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The E7 chord

Hear the E7 and you hear the engine of blues and gospel, courtesy of the dominant seventh spelling (E - G# - B - D). Players use it to push to the IV chord in blues, which is why it turns up across every blues form and most jazz tunes. A blues writer's natural home: low E open and that flattened seventh sitting right there. Common voicings on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, the progressions where the chord earns its place, and a list of real song references are all in the sections that follow.

Hear the E7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for E7

Common ways to grip the E7 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 E7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E7 shape

Notes: E - G# - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: A7 shape at fr.7

Notes: E - G# - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: D7 shape at fr.2

Notes: E - G# - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: C7 shape at fr.4

Notes: E - G# - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: G7 shape at fr.9

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

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

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

Piano: third inversion

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

The theory behind E7

Spell out the E7 and you get E - G# - B - D. 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 E7

Short progressions that put the E7 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

E7 (as passing colour)

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

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Songs that feature E7

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.

Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix. E7 as a turning point in the verse cycle.
Twist and Shout by The Beatles. E7 in the iconic build.
Crossroads by Cream. E7 throughout the blues form.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the E7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadE m7Em7 NeighbourB NeighbourBm NeighbourB7 NeighbourA NeighbourAm NeighbourA7

Keys where E7 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 E7 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 E7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.