Introductory seventh chords: what are they, what are they, what appeals do they have and how are they resolved?

To begin with, let me just remind you that a seventh chord is a chord (that is, consonance) in which there are four sounds and these four sounds can be arranged in thirds. If you write down a seventh chord with notes, then this recording will look like a drawn snowman, only there will be not three, but four little circles (notes).

Now about where the nickname “introductory seventh chords” came from. The fact is that seventh chords, like triads, can be built on absolutely any degree of major or minor – first, second or third, sixth or seventh. You’ve probably already dealt with the dominant seventh chord – this is a seventh chord built on the fifth degree. You may also know the second-degree seventh chord.

And so, opening seventh chord is a seventh chord that is built on the seventh degree. The seventh degree, if you remember, is called, it is the most unstable, located at a semitone distance in relation to the tonic. Such an introductory function of this stage has extended its effect to the chord that is built at this stage.

Once again, introductory seventh chords are seventh chords that are built on an introductory seventh degree. These chords are made up of four sounds that are spaced apart by the interval of a third.

What are the types of introductory seventh chords?

They are – small and reduced. The small introductory seventh chord is built on the VII degree of natural major, and nothing more. The diminished leading seventh chord can be constructed in harmonic modes – harmonic major and harmonic minor.

We will conventionally denote one of these two types of chords as follows: MVII7 (small introductory or small reduced), and the other so – MindVII7 (decreased). These two chords differ in their , but .

Small reduced, or in other words, a small introductory seventh chord consists of two minor thirds (that is, a diminished triad), above which another third is completed, but this time a major one. .

Diminished opening seventh chord, or, as they sometimes say, simply the diminished consists of three minor thirds. They can be decomposed like this: two minor ones (that is, actually a diminished triad at the base) and above them another minor third.

Take a look at this sheet music example:

What appeals do opening seventh chords have?

Absolutely any seventh chord has three inversions, they are always called the same. This a quinceacord (identification mark – numbers 65), tertz chord (we find out by the numbers 43 right) and second chord (denoted by two – 2). You can find out where these strange names come from if you read the article “Chord Structure and Their Names.” By the way, remember that there are only two inversions of triads (three-note chords)?

So, both the minor introductory and diminished introductory chords have three inversions, which are obtained because each time we , or, conversely, .

Let’s look at the intervallic structure of each chord resulting from inversion:

• MVII7 = m3 + m3 + b3
• MVII65 = m3 + b3 + b2
• MVII43 = b3 + b2 + m3
• MVII2 = b2 + m3 + b3

An example of all these chords in the key of C major:

Small introductory seventh chord and its inversions in the key of C major

• UmVII7 = m3 + m3 + m3
• UmVII65 = m3+ m3 + uv2
• umVII43 = m3 + uv2 + m3
• UmVII2 = uv2 + m3 +m3

A notated example of all these chords in the key of C minor (C major will have the same sounds, only the B note will be a regular B note without additional symbols):

Diminished opening seventh chord and its inversions in the key of C minor

With the help of the given musical examples, you yourself can easily calculate on what steps each of the chords is built. So, if seventh degree seventh chord in its basic form, of course, we need to build at the VII stage (only in minor it will be VII raised). First appeal – Quintsextchord, or VII65 – will be located at stage II. Also seventh degree tertzquart accord, VII43 – this is in all cases IV degree, and the basis of the third appeal is in seconds, VII2 – will be VI degree (in major, if we need a reduced version of the chord, then we must lower this sixth degree).

Resolution of introductory seventh chords to the tonic

Introductory seventh chords can be resolved into tonic in two ways. One of them is to immediately transform these unstable consonances into stable tonic ones. That is, in other words, execution takes place here. With this method, the resulting tonic is not quite ordinary, but more on that later. What is the other way of resolution?

Another method is based on the fact that the introductory seventh chords or their inversions do not immediately turn into the tonic, but some kind of “auxiliary” chord. AND . And only then this dominant seventh chord (or some of its inversions) is resolved into the tonic according to all the rules.

The conductor chord is selected according to the principle: . The construction of introductory chords is possible on all unstable steps (VII is built on VII7, on II – VII65, on IV – VII43, and on VI – VII2). On these same steps, in addition to one of the four – the sixth step – the inversions of the dominant sept are also constructed: on the VII step one can write D65, on the II – D43 and on the IV – D2. But for the VI step, you will have to use as a conductor the dominant seventh chord itself in its main form – D7, which is built on the fifth step, that is, located one step below the resolved opening second chord.

Let’s look at the musical illustration (example with resolution):

Resolving the opening seventh chord and its inversions through dominant harmonies in harmonic C major

In order to quickly figure out which dominant chord to place after the introductory chord, they came up with the so-called “rule of the wheel”. According to the wheel rule, to resolve the introductory sept, the first invocation of the dominant sept is taken, to resolve the first introductory invocation, the second invocation of the dominant, for the second introductory, the third dominant, etc. You can depict this clearly – it will be clearer. Let’s draw a wheel, place the inversions of seventh chords in the form of numbers on its four sides and find the subsequent chords, moving clockwise.

Now let’s return to the method of resolving introductory seventh chords stated earlier. We will immediately translate these irregularities into tonic. Since a seventh chord has four sounds, and a tonic triad has three, when resolving, some of the sounds of the triad will simply be doubled. This is where the fun begins. . What does it mean? The fact is that usually in a tonic triad the prima is doubled – the main, most stable tone, the tonic. And here is the third step. And this is not a whim. There are reasons for everything. In particular, the correct resolution will be of great importance when directly transitioning to the tonic of a diminished opening chord, which contains as many as two tritones; they must be resolved correctly.

Another interesting point. Not every inversion of introductory septs will be resolved into a triad. A quinsex chord and a tertsex chord, for example, will turn into a sixth chord with a double third (with a double bass), and a second chord will turn into a tonic quartet chord, and only the introductory one in the main form will deign to turn into a triad.

An example of resolution directly into the tonic:

Resolution of the diminished opening seventh chord and its inversions to the tonic in harmonic C minor

Brief conclusions, but not the end yet

The whole point of this post is in a nutshell. Introductory seventh chords are built on the VII step. There are two types of these chords – small, which is found in natural major, and diminished, which manifests itself in harmonic major and harmonic minor. Introductory seventh chords, like any other seventh chords, have 4 inversions. There are two types of resolution of these consonances:

1. directly into the tonic with non-normative doublings;
2. through dominant seventh chords.

Another example, introductory seventh chords in D major and D minor:

If you need to build from sound

If you need to construct introductory seventh chords or any of their inversions from a specific given sound, then you will have to focus on the intervallic composition. Anyone who knows how to build intervals can build this without any problems. The main issue that will need to be resolved is determining the tonality and allowing your construction to fit into it.

We allow a small introductory one only in major, and a diminished one – in both major and minor (in this case, the tonalities will be – for example, C major and C minor, or G major and G minor). How can I find out exactly what tone it is? It’s very simple: you just need to consider the sound from which you are building as one of the steps of the desired tonality:

• If you built VII7, then your lower sound will turn out to be the VII step, and, stepping up another step, you will immediately get the tonic;
• If you had to write VII65, which, as you know, is built on the II degree, then the tonic will be located, on the contrary, a step lower;
• If the given chord is VII43, and it occupies the IV degree, then the tonic can be obtained by counting down four steps;
• Finally, if in your notebook VII2 is on the VI degree, then to find the first degree, that is, the tonic, you need to go up three steps.

By determining the key in this simple way, you will not have any problems with resolution. You can complete the resolution in any of two ways – whichever you like best, unless, of course, the task itself limits your choice.

Examples of introductory notes and their inversions from notes C and D:

Good luck in your endeavors!