37 Sight Singing Instructions

Melodies that Outline the Dominant Seventh Chord

The V⁷ chord is composed of the dominant triad – sol ti re – with the addition of a minor third above it. The solfege is therefore sol ti re fa. The dominant seventh chord is the same in both major and minor keys; when notating it in a minor key, be sure to add an accidental to raise the seventh scale degree to ti.

The function of V⁷ is to set up the expectation of a resolution to the tonic triad (or, in deceptive cadences, a resolution to the submediant triad). In voice-leading, the tones of the V⁷ chord have a strong “pull” towards resolution.

Though they are both familiar chords, V⁷ is different from V because it is a dissonant chord. In fact, it is doubly dissonant: ti and fa give us a tritone whichever way up you spell them, while sol and fa give us a minor seventh. In both cases these dissonances need to be resolved. In voice-leading procedure for the V⁷-I progression, fa must resolve downwards by step to mi (or, in minor keys, me). Ti usually (but not always) resolves to do.

Take careful notice of the intervals created by the tones of the V⁷ chord. Become adept at singing the minor seventh – sol fa – and the diminished fifth – ti fa.