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The C7 chord

The C7 chord is the engine of blues and gospel. Its notes (C - E - G - A#) form a dominant seventh, which is why it shows up across blues, jazz and any song that needs a strong pull to the next chord. Songwriters pick the C7 when they want a blues feel, and on guitar it sits comfortably under a barre at the second fret. The grease on the wheels of every twelve-bar blues that starts on C. The voicings, theory, progressions and song references that follow are organised so you can skim once or settle in for the full picture.

Hear the C7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for C7

Common ways to grip the C7 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 C7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E7 shape at fr.8

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

Guitar: A7 shape at fr.3

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

Guitar: D7 shape at fr.10

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

Guitar: C7 shape

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

Guitar: G7 shape at fr.5

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

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

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

Piano: third inversion

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

The theory behind C7

The C7 chord (C - E - G - A#) is a dominant seventh. Its intervals are root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to resolve down a fifth to the next chord, which is why it shows up in blues and gospel.

Progressions that use C7

Short progressions that put the C7 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

C7 (as passing colour)

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

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Songs that feature C7

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.

Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins. C7 in the classic twelve-bar form.
Hound Dog by Elvis Presley. C7 as a turnaround chord.
Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry. C7 powering the blues form.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the C7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadC Maj7Cmaj7 m7Cm7 NeighbourG NeighbourGm NeighbourG7 NeighbourF NeighbourFm

Keys where C7 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 C7 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 C7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.