Minor Chords – 7
Minor 7 Chord
The minor 7 chord is simply the minor chord with the 7th note of the natural minor scale added.
Let’s use the C minor chord to show this:
C Minor
C Minor 7
Minor 7 Chord v 'Relative' Major 6 Chord
Every minor scale has a relative major scale.
The diagram below shows that the C major scale is the relative major scale of the A minor scale and both scales contain the same notes:
The minor 7 chord and relative major 6 chord contain the same notes
This rule applies to all other minor 7 chords for example:
[E minor 7 & G major 6], [B minor 7 & D major 6], [C# minor 7 & E major 6] etc..
Let’s use the A minor 7 chord and the C major 6 chord to show this:
A Minor 7
C Major 6
Chord Formula:
A minor 7 chord is made up of notes based on the intervals of the natural minor scale.
The minor 7 chord formula is 1-b3-5-b7 (i.e. the Root, b3rd, 5th and b7th notes of the natural minor scale).
Inversions:
An inversion is simply a way of identifying when the notes of a chord have been ‘inverted’ i.e. when the root (1st) note of the chord is not in the lowest (bass) position.
For example:
The A minor 7 chord consists of 4 notes, A, C, E, G (1st–b3rd–5th–b7th).
When the lowest note of the chord is A (1st) then it is in the ‘root position‘.
When the note C (b3rd) is in the lowest position then the chord is known as a ‘1st inversion‘.
When the note E (5th) is in the lowest position then the chord is known as a ‘2nd inversion‘.
When the note G (7th) is in the lowest position then the chord is known as a ‘3rd inversion‘.
The inversion is determined only by the note in the lowest (bass) position, it does not matter what order the other notes are in.
You can use MusicWheels™ to discover all the other minor 7 chords.
Guitar Diagrams
Minor 7 Chords - CAGED - Across the Fretboard
The diagrams below show the generic CAGED shapes for minor 7 chords.
The indigo note is the root note of the chord, for example:
– if you wish to play the D minor 7 chord then the indigo root note will be the note of D, for example, the ‘E’ shape for D minor 7 is at the 10th fret, the ‘A’ shape for D minor 7 is at the 5th fret.
– if you wish to play the F minor 7 chord then the indigo root note will be the note of F, for example, the ‘E’ shape for F minor 7 is at the 1st fret, the ‘A’ shape for F minor 7 is at the 8th fret.
Keyboard Diagrams
