Skip to main content

Seventh Chords: Change

Goal: To hear, sing, and play major, minor, and dominant seventh chords in inverted positions.

Out of Tempo

Beginning

  1. Teacher plays a first, second, or third inversion seventh chord and prompts, “When I say change, alter the bass note of the seventh chord.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher plays a first, second, or third inversion seventh chord and prompts, “When I say change, alter the root of the seventh chord.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher plays a first, second, or third inversion seventh chord and prompts, “When I say change, alter the fifth or seventh of the harmony.”
  2. Students do so.

In Tempo

Teacher sets up a tempo, time signature, tonality, using only one or two notes per measure.

Singing and playing.

Beginning

  1. Teacher plays a root position seventh chord and prompts, “When I say change, sing a first, second, or third inversion of the seventh chord.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher plays a root position seventh chord and prompts, “When I say change, change the seventh chord to a different type (major to minor to dominant for example) in root position.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher plays a root position seventh chord and prompts, “When I say change, change both the position and the type of the chord" (from root position major to first inversion minor, for example).
  2. Students do so.