1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.
F7 is a dominant seventh chord made of 4 notes: F, A, C, E♭. It sounds restless; it wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below, and you hear it in blues, rock and roll, and the V chord that pulls a song back home. It is the V chord of B♭ major and turns up in 2 other keys.
The library above opens on F7 with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.
| Note | Degree | Interval from F | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| F | 1 | root | 0 |
| A | 3 | major third | 4 |
| C | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| E♭ | ♭7 | minor seventh | 10 |
Formula: 1 – 3 – 5 – ♭7. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord.
131211x8(10)8(10)81012xxxx324xx878xx101x11Every full shape of F7 needs a barre or a stretch. The easiest trick is a capo on the 1st fret: then play the open E7 shape (020100) and it sounds as F7. In many songs you can also swap in Fmaj7, Fsus2, Fsus4, which share most of its notes and need no barre. If you want the real thing, the e-shape barre at fret 1 shape is the gentlest start.
F7 belongs to 3 keys: V in B♭ major, VII in G minor, V7 in B♭ minor. In B♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: B♭ – F7 – Gm – E♭.
F, A, C, E♭: the root, major third, fifth, minor seventh.
E-shape barre at fret 1: 131211 (low string first), rated Medium. Or use a capo on the 1st fret and play an open E7 shape.
F7 has E♭ where Fmaj7 has E. F7 sounds restless; it wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below; Fmaj7 sounds dreamy, warm and a little wistful.
It needs a barre in every shape, so it takes some practice. Start with the e-shape barre at fret 1 shape, rated Medium.