D7 piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory

D7 is a dominant seventh chord built from D, F#, A, C. Below: the keys to press, every inversion with its own diagram, the intervals it is made of, the keys whose scale contains it, and a progression that actually uses it. Press any diagram to hear it.

D7

D · F# · A · C

Piano keyboardC4C5

Semitones above the root: 0 – 4 – 7 – 10

A major third with a flattened seventh above it: unstable on purpose, and it wants to resolve a fourth up.

Inversions of D7

  • Root position

    D · F# · A · C · bass D

  • Inversion 1

    F# · A · C · D · bass F#

  • Inversion 2

    A · C · D · F# · bass A

  • Inversion 3

    C · D · F# · A · bass C

Same chord, different note at the bottom. Press a diagram to hear it — inversions are how you move between chords without jumping your hand across the keyboard.

Keys that contain D7

  • GV

In G it does this job: I – V – vi – IV

  1. G
  2. D7
  3. Em
  4. C

Questions