D7 vs D dominant 7 - What's the difference?

This question comes up enough in private lessons, I thought I'd make a quick lesson on it. There's no stupid question, this one actually confuses a lot of beginners. Full length 10m lesson in my Youtube channel.

[BillySBC]

No matter how many times I hear music theory my eyes still glaze over.

[scotticidal]

Holy crap, can you explain ALL theory to my like I'm 5? I'm 48 and just now trying to learn theory... I've watched 1000s of videos and you made it easy!

[tarshenry]

You are the most directly helpful human being on YouTube!! Thank you so much! 🙌🏻

[Lanearndt]

1 = Tonic
2 = supertonic
3 = Mediant
4 = subdominant
5 = Dominant
6 = Submediant (relative minor)
7 = leading tone

[andrewbroughton]

It's called a "Dominant" chord becos it contains a flattened 7th degree that comes from the v chords tonic..so..C dominant is the v chord of Fmajor which contains the Bb we now use.

[Lanearndt]

Dominant is the name of the 5th scale degree, which is where the V7 cord is derived from in the major and minor keys!

[Lanearndt]

It's also better to not think of the modes as 7 different scales but rather as just one scale with 7 different starting notes!

[ricksavage]

I had a good friend try to teach me how to play a guitar. After a couple of weeks he said I was hopeless and should never ask anyone to try to teach me again.

[wewerebornbeloved]

I love listening and playing music until I hear music theory. Then I get sad.

[avidube]

Dominant is also the chord based off of the 5th scale degree of the key you are in (when G is the Key, D is the dominant). The other key feature is the dominant should contain the leading tone of the key you are in (7th scale degree half step below the octave).

[B-knyb]

Just the five chord of a key. Creates tension which resolves back to the key chord. In this case, G. Every key has only one dominant chord in it when you stack thirds of that keys major scale.

[stevecraig]

Sometimes it’s nice to use the D submissive chord. For those times when you’ve misbehaved.

[JoeDeCarlo-kmnf]

The dominant seventh chord has the minor seventh interval in it, better known as the flat seventh

[tommybotts]

A dominant 7th chord uses a flat 7th note in the chord. A major 7th note just uses the natural 7th note. It's that simple. As for modes, my eyes glaze over and my ears shut down at the mere mention of them.

[Ahmedvision]

Not saying that I'm a good guitar player.. however it's the other way around!

The dominant 7 is the chord built on the 5th note of the major scale (the dominant note).. in the scale of C that dominant note is G. So the Dominant 7 chord will have the major G triad (G, B, and D) and then you add F as the seventh note of the cord. Now why is that chord called dominant?!! It's because it has both a major 3rd interval and a minor seventh interval ..

[nelejanbbi]

men see woman with guitar. men get really weird. wtf with these comments?

[edrodriguez]

The third was on the highest string, e, a first position D7, the second chord she played had a third on the second string, the b. Different voicings and while showing two different notations, not a good example.

[theedslanky]

Dmaj7: Major 3rd Major 7th
D7: Major 3rd Minor 7th
Dm7: Minor 3rd Minor 7th

[CapoKabar]

They do sound a little different and are used in different situations.

[scottkingsley]

I thought one was the 7th degree, and the other has a flat 7; like Bb in the key of C is the dominant.