like a major triad plus the minor 7th. (1 – 3 – 5 + b7)

This gives us the notes C-E-G-Bb for the C7 chord.

C dominant 7th chord guitar fretboard diagram

Minor 7

Chord formula: 1-b3-5-b7

Think of the minor 7th chord like a minor triad plus the minor 7th. (1 – b3 – 5 + b7)

This gives us the notes C-Eb-G-Bb for the Cmin7 chord.

C minor 7th chord guitar fretboard diagram

Minor 7b5

Chord formula: 1-b3-b5-b7

Think of the minor 7b5 chord like a diminished triad plus the minor 7th. (1 – b3 – b5 + b7)

This gives us the notes C-Eb-Gb-Bb for the Cmin7b5 chord.

C minor 7b5 chord guitar fretboard diagram

Diminished 7

Chord formula: 1-b3-b5-bb7

Think of the diminished 7th chord like a diminished triad plus the bb7, or 6th. (1 – b3 – b5 + bb7)

This gives us the notes C-Eb-Gb-A for the Cdim7 chord.

C diminished 7th chord guitar fretboard diagram

Common 7th Chord Shapes/ Tabs

Here are some tabs showing 3 common 7th chord shapes for each type of 7th chord. Each shape is a root position shape, meaning the root note is the lowest note in the chord.

And, as you can see, the tab has the name of each chord written above the musical staff.