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The A7 chord

Built from A - C# - E - G, the A7 is a dominant seventh that sounds the engine of blues and gospel. It lives at the centre of blues, jazz and any song that needs a strong pull to the next chord, and it earns its place in the progression. Sits perfectly under a Texas-blues groove, and the V chord in D-major country. What follows below: the voicings worth memorising on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, progressions in two or three different keys, and a short list of real records that lean on the chord.

Hear the A7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for A7

Common ways to grip the A7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for A7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E7 shape at fr.5

Notes: A - C# - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: A7 shape at fr.2

Notes: A - C# - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: D7 shape at fr.7

Notes: A - C# - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: C7 shape at fr.9

Notes: A - C# - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: G7 shape at fr.2

Notes: A - C# - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: A - C# - E - G. Root A at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a dominant seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: C# - E - G - A. C# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: E - G - A - C#. E at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: G - A - C# - E. G at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind A7

Spell out the A7 and you get A - C# - E - G. The intervals from the root are root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh, which is the recipe for a dominant seventh. In a closely related major key the chord plays the role of passing chord; in a closely related major key it shows up as passing chord. Its preferred next move is resolve down a fifth to the next chord, which is what makes it useful in blues and gospel.

Progressions that use A7

Short progressions that put the A7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

A7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature A7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Stir It Up by Bob Marley. A7 in the verse cycle.
Tequila by The Champs. A7 as part of the instrumental hook.
Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett. A7 in the song's blues form.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the A7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadA Maj7Amaj7 m7Am7 NeighbourE NeighbourEm NeighbourE7 NeighbourD NeighbourDm

Keys where A7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the A7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the A7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.