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Seventh chords introduce tension through the seventh interval, requiring careful resolution in voice leading. The seventh must resolve downward by step, and the tritone (when present) resolves inward within one measure to the target chord. Different seventh chord types (maj7, min7, dom7, half-diminished) have distinct voice-leading requirements based on their harmonic function and interval content.
You already know seventh chords as four-note structures built by stacking thirds, and you've practiced smooth voice leading that moves voices by step or small leap while avoiding parallel fifths and octaves. The dominant seventh chord's tritone resolution — from your prerequisite work on dominant seventh voice leading — gave you the model: the tritone between the third and seventh of V7 collapses inward, with the third (leading tone) rising to the tonic and the seventh falling by step. Seventh chord voice leading generalizes that pattern across all the chord types you encounter, each with its own profile of stable and unstable intervals.
The unifying rule is: the seventh always resolves downward by step. This is not arbitrary convention — it reflects the fact that the seventh is added *above* the consonant triad, creating a dissonance that the ear wants to see "corrected" by moving toward the nearest stable tone below it. In a dominant seventh (G7 resolving to C), the seventh (F) moves down to E — the third of the tonic chord. In a minor seventh chord (Am7 resolving to D or Dm), the seventh (G) moves down to F♯ or F depending on context. In a major seventh chord (Cmaj7 resolving inward), the seventh (B) moves down to the stable consonance below it. The direction of resolution is almost always the same; what changes is the target pitch and the chord that receives the resolution.
The half-diminished seventh chord (also written ø7) deserves special attention because it has *two* dissonant intervals that need resolution: a minor seventh and a diminished fifth (tritone). The half-diminished chord frequently appears as ii° in minor keys (the chord built on the second scale degree in minor), and it typically resolves to V. When it does, both the tritone and the seventh must resolve: the tritone resolves inward (the diminished fifth contracts to a third), and the seventh moves downward by step. This double resolution creates a sense of multiple voices simultaneously releasing tension, which is why the ii°7–V progression in minor sounds so gravitationally compelling — it has more dissonance to discharge than the equivalent progression in major.
Fully diminished seventh chords (°7) are the most symmetrically tense of the seventh chord types, built entirely from stacked minor thirds, and they have a unique property that complicates their voice leading: they are enharmonically equivalent at multiple pitch levels. The chord C♯–E–G–B♭ contains the same pitches as E–G–B♭–D♭ (respelled enharmonically), which means a diminished seventh chord can resolve to four different chords depending on which voice you treat as the leading tone. In practice, the resolution is determined by context and spelling: you identify which voice is the leading tone (the one half a step below a tonicized pitch), and that voice rises while the others resolve to stable chord tones. This flexibility made diminished seventh chords a favorite of nineteenth-century composers for rapid modulations — by respelling one note, the chord can pivot to a completely new key.
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