G Dominant 7th Guitar Chord Tutorial

Learn How to Play the G7 Guitar Chord

In the following tutorial, you will learn  how to play several advanced voicings of the G7 Guitar Chord (G Dominant 7, G7th, G Dominant 7th). Click here for a beginner version of the G7 Guitar Chord.

Let us first briefly dive into a little theory behind this chord before looking at the chord charts below.  We can build this chord by first looking at the G Major Guitar Scale.  This is where this chord comes from.

Here is the G Major Scale:  G A B C D E F#

Now, we must find the 1, 3, 5 and b7 positions of this scale in order to form our G7.  When we do this, we come up with the following notes:  G, B, D and F.

That funny little “b7″ symbol translates to a “flattened 7th” which simply means that we take the 7th step of the G Major Scale, “F#” and flatten it by a 1/2 step to arrive at our “F” note.

That wasn’t so bad right?

G7 Chord notes one more time: G B D and F

Here is a key that will help you read the charts:

Everything on the above chart should be self explanatory, except for the last three in the third column. They may need a bit of explaining. The O, or open symbol, simply means that you do not press down on any notes on that string. The X means you do not strum that particular string. The Barre symbol means you need to barre that particular fret. When you barre a fret you are pressing down on multiple strings at the same time with one finger.

 

G7 Guitar Chord Video Demonstration

Chord Playing Tip

Be sure that you are pressing down on the strings hard enough and play each string one at a time to make sure you have a nice clean sound. If any of the strings buzz or sound muted, then something is not right.