Diatonic 7th Chords

By
Per Danielsson

The concept of diatonic chords is taught in traditional music theory. By simply moving a triad up
and down a scale, it creates different quality chords. It gives us an understanding of chord functions
and the sound of a certain scale.

Diatonic triads over C Major scale.

˜
C Major Scale C Dmin Emin F G
www
Amin
ww ww
B
wwwC
& w w w w w w w www www ww
w w w
w w ww

Listen to the sound of the scale and chords when you play diatonic 7th chords. It creates a
thicker and rich sound.
Diatonic 7th chords over C Major scale
D min7 FMaj7 Amin7 CMaj7
b
C Major Scale CMaj7 Emin7 G7
ww
Bm7( 5)
www www ww www
& w w w w ww ww www ww w w ww w
w w w w ww ww w
1

In jazz, the diatonic concept is very useful when it comes to practicing technique and learning
scales and their sound. It should not serve as the base of your improvisation since patterns and
scales can easily sound mechanical. However, by practicing diatonic chords in patterns you will
become a stronger player both harmonically and technically. It’s just another piece of knowledge that
is good to have in your bag of tricks.

You can play diatonic chords over any scale. Different scales will create a variety of diatonic
chords. This article will demonstrate diatonic chords over: Major scale (Dorian and Mixolydian)
Harmonic minor scale
Diminished scale
Melodic minor scale
Practice hints:

Practice the chords slowly and analyze its qualities.

Practice broken chords, up and down.
Create new patterns of the diatonic chords.
Practice in all twelve keys.
Use a metronome.
If you have questions about the theory of the scales you can refer to back issues of
this web site.
 Major Scale
Diatonic 7th chords over C Major scale
Dmin7 FMaj7 Amin7 C Maj7
b
C Major Scale C Maj7 Emin7 G7 Bm7( 5 )
ww www www ww www
& w w w w ww ww www ww w w ww w
w w w w ww ww w
The C Major scale becomes Dorian when played over the Dmin chord and Mixolydian when
played over the G13 chord.
œ œ œ œ œœœ œœœ˙
4 œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ
œ œœ œ œ
&4 œ œ
www Dmin9 wwww
G13 wwC 9
6
wwC 69
? 44 ww ww ww
w w
w w
œœ
œœœœœœ œœ
œœœœœœ œœœœœœœ œœœ
& œ œ˙
ww D min9 ww G13 w
6
C9 w 6

? www ww www www

C9

w w
w w
Harmonic minor Scale
b b o
D m7( 5) Fmin7
b # A Maj7 C m(maj7)
b ww w
ww b www b www
Cm(maj7) E M7( 5) G7 B 7
www b b www
C Harmonic minor

& w w bw w w bw w w b www ww
b wwww w bw w ww b w

œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ bœ œ
4 œ b œ œ b œ œ b œ œ
& 4 œ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ œ bœ
œ œœ bœ œ œ œ
b b
w
? 44 b www
Dm7( 5 )
b b wwww G7 (bb 139 ) b www
D m7( 5)
b b wwww G7 ( bb 139 )
w

œ bœ
œ œ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ œ bœ
œ bœ œ œ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ œœ
& œ œ bœ ˙
b 13 Cmin7
b b w b 13 b b ˙ ( b9 )
? b wwww
( b9 ) b www b ˙˙˙
G7
w ˙
Dm7( 5 ) Dm7( 5 )
b ww G7 b ˙˙ b˙
w
 Diminished Scale

o Db 7
o o E o 7 # o G o 7 o B bo 7 o
Eb 7 ww
C Half/Whole Dminished
w
C 7
w b w b
F 7
w
w b n ww b # ww
A 7
w b n ww
w b #
C 7
w w
& w bw bw nw #w w w bw b # wwww n b b wwww b # www n www # ww b ww w b w

œ œ bœ #œ œ bœ œ œ bœ bœ #œ œ œ
4 b œ œ b œ b œ œ œ b œ # œ b œ œ
& 4 œ œ bœ #œ œ œ bœ œ bœ
b
b w
C7( 9 )

? 44 b ww ‘ ‘ ‘

bœ œ
œ #œ bœ bœ œ œ œ œ #œ bœ bœ œ nœ bœ œ #œ bœ œ nœ bœ
& œ bœ w
ww F 69
? w
‘ ‘ ‘
Altered/Melodic minor Scale
b b # b b
b
D m(maj7)
b
EM7( 5) b A 7 b b Cm7( 5)

b ww b n b www b b b www
C Altered (D melodic minor from C-C) C m7( 5) E min7 G 7 B m7( 5 )

b w b w b n ww b
& w b w b w n w b w b w b w w b b b wwww n b b wwww b b b www b n www b b ww b ww b w w

b œ n œ b œ b œ b œ n œ b œ œ b œb œ b œ
& 44 b œ bœbœbœnœ bœœ b œ œ b
bœbœbœ nœbœ bœbœ bœ
œ œ bœ
œ
b w
C7alt

? 44 b b www ‘ ‘ ‘

bœ bœ bœ œ bœ bœ
bœ nœ bœ bœ bœ œ bœ nœ bœ bœ bœ bœ œ bœ nœ bœ bœ bœ œ bœ ˙
& bœ nœ
˙
6
b ˙˙
C 7alt F9
b ˙˙
? ˙
‘ ‘ ‘