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The F7 chord

Start with the recipe. The notes are F - A - C - Eb, a dominant seventh, otherwise known as the F7. The chord feels the engine of blues and gospel, which is why writers chasing a blues feel keep landing on it. The colour chord behind the V move in Bb blues, and the IV in C blues. You will find it inside blues, jazz and any song that needs a strong pull to the next chord. The rest of this page lays out the common voicings, the interval theory, the progressions where the chord fits, and the records that lean on it for structural work.

Hear the F7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for F7

Common ways to grip the F7 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 F7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E7 shape at fr.1

Notes: F - A - C - Eb (chord tones)

Guitar: A7 shape at fr.8

Notes: F - A - C - Eb (chord tones)

Guitar: D7 shape at fr.3

Notes: F - A - C - Eb (chord tones)

Guitar: C7 shape at fr.5

Notes: F - A - C - Eb (chord tones)

Guitar: G7 shape at fr.10

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

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

Notes: C - Eb - F - A. C at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: Eb - F - A - C. Eb at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind F7

The F7 chord (F - A - C - Eb) 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 F7

Short progressions that put the F7 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

F7 (as passing colour)

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

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Songs that feature F7

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.

All Blues by Miles Davis. F7 in the 6/8 blues form.
Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett. F7 as the V chord in the chorus.
Stormy Monday by T-Bone Walker / Allman Brothers. F7 within the slow blues form.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the F7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadF Maj7Fmaj7 NeighbourC NeighbourCm NeighbourC7 NeighbourBb

Keys where F7 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 F7 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 F7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.