the b7th chord

[made2praise]

I  see progressions written with bVll. I was just curious if that means instead of the Vll chord being diminished and 1/2 step below the root, if it means 1 whole step below the root and make it a 7'th chord.

[gtrdave]

I would take it as being a maj chord 1 whole step below the root (as you said) if I saw it as bVII. It'd be a deviation from the typical diatonic chord sequence.
If I saw it as a b7 chord then I'd assume that it was a dom 7 chord one half step below the natural note root.

[jlynnb1]

i would see it the same as dave. so if you were in "E" i'd just take that as a "D" chord...

[made2praise]

Like a progression that is written in the key of G as     I-III-IV-bVII-I
Would the bVII be F7 or Fmaj? I know the rest would be Bmin-C-D and of course the I is G
Is the VII flatted alot in gospel music, and how often is the VIIdim used?

[Fenix]

Like a progression that is written in the key of G as     I-III-IV-bVII-I
Would the bVII be F7 or Fmaj? I know the rest would be Bmin-C-D and of course the I is G
Is the VII flatted alot in gospel music, and how often is the VIIdim used?

I don't think the b7 is used a whole lot in gospel music. Usually gospel musicians will play a variation on the VII.

Israel Houghton uses the flat VII a lot in a lot of his songs. In his case, its usually a bVII major sus chord. It is SO sweet.

Listen to his song "Deeper" and you will notice this. The song is in D and the beginning intro chords go from a Dmaj6 to a Cmaj6 which is the b7 of D major.

Sweet!!!!

[gtrdave]

Like a progression that is written in the key of G as     I-III-IV-bVII-I
Would the bVII be F7 or Fmaj? I know the rest would be Bmin-C-D and of course the I is G
Is the VII flatted alot in gospel music, and how often is the VIIdim used?

It'd be an F, not a dom 7 or 7.

Flat 7 chords are fairly popular in a lot of pop music and not just Gospel. They're a common way to bring a little tension into the music when resolving back to a I chord.

VIIdim chords I don't see a whole lot of in what I play. More common for me to see a V7 chord w/ a third in the bass with both the dom7 and the VII bass note begging for resolution to the I.