1

I have a hard time with the following description of what a E7 consists of: enter image description here

What does the intervall relate to here? I try to apply it to the Notes (Töne) above it (E B d gis b e`) but that can't fit.

E to B is not an 1 interval it is an interval of 7 (E F Fis G Gis A Ais B) and as I said I could not figure out where the 1 interval belongs to in the Notes. My teacher told me it is called E7 because it is a halfstep note lower to one of the root E notes (E or e`) so there needs to be a Fis (F#) somewhere in the notes description. What am I not understanding here?

Improve this question
5

The 1-3-5-♭7 is a relative formula for building chords based on scale degrees of a major scale. 1 indicates the root of the chord so in this case E would map to 1.

From there, it's all directly mapped to the major scale. The 3rd scale degree of E major is G♯ (Gis), the 5th scale degree of E major is B, and the lowered 7th (♭7) is D.

If you were to try an build a dominant 7th on another root like C the same logic would follow. The 3rd scale degree of C major is E, the 5th scale degree of C major is G, and the lowered 7th (♭7) is B♭.

Improve this answer
6
  • Ah now I got it! I just saw that it is not a triad because the "D" was added there which is the 10th interval (b septime or b7) since the real 7 is "D#" it needs to be lowered by one halfstep and there we have the D. What I don't fully get is why it is called E7 and not Eb7 since it is not the 7th note of the major scale (which is D#) ? – xetra11 Mar 1 '19 at 22:01
  • For some reason the 7 seems to be borrowed from the minor scale -- if you want the major scale one you explicitly write Emaj7. – Luke Sawczak Mar 1 '19 at 23:53
  • @xetra11 see music.stackexchange.com/questions/12607/…. – Dom♦ Mar 2 '19 at 1:08
  • @LukeSawczak it's not derived from the minor scale, see the linked question above – Dom♦ Mar 2 '19 at 1:09
  • 1
    No borrowing necessary. The chord E7 doesn't strictly belong to the key of E major. Yes, it gets used in key E a lot, but actually belongs to key A. It's the dominant chord of A. Key A uses D natural, and E7 is totally diatonic to key A. – Tim Mar 2 '19 at 7:43

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.