Can someone help me understand E7 et. all?

[hoodrow]

I've searched all over the Internet but I don't think I know the terminology well enough to find the right answer. Basically I want to know what an E7 et. all is. All I can find is an eHow video that is frankly confusing the hell out of me. It has some dude that kind of looks like Tom Petty with a sheet of paper and he is circling numbers or something?

Anyway, can someone point me to a resource where I can read up and understand what it means when I'm on a jam track site and it tells me to play an E7? Thanks for helping a noob out

 

[Jim Nazium]

E7 means an E "dominant 7th" chord, which has the notes E, G#, B, D.

Here's a thread with general chord / scale theory info
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125519

Also check the sticky titled "Music Theory / General Instruction Lnks" near the top of the page.

 

[jk215]

An E7, which means E dominant 7, is an E major chord with a minor 7th added on top. So E major scale is:

E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D♯

Take the root note, major 3rd, and 5th intervals of the scale to make the regular E major chord.

E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D♯

Add the 7th interval, but its a minor 7th so you flatten the note.

E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D♯ (minus the &#9839

You are left with E, G♯, B, D. And thats your E7 chord.

 

[JTE]

Learn basic chord theory. Get a copy of Edley's Music Theory for Practical People (here... [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]).

Basics you need to know to get there.

A. What a whole step and a half step are.
B. How to build a diatonic major scale (that is, W W H W W W H).
C. Basic chord structure
1. Major chord is 1, 3, 5 e.g. C is C E G
2. Minor chord is 1, b3, 5 e.g C- or Cmin is C Eb G
3. Dominant 7 chord is 1, 3, 5, b7 e.g C7 is C E G Bb
4. Minor 7 chord is 1, b3, 5, b7 e.g. Cmin7 or C-7 is C, Eb, G, Bb
5. Major 7 chord is 1, 3, 5, 7 e.g. Cmaj7 is C E G B
6. Diminished is 1, b3, b5, bb7. Cdim is C Eb Gb Bbb (which is the same sound as A, but don't call it that...
7. Augmented is 1, 3, #5 so Caug is C E G#.

LEARN that so it's second nature to you. That'll help you a lot more than learning every mode in every position will.

jte

 

[kingbee]

Edley's book is amazing. You'll learn a lot from just learning your scales and then learning how to stack thirds.