C7 guitar chord

The shape

Tap the diagram to hear C7 strummed. C7 is an open chord — it uses open strings near the nut, so it rings full and is friendly for beginners.

The notes in C7

A dominant seventh chord is spelled from its root up: C (R), E (3), G (5), B♭ (♭7). Those are the only notes in C7 — play them in any order, in any octave, and it's still C7.

What a dominant seventh chord is

In plain terms, a dominant 7th adds a flat seventh on top of a major chord (root, 3rd, 5th, ♭7) — a major chord with an itch that wants to resolve.

How it's used: It's the V7 of a key — the strongest pull back to home. In blues, though, every chord is a dominant 7, and none of them resolve; that restless hang is the whole sound.

The sound: Tense but bluesy; wants to move, or in blues, deliberately never does. Where you'll hear it: Blues, funk, jazz turnarounds, and the V chord that leads home in almost any style.

Hear C7 in a progression

A dominant 7 wants to resolve up a fourth. Here it is doing exactly that (V7–I). Press play, and drag the Key control to move it anywhere.

Keys that use C7

C7 appears naturally in these keys — click any to see all seven of its chords and how C7 fits in:

Other C chords

dominant seventh chords on other roots

Chords and their spellings are shared facts of music theory. Every diagram and sound here is generated by ThunderFret's own engine — no tabs, lyrics or recordings are reproduced.