DVD-quality lessons (including tabs/sheet music) available for immediate viewing on any device.
Take your playing to the next level with the help of a local or online banjo teacher.
Weekly newsletter includes free lessons, favorite member content, banjo news and more.
Premier Sponsors
|
Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/376040
G Edward Porgie - Posted - 06/30/2021: 17:57:00
"Dominant sevenths," although used in blues, are not technically "dominant" because they don't resolve. They are, in effect, triads with an added flat seventh, used more for "color" than for function.
I speak from more of a "classical theory" viewpoint, and I suppose one could call these blues chords dominant sevenths in other theory contexts, but I still doubt that more chords can be dominant in blues than in other genres. Consider a popular tune like "Sweet Georgia Brown," where the first three chords all truly function as dominant seventh chords (there's also a moment where to repeat the melody after a cadence on the tonic, there is yet another brief dominant 7th to get back to the beginning chord sequence). There are many other tunes and many classical pieces which use numerous dominant seventh chords in similar fashion.
G Edward Porgie - Posted - 06/30/2021: 19:19:11
I meant to say that not all dominant 7th chords used in blues are technically dominant. Some of them do, in fact, function just as a dominant 7th does in other genres. A dominant to tonic cadence would obviously qualify as a true dominant 7th chord. However, when a tune ends on a tonic chord with an added flat seventh, that would be an example more of added "color" than an actual dominant seventh chord. One sometimes finds the subdominant chord with an added seventh in blues; the seventh functioning here to also add color (it's the flat "blue" third in the scale based on the tonic. Originally, true "Blues" songs tend to use flat thirds, and sevenths, as well as the twelve bar format, to give a tune that "blues" flavor.
mmuussiiccaall - Posted - 06/30/2021: 19:53:45
Here's a formula:
flat3, flat5, flat7 over I7, IV7 and V7 = 1000+ blues songs
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent (EU/GDPR Only)
Copyright 2026 Banjo Hangout. All Rights Reserved.
