Voicings · C7 · Guitar
C7 is spelled C – E – G – B♭ (1 3 5 ♭7) — the V chord — the engine of every cadence, and every bar of a blues. Here are 5 ways to voice it on guitar: drop 2, drop 3, shell, rootless a, rootless b. Every diagram is playable — press play to hear the chord, or “roll it” to hear the voices one by one, low to high.
The voicings
Take the close voicing and drop its second-highest voice an octave. The most-used four-note voicing on guitar and in piano left hands. Strings E-A-D-G, frets 3-3-2-3.
Drop the third-highest voice of the close voicing an octave: a wide, open sound. Strings A-G-B-e, frets 7-5-8-6 (position 4).
Root, seventh and third only. The fifth is dropped — it adds nothing to the chord's identity — leaving a light, clear voicing. Strings A-G-B, frets 3-3-5 (position 1).
Bill Evans-style left-hand voicing: the third on the bottom, the ninth on top, the bass player supplies the root. Strings A-D-G-B, frets 7-5-3-3 (position 3).
The companion rootless voicing with the seventh on the bottom. Alternate A and B so the top voice moves by step through a ii–V–I. Strings E-A-B-e, frets 6-5-5-3 (position 2).
Reference
| Chord tone | Note | Interval |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | unison |
| 3 | E | major 3rd |
| 5 | G | perfect 5th |
| ♭7 | B♭ | minor 7th |
Arpeggio: C7 arpeggio on guitar. Scale: C Mixolydian.
Common questions
C, E, G, B♭ — chord tones 1 3 5 ♭7. Rootless voicings add the 9th, D, and leave the root to the bass.
The shell voicing (root, seventh, third) on strings A, G, B: three notes, one comfortable shape, and it still sounds unmistakably like C7.
Start from the close voicing C E G B♭ and drop the second note from the top an octave: G – C – E – B♭. It spreads the chord so it fits the hand — and on guitar it fits four adjacent strings.
C7 is the V chord — the engine of every cadence, and every bar of a blues. Its character is tense, pulling toward its resolution.
Keep going
Same chord on piano · Dominant 7th hub.
Other chords from C