E7 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
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- Fingers, notes or intervals
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About E7 — open string voicings
E7 is E, G#, B and D — E with the flat seventh added on top.
It sounds restless and pointed at something. The third and the flat seventh are a tritone apart and each moves by a semitone into the next chord; that is the engine of a cadence, and the whole vocabulary of the blues.
E7 notes and formula
| E | G# | B | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 |
Dominant — it points a fifth down.
Also written Edom7 or E dominant 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play E7
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
E7 has 6 of them, on the middle four strings, strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, strings 6-5-4-3-2, strings 5-4-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 6th — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass, G# in the bass and D in the bass. The one to learn first is the G# shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with 020100 — no barre and 4 open strings. 1 of the 7 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 020100 | open position | E, root position | E | 4 open strings |
| xx2434 | 2nd fret | E, root position | G# | all fretted |
| x7675x | 5th fret | E, root position | E | all fretted |
| x79797 | 7th fret | E, root position | B | barred |
| x-x-9-9-9-10 | 9th fret | B, 2nd inversion | D | barred |
| 12-11-9-9-9-10 | 9th fret | E, root position | D | barred |
| 12-14-12-13-12-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 6 shell, 15 drop 2 and 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of E7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the b9 (F), the 9 (F#), the #9 (F##), the #11 (A#), the b13 (C) and the 13 (C#).
How to use E7
E7 is the V of A, and that is where it goes if it goes anywhere: the third and the flat seventh are a tritone apart, and both resolve by a semitone into A.
Voice by voice, E7 → A. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In E7 | Moves | In A |
|---|---|---|
| E, the root | stays where it is | E, the fifth |
| G#, the major third | rises a semitone | A, the root |
| B, the fifth | falls a whole tone | A, the root |
| D, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | C#, the major third |
In which keys. Every note of E7 belongs to F# minor (the ♭VII) and A major (the V, the dominant).
What to play over E7
Every note of E7 is in E mixolydian, E lydian dominant and E half-whole diminished.
Chords near E7
Change one note of E7 and you have E (drop the flat seventh), Emaj7 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh), Em7 (the major third becomes a minor third), Eadd9 (the flat seventh becomes a ninth), E6 (the flat seventh becomes a sixth) or E7sus4 (the major third becomes a fourth).
E7 is a dominant chord — root, major third, fifth, minor seventh. Dominant seventh chords on every root.
On E7’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.