A7 Guitar Chord | Play, Hear and Practice Interactively

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Take an A major triad, add the minor seventh G, and you have the A7 chord, A dominant seventh: A, C#, E and G.

Open strings feature in 12 of the 17 voicings, and two are barre shapes. A7 is the V7 chord of D major, so a move from A7 to D is a standard dominant-to-tonic step. The A Mixolydian scale covers every chord tone, and how chords are built explains why the seventh is a minor one.

Set a tempo, start the drum loop in the practice tool at the top and cycle A7 with your other chords.

A dominant 7th guitar chord is also written as A7, Adom7 or Adom.

A 7 chord Notes:

A C# E G.

Dominant chords are the main chords used in blues progressions.

Formula of the Dominant Seventh chord:

Formula: 1 3 5 b7

A 7 Guitar Chord Diagrams

Position 1 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the B string

Position 2 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the low E, D and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 6 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 8 of the B string

Position 3 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 11 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 12 of the G string

Position 4 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the low E, D, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 6 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the A string

Position 5 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 6 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 7 Open

Finger Positions

Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 4 of the A string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 5 of the low E string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the D string

Position 8 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 11 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the A string

Position 9 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string

Position 10 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the D string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 8 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 9 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 9 of the high E string

Position 11 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 5 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 6 of the G string

Position 12 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 11 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 12 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the G string

Position 13 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Mute the D string
Mute the G string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 14 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the low E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 5 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 6 of the G string

Position 15 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Mute the D string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Mute the high E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the B string

Position 16 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 9 of the high E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 10 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 11 of the D string

Position 17 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the D string
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 9 of the G string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 10 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 10 of the B string

Find more shapes in our all guitar chords online library. If you prefer a printable pdf, download the Free Guitar Chords Chart Pdf

Play This Chord With Other Roots

C 7 | D 7 | E 7 | F 7 | G 7 | A 7 | B 7 | C#7 | D#7 | F#7 | G#7 | A#7 | Ab7 | Bb7 | Db7 | Eb7 | Gb7

Want to Learn Everything About Chords?

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You'll learn how to play 44 chords types across all the fretboard, with many voicings and fingerings

In the ebook you can also find maps show you the tones in a chord all along the fretboard. They are incredibly helpful because allow you to:

Create new voicings on the fly, across all the neck
Improvise targeting the right notes
Unlock the fretboard and expand the CAGED system.

In the new ebook, Chords Domination, you'll find the fretboard tones maps for 44 different qualities of chords. Check it out:

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Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher

FAQ

What notes make up A dominant seventh?

A7 is spelled A, C#, E and G. Take the A major triad and add the G, a minor seventh over the root.

Which key has A7 as its V7 chord?

D major. A is the fifth degree of D major, and the G in the chord is its fourth degree, so A7 leads home to D.

How many voicings has A7, and how many use open strings?

A7 has 17 voicings, from fret 2 to fret 12. Twelve of the voicings use open strings and two are barre voicings.

Which scale fits A7?

A Mixolydian is A, B, C#, D, E, F# and G. All four chord notes are in it, and G is the flat seventh that distinguishes it from A major.

What do the 5 and b7 in A dominant seventh mean?

The 5 is E, a perfect fifth over A. The b7 is G, a minor seventh over the root, one whole step under A at the octave.