
At a time, the use of seventh chords was considered unorthodox and dissonant as they didn’t fit with some traditional models of composing.

The use of seventh chords dates back to the Baroque and Renaissance periods when composers like the Italian Claudio Monteverdi would use them in his cadences. This is a key concept of music theory, and of expanding your knowledge on an instrument. When calculating piano intervals it is important for you to remember that intervals are based on the alphabetic relationship between two letters, rather than a mathematical difference. They cannot be called “triads” because the prefix tri means 3, so naturally a chord called a triad has only three notes in it.Ĭontrastingly, a seventh chord does not follow the same logic, and it does not have seven notes in it, but it takes a triad and adds the interval of a 7th from the root.

No credit card details required Start your piano journey now! Seventh chords explainedīecause we know that a chord is what happens whenever you play 3 or more notes at a time, we also need to have a name for when a pianist plays four notes at a time.
