[LAU] Difference F7 and Fmaj

[Dave Phillips]

rosea grammostola wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 12:39 AM, Steve Fosdick 
> <lists at pelvoux.nildram.co.uk <mailto:lists at pelvoux.nildram.co.uk>> wrote:
>
>
>     The numbers refer not to the actual note played but to it's place in
>     the scale.  What the person replying was saying was that 7 chord is
>     played by using the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th elements of the scale with
>     the 7th one flattenned a semitone.  The maj7 chord is the same but the
>     7th note is not flattenned.
>
>     Now you asked specifically about F7 and Fmaj7 so in this case the
>     scale
>     to which those numbers refer is the one that starts on 'F' so the
>     notes
>     you would actually play would be F A C Eb for F7 and F A C E for
>     Fmaj7.
>     Using the numbers you could work out what E7 or Emaj7 would be or
>     indeed for any root note.
>
> But there is no Fmaj6? If I got you right F6 is F A C and bD 
> (flanttened a semitone)... but that seems not the case for F6, 
> keychor.com <http://keychor.com> says F6 = F A C D!... how come??
Fmaj7 is the diatonic I7 chord in the key of F (F A C E).

F7 is the diatonic V7 chord in the key of Bb (F A C Eb).

F6 (F A C D) is an added-note chord, it's the I chord in the key of F, 
and it can be used as a direct substitution for Fmaj7. Note that it is 
also an inversion of the Dm7 chord, the diatonic 7th chord on the 6th 
degree of the F major scale.

You should pick up and read completely a standard text on harmony. I 
went through the harmony books by Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, and 
Arnold Schoenberg, but others here may recommend different texts. Which 
text you use doesn't matter so much, as long as you acquire a systematic 
understanding of the subject.

Best,

dp