Risk It All Chords: Em7–A7–Dmaj7–B7 Practice

01 / FOUR DIFFERENT SEVENTH CHORDS

Load Em7, A7, Dmaj7 and B7

This Risk It All chord practice is a four-measure listening exercise for Em7, A7, Dmaj7 and B7. Each chord lasts one complete bar in 4/4. You play the changes yourself on Gesture Synth using mouse buttons or camera gestures. The useful challenge is hearing how a minor seventh, a major seventh and dominant sevenths behave in the same short sequence.

Open the practice link and confirm the song name in the loaded-practice banner. It selects Sing & Play, Four chords and the 120-second recording option, with the instrument idle. The link alone does not play sound or request permissions. Choose Use Mouse Mode and try each numbered button before attempting a timed phrase. You can also open the instrument and enter these settings manually.

Match the Chord field precisely: min7 for Em7, 7 for A7 and B7, and maj7 for Dmaj7. Use octave 2 for A and B, octave 3 for E and D, with root position throughout. Setting every slot to the same generic “seventh” would erase the exercise’s main distinction. Root and quality come first; then confirm octave and inversion.

02 / A DELIBERATELY REDUCED OPENING

What happens to A7sus and B7sus?

The public first-page preview of Musicnotes’ Risk It All arrangement, MN0308495 shows D major, 4/4, quarter-note 88 and an opening span of Em7, A7sus moving to A7, Dmaj7, and B7sus moving to B7. This page takes those four measures as the starting point for an original chord study. It does not reproduce the melody, vocal rhythm or full accompaniment.

Our bank omits the suspended chords and begins each affected bar directly on its resolved seventh chord. Bar two is A7 for the entire measure; bar four is B7 for the entire measure. You therefore hear fewer harmonic events than in the published passage. There is no hidden suspension inside either button, and playing a different inversion will not create one.

This reduction makes a practical four-button exercise, but it cannot teach the exact timing or effect of the omitted suspensions. If you want those details, follow an authorized score using an instrument that supports them. Keep the distinction clear when listening: a successful take here means four steady bars with the stated notes, rather than a complete introduction or faithful full-song cover.

03 / READ THE SMALL LETTERS

Hear min7, maj7 and 7 as different sounds

Begin with Em7. Its E, G and B make an E minor triad, and D adds the minor seventh above E. In the displayed voicing, that D is the highest note. Play it once and let the whole chord settle. Then listen to Dmaj7: D, F♯ and A make D major, while C♯ is its major seventh. Both chords have four notes, but their thirds and sevenths have different relationships to their roots.

A7 combines a major triad, A–C♯–E, with G. B7 combines B–D♯–F♯ with A. The plain 7 symbol means a dominant seventh quality: a major triad plus a minor seventh. It does not mean maj7. D7 would contain C natural, whereas the required Dmaj7 contains C♯. That single-letter difference in the setting produces a different sound.

Compare the shared notes before the full phrase

Alternate Em7 and A7 slowly without keeping time. Both contain E and G, even though those pitches sit in different places in these voicings. Next alternate A7 and Dmaj7; they share A and C♯. Common tones can help your ear connect the changes, but these root-position settings also move notes between registers. Do not expect every voice to travel by the smallest possible distance.

Finally compare B7 with Em7. B7 introduces D♯; the opening Em7 has D natural. In a repeated practice loop, B7 can create a pull back toward E minor. Listen to that return before adding any expressive movement. This is a way to study the four chords’ relationship, not a claim that the complete song consists only of a repeating four-bar loop.

Keep the current settings while learning the sound. Later, the custom-chord guide explains inversions if you want to experiment with register. Changing an inversion preserves the chord quality; changing maj7 to 7 changes the pitch content. Separate those experiments so you know which adjustment caused the result you hear.

04 / FOUR BEATS FOR EVERY SLOT

Play a four-bar phrase at 88 BPM

Count ONE-two-three-four for Em7, then start A7 on the next ONE. Give Dmaj7 and B7 the same four-beat space. At quarter-note 88, each measure takes about 2.73 seconds and four bars take about 10.91 seconds. That is the duration of this simplified exercise, not the length of the original introduction or recording.

Use an external metronome or count yourself; the Four chords bank does not move automatically or provide a tempo field for the preset. First practise the changes more slowly, making sure each button is selected before the next downbeat. Once the sequence is comfortable, return to 88 BPM. Avoid squeezing A7 or B7 into half a measure merely because the source includes two symbols there.

A quick click latches a chord; choose the next slot to change it. Click the active button again to stop. If you hold a button for more than 250 milliseconds, its sound ends when you release. For this long-chord study, quick clicks let you concentrate on counting. Keep the pad position steady until you can finish all four measures evenly.

Add gestures after the chord order is secure

Stop Mouse Mode, choose Start Camera and keep both hands visible. With your left thumb folded, raise one to four non-thumb fingers for slots one to four. One means Em7 and four means B7 here; these are slot numbers rather than scale degrees. Hold a clear shape through each measure, and close the left hand into a fist for a rest.

Right-hand height changes volume and wrist tilt changes tone. Start with a stable right hand, then try a small volume rise through A7 and relax at Dmaj7. This is your own expressive choice, not an imitation of the recording. Return to buttons if tracking makes it difficult to hear whether a mistake came from timing or chord selection.

05 / LISTEN BACK WITH A PURPOSE

Record one phrase and check its chord quality

For the first take, choose 15 seconds, leave the microphone off and play one full four-bar phrase. Stop after B7 rather than beginning a second round that cannot fit at this tempo. In the free preview, check that Dmaj7 has its brighter C♯ colour and B7 has D♯. Also listen for four equal bar lengths and a deliberate ending.

If you want to add your own singing, use headphones, choose Add microphone and check the meter after granting permission. The site supplies no vocal track or lyrics. Sing & Play offers 15 or 120 seconds, so plan an excerpt that fits your selected duration. The practice link selects 120 seconds; choosing the shorter test is a separate step.

Playing, recording and preview are free without an account. Optional single-recording video export costs US$9.99. Packs display their actual price and recording count before payment, with sign-in required for paid export and no subscription. Paid files remain downloadable for 30 days. The recording guide explains saving and access.

For another harmony lesson, try Creep’s major-to-minor change. For a different pulse, use The Only Exception’s 6/8 study, or return to all song practice. This is an independent educational tutorial, unaffiliated with Bruno Mars or the sheet-music publisher.

QUICK ANSWERS

Risk It All practice questions