How the Great Composers Used Seventh-Chords | How Composers Use Series | The Soundtrack of History

The video offers a thorough exploration of 7th chords, elucidating their construction and classification across various musical genres. It delves into the intricacies of fully diminished, half diminished, minor, dominant, major, and minor major 7th chords, detailing their roles in classical and jazz compositions. Examples from renowned works such as Beethoven's Piano Sonata #8, "Pathétique," Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Erik Satie's "Gymnopédie No.1," Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier," will be analyzed to illustrate the diverse applications and significance of these chords in both traditional and contemporary music settings. Additionally, excerpts from film scores, such as those in "Up," will be used to demonstrate the versatility and relevance of 7th chords in popular culture. Through these musical examples, viewers will gain a deeper understanding of how composers utilize 7th chords to evoke emotion, create tension, and shape harmonic progressions.
0:00 Intro
0:10 What are Seventh-Chords?
1:33 Fully Diminished 7th Chord
1:52 Half-Diminished 7th Chord
2:24 Minor 7th Chord
2:40 Dominant 7th Chord
3:14 Major 7th Chord
3:45 Minor Major 7th Chord
4:10 How are Seventh-Chords Used?
4:33 How Beethoven uses a Fully Diminished 7th Chord
6:20 How Mendelssohn uses a Half-Diminished 7th Chord
7:27 How Bach uses a Minor 7th Chord
8:40 How a Dominant 7th Chord functions
9:10 How Beethoven uses a Dominant 7th Chord
10:56 How Satie uses a Major 7th Chord
11:43 Does a Minor Major 7th Chord exist in Classical Music?
12:24 Outro

[@JonHarris77]

There are some errors in the notation for the Satie piece. All instances of Gmaj7 need to have the second voice moved up a diatonic third. Also, the chords should be labeled Gmaj7 and Dmaj7 instead of G7 and D7, which would imply dominant.

[@alexnobrasil3062]

Music for a scene of Shelley by Barber has a repeating chord progression with two mM7 chords. They resolve chromatically too - BmM7 to Dm and then AbmM7 to Bm

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

I'll check that score out. Thanks for sharing!

[@benjaminmedranda331]

This video covers a lot of first year music theory spectacularly and concisely in just a short video!

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

Hey, thanks so much! I appreciate your support!

[@jj8703]

as a mainly jazz musican who never really looked into classical music, i've always wondered if there were times where they used 7th chords in classical pieces other then the dominant V. very cool video!

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

Glad I could answer that question for you! It does seem that the focus tends to be on the Dominant 7th in classical music. Thanks for watching!

[@CodyHazelleMusic]

The thing is, 7th chords are actually used quite frequently, and especially in Bach probably moreso than the rest. But what sets the classical style apart is that 7ths are always treated as dissonances expected to resolve downward. Jazz doesn't care about this. They treat extensions as colors to be used as they please. Go look at Bach's prelude in C from the WTC. Lots of 7ths. They all resolve down except for at the climax... Which was on purpose.

[@orb3796]

Once you get to the romantic period, sevenths, ninths, thirteens and chromatically altered chord extensions are super common in almost every major composer

[@paulstanley3989]

At first I thought the last movement, “Pluto”, from Holst’s The Planet’s Suite must be full of minor major seventh chords, but they seem to be more extended chords and perhaps best seen in the context of bitonality. I did, however, spot the bar before the return of the final Tempo I in the second movement “Venus” which has (if I’m not mistaken) an Ab minor major seventh chord resolving somewhat like a plagal cadence to Eb major. It has an appoggiatura F in the melody which resolves down, somewhat helping the transition. Other voice leading is hard to determine because of register changes, so to a certain amount it is just left “hanging there”. But as you mention, this is early 20th Century music ann likely outside the scope of your working definition of “Classical music”. The minor major seventh certainly isn’t a sound I associate with earlier music.

[@Maplefoxx-vl2ew]

oh thanks. i had no idea how to use them other than jazz or synth music

[@MaggaraMarine]

The most likely place where I would expect to see a "true" mMaj7 would be as a 7-6 suspension over the minor iv. Like, C - FmMaj7 - Fm6 - Cadd9 - C, where the melody is E - E - D - D - C. Then again, even then it isn't really an "independent chord"...

[@PabloCardonaMusic]

That's exactly what I was thinking. It wouldn't really be on the tonic chord of a minor key since classical composers would be very unlikely to resolve the maj7 down to a 6th and have a m6 chord as the resolution. The only option would be a minor iv chord since they'd be more willing to keep the 3rd of the home key which results being the 7th of the IV chord. We should look for all the minor iv we can find in classical music

[@PabloCardonaMusic]

Great video! As for the mMaj7 I could've sworn that I've heard it in some Chopin piece, I'll try to find it. There are also maj7#5 and maj7b5 but I guess those are even rarer lol Edit: I found it. Chopin's first nocturne is in Bb Minor, but a couple measures into the piece it goes into Db major, then it plays a Gb chord, Db again and then a Gb minor chord and the melody will briefly touch an F natural (the major 7th of Gbm) before moving down to Eb (the 6th i guess) so it is technically resolving down

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

I just looked at the score. That is a great find! It might be a Ebø7 chord in 1st inversion with F being a neighbor tone. It's hard to say. I want it so bad to be a minor (maj7) chord. I really do appreciate you spending time looking! That's so awesome! For the maj7#5 chord, would that be an augmented triad with a major 7th? If so, Chopin does use that chord in his Prelude No. 4

[@erlkinglook4824]

I agree with the neighbour tone analysis (unfortunately!). Since the chord in question is used between D-flat major chords in a D-flat major context (before moving on to F7), I would say that the F natural is used as an anchor to emphasise the D-flat major sound. The resolution back to E-flat happens within the chord as well, so there is not really a resolving function for that F. But it's one of the many magical moments in that nocturne, and the minor-major quality of that chord (Ebø7 add 9 / Gb) is really remarkable.

[@wolowolowolowolowolowolowo2417]

In the last bar of Chopin's F# minor prelude, the piece sort of hangs on an F# mM7 chord using an E# grace note, before it resolves to F# if that counts

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

The way you are describing sounds like it might be a ret. tone or an appoggiatura, that E#

[@erlkinglook4824]

I am a big fan of half diminished sevenths, and so was Nikolai Medtner. The way he used them wasn't always functional, but the pieces that abound with halfdim7s have a very melancholy and almost tragic way about them.

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

I'll have to check his music out. Thanks for sharing!

[@Bee-Vai]

The beginning of Puccini's Turandot has quite a few minor major 7th chors with added sharp 4s. And although I don't have any specific examples in mind at the moment I wouldn't be surprised if Wagner and R. Strauss had used a few as well.

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

I'll check the score out. I wouldn't be surprised either if they used that chord. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@alexnobrasil3062]

Those are polychords, C# over a chord of Dm for example

[@Bee-Vai]

@@alexnobrasil3062 Yes I know but they're still quite close to minor major 7ths, especially considering that the G# in that chord is present only in 3 voices (trumpet 2 and violins), and "hidden" under a C#, while de the C# is in 8 voices (horns, trumpet 1, violins, violas), and also played at the octave in the case of the violins and the violas. So overall it is noticeably more audible than the G#, so personally I hear it more as a D minor major 7th, so I see the G# as having more of a "textural" purpose (even though of course it technically still is a polychord, just one that can be heard more as a minor major 7th as well).

[@Jimmy.Williams]

Not traditional classical music, but the first chord in Bernard Herrmann's "Psycho" theme is a Minor-Major 7th in 2nd inversion - BbmM7/F (Bb, Db, F, A - w/ F in the root).

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

I'm gonna check that out. Thanks for sharing!

[@Jimmy.Williams]

@@TheSoundtrackofHistory just saw this video on Bernard Herrmann's Minor-Major 7th chords : kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4inXqGGgJxnqK8

[@jeffagopsowicz9505]

Augmented 7th?

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

Chopin uses an Augmented 7th in his 4th Prelude. kzbin.infodFqyajt7zhA?si=qW2nqc6l9ayMD47f

[@WingTrueMusic]

Thanks! I had never thought about how the top of major 7th chords often resolve down by step, and not just dominant 7ths. Not sure I know of any true minor major 7th chords in earlier classical music.

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

Yeah, they are hard to find, those minor major 7th chords. Yeah, and with the maj 7th, does the 7th act like a 7th or a leading tone? Thanks for watching!

[@markusboyd4834]

Thanks very much. You have earned a subscriber. I believe a great piece in baroque music to examine masterful use of 7th chords is the opening chorale of Bach’s BWV 8. It’s very beautiful as well.

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

Thanks so much! I appreciate your support! I'm going to check that piece out. Thanks for sharing!

[@danielo174]

I love this. Its so interesting. You talk about 7 chords from an angle that makes me think of them utterly differently than I have till this point. amazing contibution to my knowlege. Thanks from the bottom of my curious heart. Btw, did they not use major 7th chords until Debussy etc came along? I find it interesting that you suggest that classical composers didn't use certain chords that we use today. Why would that be? Anyway answer if you feel like it but please make more videos even if you don't feel like it..These are gold.

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your support! I haven't found any pieces of music before the late 19th century that uses Major 7 chords with the 7th resolving down. There are a lot of examples of the 7th either moving up or down and acting as an appoggiatura. I've read that this 7th was considered too dissonant for the time period. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a piece from this time period that did use them. I just haven't found them. Good question!

[@sandeegrey5977]

@@TheSoundtrackofHistory Random guy here lol, but I'm also interested in this kind of stuff. In fact, I've found quite a few examples of Major 7 chords being used before Debussy, even Chopin messed around with them sometimes. Though, I guess you can say it was used in a different context of what we would call "jazzy harmony" today, but major 7ths definitely weren't outright avoided. I think I would say before the impressionist movement, Major seventh chords were... uncommon. But also, not all that rare. Anyways haha, that's my paragraph done.

[@TheSoundtrackofHistory]

What are some pieces pre impressionism have you found using this chord? I'd love to know. @@sandeegrey5977

[@PabloCardonaMusic]

@@TheSoundtrackofHistory Bach's C Major prelude actually plays a Cmaj7 arpeggio on measure 8 and then an Fmaj7 arpeggio on measure 16. Chopin's etude in C major also has some of those by extension since he based it on Bach's work. But one of my favorite examples of a maj7 chord in classical music is in Chopin's 1st Ballade. Measure 38 has an Ebmaj7 chord where the D resolves down to a C.

[@PabloCardonaMusic]

@@TheSoundtrackofHistory Also, I know he's kinda on the fence of being an impressionist composer or not, but Gabriel Fauré's "Après un Rêve" has some of the craziest 7 chords I've seen (even 9th chords). The harmony is just beautiful.

[@eriksatieofficiel]

i AM a great composer indeed

[@MFTU268]

Get shot of the background music. It distracting.

[@user-zk5uv6vm7r]

BorOke!??